Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone–like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals. The group includes the important reef builders that are found in tropical oceans, which secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.

A coral "head", commonly perceived to be a single organism, is formed from thousands of individual but genetically identical polyps, each polyp only a few millimeters in diameter. Over thousands of generations, the polyps lay down a skeleton that is characteristic of their species. A head of coral grows by asexual reproduction of the individual polyps. Corals also breed sexually by spawning, with corals of the same species releasing gametes simultaneously over a period of one to several nights around a full moon.

Although corals can catch plankton using stinging cells on their tentacles, these animals obtain most of their nutrients from symbiotic unicellular algae called zooxanthellae. Consequently, most corals depend on sunlight and grow in clear and shallow water, typically at depths shallower than 60 m (200 ft). These corals can be major contributors to the physical structure of the coral reefs that develop in tropical and subtropical waters, such as the enormous Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland, Australia. Other corals do not have associated algae and can live in much deeper water, such as in the Atlantic, with the cold-water genus Lophelia surviving as deep as 3000 m. Examples of these can be found living on the Darwin Mounds located north-west of Cape Wrath, Scotland. Corals have also been found off the coast of Washington State and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.

Phylogeny

Corals belong to the class Anthozoa and are divided into two subclasses, depending on the number of tentacles or lines of symmetry, and a series of orders corresponding to their exoskeleton, nematocyst type and mitochondrial genetic analysis. Those with eight tentacles are called octocorallia or Alcyonaria and comprise soft corals, sea fans and sea pens. Those with more than eight in a multiple of six are called hexacorallia or Zoantharia. This group includes reef-building corals (Scleractinians), sea anemones and zoanthids.

Anatomy

While a coral head appears to be a single organism, it is actually a head of many individual, yet genetically identical, polyps. The polyps are multicellular organisms that feed on a variety of small organisms, from microscopic plankton to small fish.

Polyps are usually a few millimeters in diameter, and are formed by a layer of outer epithelium and inner jellylike tissue known as the mesoglea. They are radially symmetrical with tentacles surrounding a central mouth, the only opening to the stomach or coelenteron, through which both food is ingested and waste expelled.

The stomach closes at the base of the polyp, where the epithelium produces an exoskeleton called the basal plate or calicle (L. small cup). This is formed by a thickened calciferous ring (annular thickening) with six supporting radial ridges (as shown below). These structures grow vertically and project into the base of the polyp. When polyps are physically stressed, they contract into the calyx so that virtually no part is exposed above the skeletal platform. This protects the organism from predators and the elements (Barnes, R.D., 1987; Sumich, 1996).

The polyp grows by extension of vertical calices which are occasionally septated to form a new, higher, basal plate. Over many generations this extension forms the large calciferous (Calcium containing) structures of corals and ultimately coral reefs.

Formation of the calciferous exoskeleton involves deposition of the mineral aragonite by the polyps from calcium ions they acquire from seawater. The rate of deposition, while varying greatly between species and environmental conditions, can be as much as 10 g / m² of polyp / day (0.3 ounce / sq yd / day). This is light dependent, with night-time production 90% lower than that during the middle of the day.

The polyp's tentacles trap prey using stinging cells called nematocysts. These are cells modified to capture and immobilize prey, such as plankton, by injecting poisons, firing very rapidly in response to contact. These poisons are usually weak but in fire corals they are potent enough to harm humans. Nematocysts can also be found in jellyfish and sea anemones. The toxins injected by nematocysts immobilize or kill prey, which can then be drawn into the polyp's stomach by the tentacles through a contractile band of epithelium called the pharynx.

The polyps are interconnected by a complex and well developed system of gastrovascular canals allowing significant sharing of nutrients and symbiotes. In soft corals these range in size from 50-500 μm in diameter and to allow transport of both metabolites and cellular components.

Aside from feeding on plankton, many corals as well as other cnidarian groups such as sea anemones (e.g. Aiptasia), form a symbiotic relationship with a class of algae, zooxanthellae, of the genus Symbiodinium. The sea anemone Aiptasia, while considered a pest among coral reef aquarium hobbyists, has served as a valuable model organism in the scientific study of cnidarian-algal symbiosis. Typically a polyp will harbor one particular species of algae. Via photosynthesis, these provide energy for the coral, and aid in calcification. The algae benefit from a safe environment, and use the carbon dioxide and nitrogenous waste produced by the polyp. Due to the strain the algae can put on the polyp, stress on the coral often triggers ejection of the algae, known on a large scale as coral bleaching, as it is the algae that contribute to the brown coloration of corals; other colors, however, are due to host coral pigments, such as GFPs (green fluorescent protein). Ejecting the algae increases the polyps' chances of surviving stressful periods - they can regain the algae at a later time. If the stressful conditions persist, the polyps, and corals, will eventually die.

Reproduction

Sexual

Corals predominantly reproduce sexually, with 25% of hermatypic corals (stony corals) forming single sex (gonochoristic) colonies, whilst the rest are hermaphroditic. About 75% of all hermatypic corals "broadcast spawn" by releasing gametes - eggs and sperm - into the water to spread colonies over large distances. The gametes fuse during fertilisation to form a microscopic larvum called a planula, typically pink and elliptical in shape; a moderately sized coral colony can form several thousands of these larvae per year to overcome the huge odds against formation of a new colony.

The planula swims towards light, exhibiting positive phototaxis, to surface waters where they drift and grow for a time before swimming back down to locate a surface on which it can attach and establish a new colony. At many stages of this process there are high failure rates, and even though millions of gametes are released by each colony very few new colonies are formed. The time from spawning to settling is usually 2 or 3 days, but can be up to 2 months. The larva grows into a coral polyp and eventually becomes a coral head by asexual budding and growth, creating new polyps.

Corals that do not broadcast spawn are called brooders, with most non-stony corals displaying this characteristic. These corals release sperm but harbour the eggs, allowing larger, negatively buoyant, planulae to form which are later released ready to settle. The larva grows into a coral polyp and eventually becomes a coral head by asexual budding and growth to create new polyps.

Synchronous spawning is very typical on a coral reef and often, even when there are multiple species present, all the corals on the reef release gametes during the same night. This synchrony is essential so that male and female gametes can meet and form planula. The cues that guide the release are complex, but over the short term involve lunar changes, sunset time, and possibly chemical signalling. Synchronous spawning may have the result of forming coral hybrids, perhaps involved in coral speciation. In some places the coral spawn can be dramatic, usually occurring at night, where the usually clear water becomes cloudy with gametes.

Corals must rely on environmental cues, varying from species to species, to determine the proper time to release gametes into the water. There are two methods corals use for sexual reproduction which differ in whether the female gametes are released:

• Broadcasters, the majority of which mass spawn, rely heavily on environmental cues, because in contrast to brooders they release both sperm and eggs into the water. The corals use long-term cues such as day length, water temperature, and/or rate of temperature change; and the short-term cue is most often the lunar cycle, with the sunset cuing the time of release. About 75% of coral species are broadcasters, the majority of which are hermatypic, or reef-building corals. The positively buoyant gametes float towards the surface where fertilization occurs to produce planula larvae. The planula larvae swim towards the surface light to enter into currents, where they remain usually for two days, but can be up to three weeks, and in one known case two months, after which they settle and metamorphose into polyps and form colonies.
• Brooders are most often ahermatypic (non-reef building), or some hermatypic corals which are in areas of high current or wave action. Brooders release only sperm, which is negatively buoyant, and can store unfertilized eggs for weeks, lowering the need for mass synchronous spawning events, but can still occur. After fertilization the corals release planula larvae which are ready to settle.

Asexual

Within a head of coral the genetically identical polyps reproduce asexually to allow growth of the colony. This is achieved either through gemmation or budding or through division, both shown in the diagrams of Orbicella annularis. Budding involves a new polyp growing from an adult, whereas division forms two polyps each as large as the original.

• Budding expands the size of a coral colony. It occurs when a new corallite grows out from the adult polyp. As the new polyp grows it produces a coelenteron (stomach), tentacles and a mouth. The distance between the new and adult polyps grows, and with it the coenosarc (the common body of the colony; see coral anatomy). Budding can occur by means of:
• Longitudinal division begins with broadening of a polyp, which then divides the coelenteron. The mouth divides and new tentacles form. The difference with this is that each polyp must complete its missing parts of the body and exoskeleton.
• Intra-tentacular budding forms from the oral discs of a polyp, meaning that both polyps are the same size and are within the same ring of tentacles.
• Extra-tentacular budding forms from the base of a polyp, and the new polyp is smaller.
• Transversal division occurs when polyps and the exoskeleton divide transversally into two parts. This means that one has the basal disc (bottom) and the other has the oral disc (top). The two new polyps must again complete the missing parts.
• Fission occurs in some corals, especially among the family Fungiidae, where the colony is able to split into two or more colonies during the early stages of their development.

Whole colonies can reproduce asexually through fragmentation or bailout, forming another individual colony with the same genome.

• Polyp bailout occurs when a single polyp abandons the colony and re-establishes on a new substrate to create a new adult colony.
• Fragmentation, which can actually be included as a type of fission, involves individuals broken from the colony during storms, or other situations where breaking can occur. The separated individuals can start new coral colonies.

Reefs

The hermatypic, stony corals are often found in coral reefs, large calcium carbonate structures generally found in shallow, tropical water. Reefs are built up from coral skeletons and held together by layers of calcium carbonate produced by coralline algae. Reefs are extremely diverse marine ecosystems being host to over 4,000 species of fish, massive numbers of cnidarians, molluscs, crustaceans, and many other animals.

Geological history

Although corals first appeared in the Cambrian period, some , fossils are extremely rare until the Ordovician period, 100 million years later, when Rugose and Tabulate corals became widespread.

Tabulate corals occur in the limestones and calcareous shales of the Ordovician and Silurian periods, and often form low cushions or branching masses alongside Rugose corals. Their numbers began to decline during the middle of the Silurian period and they finally became extinct at the end of the Permian period, 250 million years ago. The skeletons of Tabulate corals are composed of a form of calcium carbonate known as calcite.

Rugose corals became dominant by the middle of the Silurian period, and became extinct early in the Triassic period. The Rugose corals existed in solitary and colonial forms, and like the Tabulate corals their skeletons are also composed of calcite.

The Scleractinian corals filled the niche vacated by the extinct Rugose and Tabulate corals. Their fossils may be found in small numbers in rocks from the Triassic period, and become relatively common in rocks from the Jurassic and later periods. The skeletons of Scleractinian corals are composed of a form of calcium carbonate known as aragonite. Although they are geologically younger than the Tabulate and Rugose corals, their aragonitic skeleton is less readily preserved, and their fossil record is less complete.

At certain times in the geological past corals were very abundant, just as modern corals are in the warm clear tropical waters of certain parts of the world today. Like modern corals their ancestors built reefs, some of which now lie as great structures in sedimentary rocks.

These ancient reefs are not composed entirely of corals. Algae, sponges, and the remains of many echinoids, brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods, and trilobites that lived on the reefs are preserved within them. This makes some corals useful index fossils, enabling geologists to date the age the rocks in which they are found.

Corals are not restricted to reefs, and many solitary corals may be found in rocks where reefs are not present, such as Cyclocyathus which occurs in England's Gault clay formation.

Environmental effects

Corals are highly sensitive to environmental changes. Scientists have predicted that over 50% of the coral reefs in the world may be destroyed by the year 2030; as a result they are generally protected through environmental laws. A coral reef can easily be swamped in algae if there are too many nutrients in the water. Coral will also die if the water temperature changes by more than a degree or two beyond its normal range or if the salinity of the water drops. In an early symptom of environmental stress, corals expel their zooxanthellae; without their symbiotic unicellular algae, coral tissues become colorless as they reveal the white of their calcium carbonate skeletons, an event known as coral bleaching.

Many governments now prohibit removal of coral from reefs to reduce damage by divers. However, damage is still caused by anchors dropped by dive boats or fishermen. In places where local fishing causes reef damage, education schemes have been run to inform the population about reef protection and ecology.

The narrow niche that coral occupies, and the stony corals' reliance on calcium carbonate deposition, means they are very susceptible to changes in water pH. Ocean acidification, caused by dissolution of carbon dioxide in the water that lowers pH, is currently occurring in the surface waters of the world's oceans due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Lowered pH reduces the ability of corals to produce calcium carbonate skeletons, and at the extreme, results in the dissolution of those skeletons entirely. Without deep and early cuts in anthropogenic CO₂, scientists fear that ocean acidification may inevitably result in the severe degradation or destruction of coral species and ecosystems.

A combination of temperature changes, pollution, and overuse by divers and jewelry producers has led to the destruction of many coral reefs around the world. This has increased the importance of coral biology as a discipline. Climatic variations can cause temperature changes that destroy corals. For example, during the 1997-98 warming event all the hydrozoan Millepora boschmai colonies near Panamá were bleached and died within six years - this species is now thought to be extinct.

Uses

Live corals

Live coral is also highly sought after in the aquarium trade. Although difficult to maintain in some or most cases, they add a striking beauty. Provided the proper ecosystem, live coral makes a stunning addition to any salt water aquarium.

Coral as a gemstone

Red shades of coral are sometimes used as a gemstone, especially in Tibet. In vedic astrology, red coral represents Mars.

Intensely red coral is sometimes known as fire coral (but this is not at all the same thing as fire coral). This extremely red coral is very rare now because of overharvesting due to the great demand for perfect red coral in jewelry-making.

Ancient corals

Some coral species exhibit banding in their skeletons resulting from annual variations in their growth rate. In fossil and modern corals these bands allow geologists to construct year-by-year chronologies, a form of incremental dating, which can provide high-resolution records of past climatic and environmental changes when combined with geochemical analysis of each band.

Certain species of corals form communities called microatolls. The vertical growth of microatolls is limited by average tidal height. By analyzing the various growth morphologies, microatolls can be used as a low resolution record of patterns of sea level change. Fossilized microatolls can also be dated using radioactive carbon dating to obtain a chronology of patterns of sea level change. Such methods have been used to used to reconstruct Holocene sea levels.

Gallery

References

External links

• NOAA CoRIS - Coral Reef Biology
• NOAA Ocean Service Education - Corals
• University of Southern Mississippi - Coral Reef Resource Guide

The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (Devanāgarī: ) (commonly known as IIT Kharagpur or IIT KGP) is an autonomous engineering and technology-oriented institute of higher education established by the Government of India in 1951. The first of the seven IITs to be established, it is officially recognised as an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India and is regarded as one of the best engineering institutions in India. IIT Kharagpur has ranked among the top engineering college in the academic ranking of Indian colleges by various engineering education surveys like India Today, Outlook, etc.

IIT Kharagpur was established to train scientists and engineers after India attained independence in 1947. It shares its organisational structure and undergraduate admission process with sister IITs. The students and alumni of IIT Kharagpur are informally referred to as KGPians. Among all IITs, IIT Kharagpur has the largest campus (2,100 acres), the most departments, and the highest student enrollment. IIT Kharagpur is particularly famous for its festivals: Illumination and Rangoli, Spring Fest and Kshitij.

History

With the help of B. C. Roy (then Chief Minister of West Bengal), Indian educationalists Humayun Kabir and Jogendra Singh formed a committee in 1946 to consider the creation of Higher Technical Institutions for post-war industrial development of India. This was followed by the creation of a 22-member committee headed by Nalini Ranjan Sarkar. In its interim report, the Sarkar Committee recommended the establishment of Higher Technical Institutions in various parts of the country along the lines of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with affiliated secondary institutions. The report urged that work should start with the speedy establishment of major institutions in the four quarters of the country with the ones in the East and the West to be set up immediately.

On the grounds that West Bengal had the highest concentration of industries at the time, B. C. Roy persuaded Jawaharlal Nehru (India's first Prime Minister) to establish the first institute in West Bengal. The first Indian Institute of Technology was thus established in May 1950 as the "Eastern Higher Technical Institute". The institute was initially located in Esplanade East, Calcutta, and in September 1950 shifted to its permanent campus at Hijli, Kharagpur located 120 kilometres southwest of Kolkata. When the first session started in August 1951, there were 224 students and 42 teachers in 10 departments of the institute. The class rooms, laboratories and the administrative office were housed in the historic building of the Hijli Detention Camp (now known as Shaheed Bhawan), where political revolutionaries were imprisoned and executed during the British rule. The office building had served as the headquarters of the Bomber Command of the U.S. 20th Air Force during World War II.

The name "Indian Institute of Technology" was adopted before the formal inauguration of the institute on 18 August 1951 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. On 15 September 1956, the Parliament of India passed the Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) Act declaring it an Institute of National Importance. Prime Minister Nehru, in the first convocation address of IIT Kharagpur in 1956, said :

Here in the place of that Hijli Detention Camp stands the fine monument of India, representing India's urges, India's future in the making. This picture seems to me symbolical of the changes that are coming to India.

The Shaheed Bhawan was converted to a museum in 1990. The Srinivasa Ramanujan Complex was incorporated as another academic complex of the institute with Takshashila starting operation in 2002 and Vikramshila in 2003.

Administration

IIT Kharagpur shares a common Visitor (a position held by the President of India) and the IIT Council with other IITs. The rest of IIT Kharagpur's organisational structure is distinct from that of the other IITs. The Board of Governors of IIT Kharagpur is under the IIT Council, and has 13 members that include representatives of the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa, in addition to other members appointed by the IIT Council and the institute's senate. Under the Board of Governors is the institute's director, who serves as the chief academic and executive officer of the IIT. He is extensively aided by the deputy director. Under the director and the deputy director are the deans, heads of departments, registrar, president of the students' council, and chairman of the hall management committee. The registrar is the chief administrative officer and oversees day-to-day operations. He is the custodian of records, funds, and other properties of the institute. Under the charge of the heads of departments (HOD) are the faculty (full-time professors as well as those of associate and assistant status). The wardens of hostels are placed under the chairman of the hall management committee in the organisation.

IIT Kharagpur receives disproportionately more funding than other engineering colleges in India. While the total government funding to most other engineering colleges is around Rs. 100–200 million (US$ 2–4.5 million) per year, IIT Kharagpur gets nearly Rs. 1,300 million ($ 30 million) per year. Other sources of funds include student fees and research funding by industry-sponsored projects. IIT Kharagpur subsidises undergraduate student fees by approximately 80% and provide scholarships to all M.Tech. students and research scholars to encourage them to pursue higher studies. The cost borne by undergraduate students, including boarding and mess expenses, is around Rs. 50,000 ($ 1,100) per annum. 35% of undergraduate students are given additional financial support based on personal need and economic background, with their annual expenses being nearly Rs. 25,000 ($ 550).

The academic policies of IIT Kharagpur are decided by its senate. It consists of all professors of the institute, and administrative and student representatives. The senate controls and approves the curriculum, courses, examinations and results, and appoints committees to look into specific academic matters. The teaching, training and research activities of the institute are periodically reviewed by the senate to maintain educational standards. The director of IIT Kharagpur is the ex officio chairman of the senate.

IIT Kharagpur follows the credit-based system of performance evaluation, with proportional weighting of courses based on their importance. The total marks (usually out of 100) form the basis of grades, with a grade value (out of 10) assigned to a range of marks. For each semester, the students are graded by taking a weighted average from all the courses with their respective credit points. Each semester's evaluation is done independently with a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) reflecting the average performance across semesters. The medium of instruction is English.

Campus

IIT Kharagpur is located 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of Kolkata. The campus is located five kilometres away from Kharagpur's railway station. The layout of the present campus and the design of the buildings were carried out by a group of engineers and architects under the guidance of Werner M. Moser, a Swiss architect. The 8.5 km² (2,100 acre) campus is residence to about 20,000 inhabitants. In 2006, IIT Kharagpur had about 470 faculty members, 1,933 employees and approximately 5,500 students living on the campus. The campus has a total of 55  kilometres (34 miles) of roadways.

The 18 student hostels are located on either side of Scholars Avenue, which extends from the institute gate to the B. C. Roy Technology Hospital. The three earliest halls—Patel, Azad, and Nehru—together constitute the PAN loop or Old Campus, which is located just next to Scholar's Avenue. There are seven hostels for undergraduate male students and one for undergraduate female students. Another hostel for women has quite recently been constructed. In addition, there are a few post-graduate students' hostels including two for women and a separate hostel for scholars from the armed forces. The Jnan Ghosh stadium and Tata Sports Complex host large-scale sports competitions. The Tagore Open Air Theatre has a capacity of 3,000 people, and is used to host cultural programs. The Science and Technology Entrepreneurs' Park (STEP) provides infrastructure facilities to alumni who want to become entrepreneurs but lack infrastructure to start their own corporation.

In addition to the main campus at Kharagpur, the institute has an extension centre at Kolkata to provide venues for continuing education programmes, distance learning courses, and guesthouse accommodation. The institute plans to expand the Kolkata extension centre at Rajarhat, and use it to offer full-time undergraduate and postgraduate courses from the 2008 session onwards. The 10 acre Rajarhat campus will house 2,500 students, and will eventually expand to 250 acres (1 km²). The institute's plan for a similar branch campus of 200 acre (0.8 km²) in Bhubaneswar was scrapped following rejection by the Union Human Resource and Development ministry.

Academic buildings

IIT Kharagpur has 100 academic departments, 80 multi-disciplinary centres/schools, and 130 schools of excellence in addition to laboratories and central research facilities. Apart from the main building in the central academic complex, the Srinivasa Ramanujan Complex also has common academic facilities. In the S. R. Complex, the Takshashila building houses the G. S. Sanyal School of Telecommunication, the School of Information Technology and the Computer and Informatics Centre; and has facilities for conducting lecture classes as well. Vikramshila is another academic building in the S. R. Complex, having four lecture halls, several seminar rooms, and Kalidas Auditorium, which has a seating capacity of 850.

The main building houses most of the administrative offices of the institute. It has numerous lecture halls, and two big auditoriums on either side. The tower of the main building has a steel tank with 10,000 imperial gallons of water capacity for emergency supply needs. The Netaji Auditorium in the main building is used for official functions and events, and doubles as a cinema theatre on weekend nights, showing movies to the IIT community at subsidised rates.

IIT Kharagpur's first library was located in a small room of the institute's NEW Building (Shaheed Bhawan). At the time of its opening in 1951, the library had a collection of 2,500 books. Now located in the main building of the institute, the Central Library is the biggest technical library in Asia. Its collection includes over 350,000 books and documents, and it subscribes to more than 1,600 printed and online journals. The library has six halls and a section exclusively for SC and ST students. The library's collection consists of books, reports, conference proceedings, back volumes of periodicals, standards, theses, micro-forms, CD-ROMs, floppies, and audio-visual material. The library's transaction service is automated and online searches are possible through an Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC). The Electronic Library section has a collection of databases, video lectures and miscellaneous other resources.

The Nehru Museum of Science and Technology has over a hundred indoor exhibits that include technical models collected from various institutions across India. The park outside the museum contains 14 open-air demonstrations and outdoor exhibits, including a hunter plane and a steam engine. The museum also has an archive room, showcasing documents relating to the history of the institute and West Midnapore district. The Rural Museum, located in the Rural Development Centre of the institute, has a collection of exhibits in local culture.

Civic amenities

The institute campus has six guest houses, a civic hospital, four nationalised banks, four schools, a railway reservation counter and a police station within its limits. The campus has its own water pumping station, electrical sub-station, telephone exchange, a market, six restaurants, and a garbage disposal section for the daily needs of the residents. Construction is going on for another guest house and a convention centre having a capacity of 2,000. The institute draws its supply of water from wells near the Kosai river (located 112 kilometres away from institute) by harnessing sub-surface water. Three deep wells near the institute supplement the supply from the river. The water is supplied by a pipeline to 12 tanks in the campus with a total capacity of 2,800,000 litres (615,000 imperial gallons).

IIT Kharagpur is located just outside the town of Kharagpur, in the Hijli village. The civic amenities provided to the campus of IIT Kharagpur make it nearly self-sufficient with regards to the basic needs of the residents. As Kharagpur is a small town, there is limited direct interaction between the campus community and the town. There is also little opportunity for the employment of family members of the faculty. Unlike some other IITs (such as IIT Bombay), IIT Kharagpur does not restrict outsiders' entry into the campus. IIT Kharagpur provides much of its benefits to the local community through the Rural Development Centre (RDC) located in the campus. Established in 1975, the RDC helps the local community by developing customised technologies. The RDC also co-ordinates the National Service Scheme (NSS) programs in IIT Kharagpur, with the members of NSS taking part in weekly community service activities such as sanitation, road construction, teaching and building educational models.

Beginning in 2005, IIT Kharagpur started construction of a boundary wall for the security of the campus. Restrictions to entry are planned once the construction is complete. This was opposed by the local community as it would hinder their access to amenities provided by the institute. The local community also opposes the construction of a flyover from the railway station to the campus, as it would lead to substantial losses of opportunity for the shops along the roads. The construction of the 1052.69 m long flyover has been approved by the Indian Railways and West Bengal state government. It will be formally called Hijli Road overbridge, and will be constructed for estimated cost of Rs. 237 million ($ 5.3 million).

Admissions and academics

Admission to most undergraduate and postgraduate courses in IIT Kharagpur is granted through written entrance examinations. Admission to M.S. and Ph.D. programmes is based primarily on a personal interview, though candidates have to take written tests as well.

Admission to undergraduate programmes in all IITs is tied to the Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination, popularly known as IIT-JEE. Candidates who qualify for admission through IIT-JEE can apply for admission in B.Tech. (Bachelor of Technology), Dual Degree (Integrated Bachelor of Technology and Master of Technology) and integrated M.Sc. (Master of Sciences) courses at IIT Kharagpur. The admissions to postgraduate programmes (M.Tech.) are made primarily through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE). Other prominent postgraduate entrance exams include Joint Admission to M.Sc. (JAM) for M.Sc., and Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET) for management studies.

As per the rules of admission to IIT Kharagpur, 15% of the seats are reserved for students belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC) and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes (ST). As of 2008, 27% separate reservation exists for the Other Backward Classes.

IIT Kharagpur is a member of LAOTSE, an international network of universities in Europe and Asia exchanging students and senior scholars. The institute has been ranked as India's best engineering institute by India Today in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2007. In the Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Academic Ranking of World Universities (2006), IIT Kharagpur was the only engineering school from India listed among the top 500 universities worldwide.

Undergraduate education

IIT Kharagpur offers a number of degrees as part of its undergraduate programmes. They include Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.), Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) and the 5 year integrated Master of Science . The B.Tech. degree is the most common undergraduate degree in IIT Kharagpur in terms of student enrollment. It is based on a four-year programme with eight semesters. The first year of the B.Tech. curriculum has common courses from various departments. At the end of the first year, an option to change departments is given to meritorious students on the basis of their performance in the first two semesters.

From the second year onwards, the students take up courses offered exclusively by their respective departments that are known as depth courses. In addition to these, the students have to take a number of inter-disciplinary courses known as breadth courses. Separate courses from the humanities and social sciences (HSS) department, and management and information technology are also required. At the end of the third year, the B.Tech. and Dual Degree students undertake mandatory industrial training for a minimum period of eight working weeks as part of the undergraduate curriculum. In the final year of their studies, most of the students are offered jobs in industries and other organisations through the Training and Placement (T&P) section of the institute. Some students opt out of this facility in favour of higher studies, or to take up jobs by applying to recruiting organisations directly. In addition to the major degree as part of the undergraduate education, students can take up additional subjects from other departments, and by demonstrating knowledge of a discipline based on performance parameters and course objectives set by the department, earn a minor in that department.

Postgraduate and doctoral education

IIT Kharagpur (along with other IITs) offers Dual Degree programs that integrate undergraduate and postgraduate studies in selected pairs of branches and specialisations. Most of the Dual Degree programs involve specialisation in the major field of education of the student. But for a dual degree involving an MBA from Vinod Gupta School of Management, the selection is made on the basis of an aptitude test of students across all engineering streams. The Dual Degree program spans a period of five years as against six years in conventional B.Tech. (four years) followed by an M.Tech. or MBA (two years). IIT Kharagpur has a management school (Vinod Gupta School of Management) and a law school (Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law) on its premises. The Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law has been opened in collaboration with George Washington University.

Continuing education

Sponsored research

Institutes and departments

Student life and culture

IIT Kharagpur provides on-campus residential facilities to its students, research scholars and faculty. The students live in hostels (referred to as halls) throughout their stay in the IIT. Undergraduate students must choose between National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS) and National Sports Organisation (NSO) for their first two years of study. IIT Kharagpur has common sports grounds for cricket, football, hockey, volleyball, lawn tennis, badminton, and athletics; and swimming pools for aquatic events. Most of the hostels have their own sports grounds.

The students of IIT Kharagpur compete among themselves in various events held under the purview of open-IIT and inter-hall events, and the results of the latter contribute to the overall tally of points that determine the winner of General Championship. The four broad categories in which General Championships are decided are Sports, Social & cultural activities, Technology, and Hall affairs. The women's hostel together participate as a single team in all events with the exception of sports, where women's team do not participate at inter-hall level. IIT Kharagpur participates in the Inter-IIT Sports Meet, held annually in one of the IITs by policy of rotation.

The students of IIT Kharagpur choose their representatives by elections held under the purview of the Technology Students' Gymkhana. The highest-ranking student representative chosen by the elections is the Vice-President of the Gymkhana, and represents the students in the senate. All halls nominate two representatives for the senate. The Gymkhana publishes an annual magazine called Alankar. A fortnightly newsletter called The Scholar's Avenue, named after the avenue common to the student halls, is also published by an independent student body. Individual halls organise "Hall day" — an annual event that involves lighting and decoration of the organising hall, with a social gathering of students from all halls — during the month of March. The event is also used by the halls to popularise their candidates for student body elections.

Students who violate the code of conduct of the institute have to defend themselves in front of the Hall Disciplinary Committee (HDC), which investigates the case and prescribes punishment if necessary. Students may appeal against the punishment to the Appellate-cum-Liaison Committee known as Inter Hall Disciplinary Committee (IHDC). The IHDC submits its recommendations to the Senate, which finalises the punishment. Extreme cases of indiscipline are referred directly to the IHDC. The IHDC is empowered to give punishments to students for acts of indiscretion committed anywhere in India. IIT Kharagpur has strict provisions dealing with physical and mental harassment of junior students (ragging). There are separate halls for first year undergraduate male students, which are off-limits to senior students. Students found harassing their juniors are suspended from the institute, without going through the Disciplinary Committee.

Festivals

Illumination festival, popularly known as Illu, is a festival unique to IIT Kharagpur. It is inspired from the day of Diwali (the festival of lights) and is usually held on the day of Diwali itself. It is held as a competition among student halls. As part of the Illumination festival, all halls build vertical panels of bamboo (called Chatais) on which thousands of lamps (diyas) are mounted forming outlines of people or things; illustrating an event, or a place of importance. The chatais may reach a height of 6 m (20 ft), with nearly 20,000 lighted lamps. The lamps on the chatais are lighted with all other light sources switched off, to showcase the art-panels made by the flickering lamps. On the same day as Illumination, the Rangoli Competition is organised as an inter-hall event. Rangolis of exquisite detail and shading—measuring around 3.5 m (12 ft) long by 3.5 m wide—are constructed using coloured powders, crushed bangles, and pebbles. Interplay of light and shadow and ambient music are part of the display.

Alumni

The alumni of IIT Kharagpur have achieved prominence in various fields. Sushantha Kumar Bhattacharyya was awarded the CBE, a knighthood, and Padma Bhushan; and V. C. Kulandaiswamy was awarded Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. Mani Lal Bhaumik invented the excimer laser. Srikumar Banerjee became the Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Kirit Parikh was the founder director of Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) and a member of Union Planning Commission of India. In the corporate world, Suhas Patil founded Cirrus Logic, Arjun Malhotra co-founded HCL Technologies, Vinod Gupta founded InfoUSA, Ajit Jain became president of Berkshire Hathaway's Reinsurance Group, and Arun Sarin became the CEO of Vodafone. R. Gopalakrishnan is the Director of Tata Motors and Tata Power. Prith Banerjee has been appointed as the worldwide director of HP Labs, the research wing of Hewlett-Packard.

The Vinod Gupta School of Management and Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law were established with donated funds from Vinod Gupta. Other centres built by funding from alumni include the G.S. Sanyal School of Telecommunication and VLSI-CAD laboratory. The IIT Foundation, started by Vinod Gupta in 1992, is the alumni association of the institute having chapters in many cities in India and abroad. The alumni association publishes the quarterly newsletter KGPian for the alumni. The institute also publishes a monthly e-newsletter titled KGP Konnexion for alumni. IIT Kharagpur has a dean for alumni affairs to manage liaisons with alumni. The institute organises an annual alumni meet in January.

The US-based alumni of IIT Kharagpur have started the Vision 2020 fundraiser, intending to provide infrastructure (like labs and equipment) and attract and retain faculty and students. The objective of Vision 2020 is to raise a US$200 million endowment fund by the year 2020 for technology education, research and innovation related growth of the institute.

References

Further reading

• Deb, Sandipan (2004). The IITians. India: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-670-04986-7.
• Students of IIT Kharagpur. (2004). Introduction to IIT Kharagpur. [Documentary]. India: TSG.
• Chattopadhyay, Suhrid Sankar "Enabling industrial progress". Volume 19 - Issue 18. Frontline, Retrieved on 2006-07-29.
• Chattopadhyay, Suhrid Sankar "A committed player". Volume 19 - Issue 18. Frontline, Retrieved on 2006-08-27.

External links

• Official website
• Map of IIT Kharagpur
• Map of IIT Kharagpur on Google Maps
• Vinod Gupta School of Management
• Alumni Association of IIT Kharagpur
• Photo tour of IIT Kharagpur
• IIT Kharagpur wiki