Know About KVPY, Pure Sciences BS Degree At IISc

KVPY (Kishore Vaigyanik Protshan Yojana) was started in 1999 with one clear goal: to encourage the pre sciences in India. It is funded by the Department of Science and Technology and administered by the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc).

The number of students opting for a research oriented career is quite low. But research is an important factor for the growth of Industry. With this in mind, the department has set up this scholarship programme. Generous scholarships (up to Rs. 7000 per month) are awarded as a part of this programme.

There are a couple of entry points for this programme, and I will be focusing only on those for the 11th and 12th standards. Stream SA (for class 11) and Stream SB+2/SX (for class 12) are the two streams of interest. They syllabus is claimed to be the 10th and 12th standard syllabi of various boards, but in reality require more than just the memorization oriented approach demanded by the boards. Each question is carefully crafted like a delicate piece of art. You'll appreciate that after the key comes out! If the question seems straightforward, you are mostly wrong.

Preparing for KVPY entrance exam

Preparing exclusively for KVPY is not needed, and if you are already taking up JEE coaching, it'll only be another burden. Preparing for the IIT-JEE (or in its new avatar in 2013) is the best way to prepare for KVPY. Any student can take up the exam, but the scholarship can be availed only if you take up a pure science course for your undergrad. For more information click here.

BS at IISc, Bangalore

Recently, IISc in Bangalore has started a 4 year BS course. Students are selected for this programme based on KVPY, IITJEE, AIEEE and AIPMT (as of 2012), with KVPY based offers being a majority.

The 4 year BS programme is a pure science programme with options to major in Physics, Chemistry, Math, Biology, Materials or Environmental Science. It also includes an engineering component as a part of the course. This structure is very new to India, as we only had three year BSc degrees so far. The 4 year structure also allows students to directly proceed for a PhD abroad, as most institutes require 16 years of formal education for their PhD programme. About 120 seats were made available as a part of this programme in 2012, for which about 11,000 applications were received, but there are no official numbers. For more information on this course click here.

About the writer

Shashank HR completed his PUC from RV PU College (integrated with Base) in Bangalore in 2012. He appeared in several entrance exams and got very impressive ranks. IIT-JEE: Rank 1235 (All India), KVPY: Rank 263 (All India), AIEEE: Rank 10 (Karnataka state Rank) Rank 228 (All India), Karnataka CET: Rank 15 (Engineering), Karnataka COMEDK: Rank 12.