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12  Academic Rules

Keywords

IITB academic rules, grading policy, examinations, curriculum, IIT Bombay courses

As a faculty member, the academic responsibilities include: (i) teaching existing courses (ii) starting new courses (iii) evaluating student performance in courses (iv) supervising research performed by students at various levels and (v) evaluating research performed by students (supervised by oneself, or colleagues).

As a core activity (along with research), teaching involves delivery of courses (and performance of associated activities such as evaluation) as part of the Institute’s academic programmes. The rules governing various aspects of administration and conduct of the academic programmes are determined by the Senate. IIT Bombay prides itself on a flexible curriculum for its programmes, which gives each student ample opportunity to pursue her academic interests irrespective of the discipline to which she belongs.

12.1 Proposing a new course

As a faculty member, you can propose new courses as electives in your area of expertise. Such courses go through a process of approval, first at the academic unit level, then at the level of the appropriate Programme committee (PC) of the Senate, and finally at the Senate.

12.2 Evaluation Scheme at IIT Bombay

IIT Bombay follows a credit system for its educational programmes, in which the credits assigned to an academic activity are indicative of the quantum of work involved in that activity. Thus, the credits for a course, for example, depend on the number of Lectures per week (2 credits per lecture hour), the number of tutorials per week (2 credits per tutorial hour) and the number of Practicals or Laboratory hours per week (1 credit per hour). Most theory courses are worth 6 credits and are made up of 2 lecture hours and a tutorial hour per week (that is, , a 2-1-0-6 structure). Credits are also assigned to activities such as seminars and projects. The assessment of a student’s performance in a course is by continuous evaluation through the duration of the course, and the Instructor has considerable freedom in deciding the components of evaluation and their relative weights.

Typical components are assignments, tests and other activities such as course projects which run through the semester, a mid-semester examination (typically worth 30% towards the final grade) and the end-semester examination (typically worth 50%). The final percentage marks obtained by a student are converted to a letter grade, usually based on the performance of the student relative to the class (the conversion can also be on an absolute basis, for example if the student strength is very small for a course). These and other details are available on the Academic office webpage.

Instructors are expected to announce the evaluation methodology at the beginning of the course, and also make available the corrected answer scripts for every assignment, quiz or examination (including the end-semester exam) for the students’ inspection. The instructor gets a feedback on the effectiveness of her teaching through a system of online course evaluation by students, which happens at the end of the teaching semester.

Students should be encouraged to participate in the mid-term and end-term course feedback processes. The feedback from mid-term evaluation process may be used constructively for improvement in the course delivery. Teaching evaluations should be taken seriously, and introspection helps one become a better teacher.

12.3 PhD supervision

From the Spring Semester 2026–27, PhD scholarships (TA/RA/FA/TAP/RAP) stop after the standard five years, and the student’s category changes automatically to “Converted Self-Finance”. A supervisor who can support the student from project funds can have the student moved to “Converted Project Staff” through a simplified appointment process. Both categories keep the tuition fee, accommodation and medical provisions of the scholarship categories.

Apart from teaching and instructing courses, you are also expected to do a fair amount of supervision at the UG/PG and PhD levels. While basic rules for guidance varies across academic units, the PhD supervision entails certain basic criteria.

  1. Only full time faculty are entitled to undertake PhD supervision.
  2. At any given time, the number of Institute research scholars (TAs and/or RAs) working with under your supervision shall not exceed five. The DPGC/PGC of the academic unit can decide on the total number of research students of all categories working with him/her.
  3. As a supervisor, you are expected to supervise the student till satisfactory results are achieved.
  4. A supervisor must keep a check that the students being supervised deliver the Annual Progress Seminar (APS) every twelve months after joining the program. The APS report must contain information describing the research that has been performed in the completed year and submit it to the Research Progress Committee (RPC). The student must then deliver an open seminar, which all interested members of the academic unit are free to attend, where he/she will be examined by the RPC. The objective of the seminar is to provide feedback about the research completed by the student in the past year, and provide suggestions for continuing and refining his/her research. With the progress of a student’s PhD, the work presented is expected to evolve from a thorough understanding of fundamental concepts and reported literature to an in-depth solution to a novel research problem. The RPC lays emphasis on publications in reputed international journals, filing invention disclosures and patents based on nature of the research output, and also encourages the student to present his/her work in international conferences and workshops.
  5. You can also serve as a co-supervisor if any student chooses to have more than one supervisor, and if this is approved by the DPGC.
  6. If you are going on long leave, such as lien/sabbatical leave/special leave/deputation etc., you must propose an alternate arrangement to continue the academic activities of your students.
  1. Whenever a Supervisor leaves the Institute permanently or temporarily for a period greater than or equal to one year, the DPGCs/IDPCs/PGCs shall provide new supervisor(s) for the students being supervised by him/her before his/her departure.
  2. Whenever a Supervisor leaves the Institute temporarily for a period less than one year, the DPGCs/IDPCs/PGC shall make an alternate arrangement for the guidance of his/her students.
  3. The DPGC/ IDPC/ PGC may consider continuation of the original Supervisor upon his/her return to the Institute, as Co-Supervisor of his/her students depending on the period for which he/she has supervised the PhD programmes of the students concerned.
  4. Any such arrangements made shall be forwarded to PGAPEC for prior approval.
  1. Change of supervisor is generally not advised and should be sought as a last resort. Under exceptional circumstances, if a student chooses to terminate the relationship, then it will only be permitted on recommendation of the DPGC/IDPC/PGCA. Every effort should be made to allow a fair transition for both the faculty and the concerned student.
  2. Student supervision can also be done jointly with faculty or staff of other universities or educational institutes. In some cases, such as the IITB-Monash Research Academy, the Institute facilitates joint advising of students across Institutes. In other cases, permission may be sought from the Dean (AP) through the Head of the academic unit for having co-guides from outside IIT Bombay. If you wish to guide a student and another Institute or University, you may seek permission from the Dean (FA) through the Head of your academic unit.