West Bengal

You can't get direct admission into IISER on the basis of 10+2 marks. You have to apply for JEE which is conducted by IIT. You have to appear and qualify JEE Main and JEE Advanced or IISER Aptitude Test (for INSPIRE Eligible Students) with good marks.

Those who have qualified KVPY can apply directly without appearing for JEE Main and Advanced. The candidates applying through state and central board have to give IISER aptitude test for admission into IISER.

There are various campuses of IISER in India at different place which is IISER Kolkata, IISER Mohali, IISER Trivandrum, IISER Bhopal and IISER Pune.

If you qualify with good marks then you will get admission into a 5-years BS-MS Dual Degree program. There are limited seats and you have to be really good to get admission in IISER.

In terms of academics, IISER Kolkata is good but not good as IISER Pune. First of all, major-minor thing is not that good, most of the people opt out of minor and only take major.

And this is really not true that IISERK is good in physics. There are few profs who are very reputed in thier field but most of the physics profs are on a similar level as other IISERs. Overall all the IISER have good research facilities. Also, most of the physics profs have huge ego. Don't know why. They mentally harass students on a regular basis.

* Coming to student life, IISERK campus is very far from the main kolkata city (almost 60 kms). And the transportation from campus to city is terrible. 1.5 hr journey in the local train is very difficult, you will not get any seat and you will be pushed from all sides. That is why, people go to kolkata rarely. As far as I know, pune is almost in the city. Rest things are fine.

Also I would like to mention about doing MS-Thesis project from outside of IISER Kolkata. Only two departments allow that here — Department of Earth Sciences and Biological Sciences. But a huge problem is convincing some profs from here to become Co-supervisor without whom one cannot do from outside. Profs don't want students to do thesis from outside, so they don't agree to become supervisor and knowingly destroy students career and laugh about it. I know people who got Project opportunity from institutes abroad but didn't got Co-supervisor from the IISER Kolkata. Many profs here enjoy mentally harassing students here. It's really tough to survive in labs here because they force students to work for more than 12 hours. it's exhausting and tiresome. even after that profs say things like you are * and don't know anything. they are extremely toxic. some profs use this situation to sexually exploit students. because their friends are the administrators so they get away doing all this bullshit. one would think that how can something like this can happen in premier institutes like IISER Kolkata but it happens a lot.

Hostels at IISER Kolkata

Institute has following three hostels in the permanent campus:

* The Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Hall

* The Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Hall.                                                         * The Nivedita Hall

IISER Kolkata has three hostels. The hostel accommodations are quite good.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Hall (ICVS): It is an all-boys hostel for BS-MS students. This hostel is the closest to the lecture halls and research labs. You can get to the lecture halls within 2 minutes from this hostel. 

ICVS has great facilities including high-speed internet, wash-rooms with geysers, washing machines on each floor. The hostel is under CCTV surveillance. However, there are no strict entering and exiting times specified.

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (NSCB): NSCB has the same facilities as ICVS. It was also built at the same time. There are 2 wings for girls and 1 wing for boys. The boy’s and girl’s wings are separated by doors. 

The main canteen is situated between NSCB and ICVS. The canteen is run by students. Below the main canteen, there are two stationary shops, xerox shops, saloons, and two refreshment shops. 

Nivedita Hall: This hostel was built most recently. It is for the junior year BS-MS students. It has 2 wings for boys and 1 wing for girls. The wings are well-separated. It has all the facilities as the other two hostels. But there is poor ventilation.

It is close to the cricket ground, gym, badminton court, volleyball court. This hostel has its own canteen. 

In the hostel, there are separate wings for Ph.D. and BS-MS students. Ph.D. students are allotted single rooms and BS-MS students are allotted double sharing accommodation. There are no hostel facilities for post-doctoral students. 

Outside hostels : 

Lokenath Paying Guest

Life Style PG

Sankar Das Mess

BASU MATI LADIES MESS