Starting from the 2011 batch, the branch change rules were liberalized with the removal of the CGPA restriction of 8.0 for branch change. Branch changes are now allowed if there is a vacancy in the department you wish to move to. Starting from my batch(2011 batch), students also have the flexibility to do a dual-major(which is equivalent to two B.Tech degrees, e.g.. B.Tech, EE with a major in CSE), a minor in another department as well as the traditional conversion to a dual-degree M.Tech/M.Sc course. You can customise course template to a large extent and have the luxury of as many as 6 open electives(in CSE, atleast), which could be courses from any department you like, including MBA courses. Thus, if say you want to go for an MBA, you can have an edge.

• Double Major
• Branch Change
• Minors
• Dual Degree
• MBA (BTM/BSM)
• Honors (BTH / BSH)

At IITK teachers engage with the class. It is not a one way communication. Each student in the class is important to the faculty. The faculty is very approachable. No fear or awe is expected from the students. The classroom atmosphere while being focused on learning is student friendly.

The education at IITK encourages critical thinking. That is why IITK encourages curiosity based learning. Often teachers will ask questions aimed at making the student think. Such introspection helps the student make connections and start to see the bigger picture.

The teaching at IITK inspires students to push their personal boundaries. Courses are taught in depth and with background to help students grasp concepts firmly. There is often optional content that challenges and motivates students. This takes them to the frontiers of research in the area.
The time spent at IITK makes a student go from being a good learner to being a good thinker and researcher in the student's field of choice. Even undergraduate research at IITK has won the institute many laurels.

Innovation is an integral part of teaching at IITK. While the curriculum represents the institute's vision for the course, the teaching methods are the choice of the individual teachers and reflect their vision. There is freedom for the faculty to experiment in the teaching.
The faculty enjoy this freedom and use it to impart in-depth knowledge to the students. An example of innovative teaching is quasi open time exams where the emphasis is on how deep is your understanding of the subject and neither on how quickly you can recall it nor on how well you can reproduce the lecture notes in the exam.

• IITK offers a liberal undergraduate education, where knowledge of science and technology is part of a broader knowledge platform. A student has the choice of opting for more than 50% of courses outside of the student's chosen department. Of these a student can opt for more than 25% of courses that are in fields such as management and humanities.
• The student is therefore free to develop a wide knowledge base encompassing many disciplines. IITK recognizes an undergraduate degree as the start of a student's higher education learning and encourages the student to explore so that the student can know what to do next.
• In its undergraduate education IITK has removed the artificial split between the two science streams of Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics (PCM) and Physics, Chemistry & Biology (PCB). This has been done by introducing life sciences courses for engineering students. This better meets the needs of society since greater interaction between the two streams is required to deliver the next generation of inventions and discoveries.

• IITK has world class facilities and performs research at the highest levels so a student is able to work and learn with some of the best people in the world in their area.
• IITK hosts conferences and seminars throughout the year. There are a lot of visitors making it a vibrant research environment.
• There is great interdisciplinary interaction at IITK since disciplinary boundaries no longer confine knowledge creation. The halls of residence are interdisciplinary.
• The opportunity to teach some of the best students in the world, as a Teaching Assistant (TA), helps a researcher to grow.
• The postgraduate programme that cover science, engineering, humanities and management create a highly diverse atmosphere conducive to interdisciplinary interaction.
• IITK offers travel support to PhD students for academic purposes, including, on merit, support for presenting research papers in international conferences held abroad.

Student loans are easily available for education at IITK. In addition, IITK provides financial support to deserving students. The aim of the financial aid programmes is to ensure that financial circumstances do not prevent a meritorious student from studying at IIT Kanpur.

At IITK, education and learning does not end with the laboratories and the classroom. The culture of respect and desire for knowledge can be seen in all aspects of the campus life.
The Student Gymkhana and many clubs are supported by the institute to encourage student participation in a wide variety of activities. These promote sports, culture and science & technology related activities.
There is a high level of student participation in the institute's academic and non-academic administration as well. Students are part of key committees of the institute. There is an independent student senate for the students to manage their own affairs.

Alumni of the institute have an edge due to the IITK education which builds their ability to grasp new concepts and acquire new knowledge. They have shown a strong sense of ethics and a courageous outlook born out of deep rooted self belief.
A measure of the high quality of the education received by the alumni is the fact that worldwide the academia, in the most discerning institutions, abounds with IITK alumni.
Their ability to understand, reason and analyze have led them to the forefront of diverse areas such as education, research, management and public service. IITK alumni have performed with great distinction in every field that they have chosen for themselves.

Research at IITK is done by small individual led research groups and there are also large interdisciplinary project teams. The research environment supports highly creative work done by a small group. At the same time the environment is suitable for managing the large mission critical assignments that are undertaken at IITK.

There is a large talent pool of high level researchers so there is great opportunity for need based collaboration. Due to the vibrant research environment at IITK there is regular exposure to new ideas. It helps young researchers to prepare their mind and see the big picture in their area of interest.

A researcher enjoys the independence to choose the research area. This independence is there at all faculty levels. The researcher is supported by a dynamic research administration that has a non-bureaucratic work culture.

A significant proportion of the research done at IITK is interdisciplinary. There are interdisciplinary academic programme and interdisciplinary research centre & facilities at IITK.

These lead to great interdisciplinary interaction at IITK and facilitate collaboration for interdisciplinary research. The open research environment encourages interaction with others leading to extraordinary research work.

Leveraging the research capabilities of IITK can give businesses the decisive edge they seek. The in-depth approach leads to outcomes that deliver lasting value. The IITK client list includes leading companies worldwide.

The teaching done by faculty helps the faculty grow. The faculty is encouraged to develop new courses based on their research. The faculty also have the freedom to modify existing courses to include content related to their research.

The faculty benefit from the dedicated PhD students of IITK, who are key to the success of research at IITK.

At IITK, young faculty can start teaching early in their career and this enhances their ability to do challenging research.

The institute encourages active learning to help build critical thinking skills of its students and prepare them for research. Quality research needs committed students to move the research agenda forward. Therefore a student at IITK gets a world class education and gets to participate in great research work.

For the students it is an ideal place to learn how high quality research is done. Being a science intensive engineering education the students are more future ready and are able to adapt to new technologies. And thanks to the big emerging opportunities for new technologies, more and more students are today choosing a research oriented job over a job that does not involve formal research. IITK prepares its students well for such jobs.

Faculty and students at IITK respect the fact that to do path breaking research, in addition to knowledge in an area, one requires creativity, self belief, courage and persistence.

Great research requires risk taking ability. The IITK culture offers support and encouragement to take on challenging work. This enables researchers to work on the important problems in their field. The strong institutional support enables the researchers to ask tough questions knowing that finding the answers will take time and effort.

At IITK, there is great support for creativity driven exploration. For example tinkering. Tinkering has led to some of the greatest discoveries and inventions. The IITK environment supports and enables tinkering. This support backs creativity and helps researchers try out ideas easily. An inconsistency noticed while doing creativity driven exploration could be the small crack that ultimately opens big doors to new knowledge.

Quality research happens more often in a culture where free thinking is encouraged and that is very true for IITK. The drive and commitment for research is sustained because at IITK a researcher is able to enjoy the research work to the fullest.

For more info on research opportunities at iitk look here

IIT Kanpur is a leading institute of India that is focused on education and research in science, technology, management and humanities. Its alumni and faculty have consistently won national and international awards for their accomplishments.

Worldwide the academia abounds with researchers who were students or faculty at IIT Kanpur.

In other fields the courageous, critical thinking led approach of its alumni and faculty has manifested itself as thought leadership in their chosen field.

The department has been involved in research areas like physical and mechanical metallurgy, functional and device material and biomaterials.The scientists here are consistently working hard to develop electronic devices(memories,displays,solar cells.LEDs), fuel cells, biomaterials and biomimicking devices, environmental friendly materials, railways, automotive and space technology.The department has unique facilities like FEI Technai 20 U Twin Transmission Electron Microscope..The faculty here are involved in several projects funded by ISRO,DRDO,MHRD,GE India Technology Center etc.The graduates from this department are recruited by companies like Transocean, Schlumberger, Tata Steel, Reliance, Jindal Steel and Power, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley etc

Pankaj tells you how to make an informed choice - https://thatsiitk.quora.com/Material-Science-and-Engineering-IIT-Kanpur-by-Pankaj-Kumar

Akash Bajaj, a fourth year UG student, shares advice on how to choose the appropriate department based on your strengths and interests and why MSE was a good choice for him - http://thatsiitk.quora.com/Materials-Science-Engineering-IIT-Kanpur.

One of the founding departments of IIT Kanpur, the Mechanical Engineering Department has striven to stay abreast of the best pedagogical practices.Students are exposed to high end numerical and experimental techniques in solid and fluid mechanics and manufacturing sciences. Cutting edge research is done in the fields of Solid Mechanics and Design, Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences, Manufacturing Science, Mechatronics and Nuclear Technology. A graduating student is not only theoretically sound but is also very well versed with latest computational and experimental skills. Thus students are readily absorbed in giant multinational firms like GE, GM and Indian firms like TATA Steel to name a few. A lot of students are absorbed in other premier research organizations like ISRO, DRDO etc. Every year a majority of students take up higher studies in prestigious foreign universities US, GERMANY, UK, CANADA.

For information about research opportunities : http://web.iitk.ac.in/july14men/research/undergraduate-project

The Department of Sustainable Energy Engineering was approved by the Board of Governors of IIT Kanpur on 7th December 2020 and came into being on 26th December 2020. The Department will conduct high-quality educational programmes, research and development as well as outreach activities. The Department aims to contribute to the national vision of energy sustainability of meeting a large proportion of nation's energy needs through new and renewable energy technologies in future for better health of its citizens and energy security. Department has also partnered with Mehta Family Foundation (USA) and Rice University (USA) to achieve excellence in education, research, and technology development in energy sustainability.