The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) achieved numerous historic milestones in 2024, with many more promising accomplishments on the horizon. The institute excelled not only in research and academics but also in translational research, which transforms laboratory discoveries into real-world applications, as well as in innovation, entrepreneurship, and industrial consultancy. Setting an unparalleled record in Indian Education History, IIT Madras secured the No. 1 position in the ‘Overall’ category for the sixth consecutive year and in the ‘Engineering’ category for the ninth consecutive year—maintaining its top spot since the inaugural edition of the rankings in 2016. The Institute also improved its position in QS World University Rankings (QS WUR) from 285 last year to 227 in QS WUR 2025. Among its many pioneering initiatives, IIT Madras became the first IIT in India to introduce undergraduate admissions for sportspersons through its ‘Sports Excellence Admission’ (SEA) program. Launched in the 2024–25 academic year, SEA offers two supernumerary seats per undergraduate program for Indian nationals, with one seat exclusively reserved for female students. This initiative aims to recognize and reward talented sportspersons, enabling them to pursue higher education while continuing their athletic pursuits. Continuing its trailblazing efforts, IIT Madras will also launch the ‘Fine Arts and Culture Excellence’ (FACE) admission program for undergraduate students starting in 2025–26. Designed to honor and encourage students to excel in fine arts and culture, this program will allocate two supernumerary seats in each B.Tech. and B.S. program. Of these, one seat will be reserved for female students, while the other will be open to all genders. The Director of IIT Madras, said- Outlining his vision for the Institute in 2025, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said,“Looking forward, 2025 is going to be a year of a lot of expectations and challenges. One of the biggest challenges that we have put in front of us is ‘Startup Shatam’ where we are looking at incubating 100 startups. We are also going to host the Pan-IIT, NIT, and top NIRF institutions in an invention fair called ‘IInvenTiv-2025’ in which these institutions will showcase some of their prominent inventions that could serve the society at large.” He also added, “We have a very exciting and challenging 2025 in front of us and I am sure that with all the hard work of the staff, the students, faculty, alumni and the industry partners, IIT Madras will continue to lead and produce lot of things that will be extremely useful for the society at large.” IIT Madras also became the First Research Organization in the world to release the most detailed 3D High-Resolution images of the fetal brain. This pioneering work from the Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre of IIT Madras pushes the frontiers of Brain Mapping Technology and places India in the global league of brain mapping science as this is first-of-its-kind work anywhere in the world. About IIT Madras Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) was established in 1959 by the Government of India as an ‘Institute of National Importance.’ The activities of the Institute in various fields of Science and Technology are carried out in 18 academic departments and several advanced interdisciplinary research academic centres. The Institute offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs leading to B.Tech., M.Sc., M.B.A., M.Tech., M.S., and Ph.D., degrees in a variety of specializations.
