As part of its continuous process of diversification of academic programmes, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay, will launch an undergraduate programme ‘Bachelor of Science in Economics’ in July this year.
Having gained knowledge and experience from the conduct of core and elective courses in Economics for the undergraduate and postgraduate students over several years, the IIT-B’s Department of Humanities and Social Sciences is starting the new undergraduate programme.
The objective behind the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences’ decision is to create a unique brand of students who will be equipped to balance economics, enterprise, science and technology with social objectives and produce well-trained professionals with inter and multi-disciplinary skills for applied economic analysis and efficient decision-making.
The programme aims at producing graduates who, while contributing to technological applications and achieving significant breakthroughs, will also be equipped with a broad social-ethical perspective. Educationists have for long emphasised the need for a balance between economics, ethics and enterprise.
“The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences has built academic excellence in a number of areas, including economics. The new programme in economics will provide students with a high quality education based on a rigorous curriculum but with a wide range of electives offered in our multidisciplinary environment,” Director of IIT Bombay Prof. Devang Khakhar said.
“The students will be well prepared to contribute to addressing the issues being faced in the increasingly complex national and global economic environments,” Prof Khakhar said.
The new programme seeks to impart education to students to become more efficient analysts/ decision-making professionals in the areas of business, public policy and development administration. Industrial houses, banks, government, semi-government agencies and organizations are increasingly demanding graduates with these kinds of skills and capabilities.
With a strong background in economics, social sciences, mathematics and statistics, science subjects, and exposure to computer science, IIT Bombay expects these students to find excellent placements in a wide range of public and private firms.
“Taking advantage of the multiple departments and specializations in IIT Bombay, we would encourage these students to opt for a minor from Engineering, Entrepreneurship, IDC, Management, Sciences and other Social Sciences/Humanities,” Prof. D. Parthasarathy, Head of HSS Department said.
An IIT-B spokesperson said that the admission to the new programme would be through the IIT JEE (Advanced). The total number of seats offered this year would 26.