Panaji: The National Institute of Technology (NIT) Goa will be introducing three new Master of Science (MSc) programmes in physics, chemistry, and mathematics from the new academic year, with an intake of 20 each. The duration of these courses will be two years.NIT Goa director, Prof Omprakash R Jaiswal, said the new campus to which the institute moved in 2024, has been designed for a student strength of 1,250. The current strength is 1,100, and students of two batches of the three new MSc programmes will add to the total strength by 120.On Friday, the institute is going to award BTech (162), MTech (30), and PhD (24) degrees to 216 students. Jaiswal said that 24 research students receiving PhDs is quite a unique achievement among the newly established NITs.They will be awarded the degrees at the 11th convocation ceremony on Feb 6 where Padma Vibhushan awardee and former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India, Anil Kakodkar, will deliver the keynote address. A former alumni of NIT Goa from the 2016 batch, Viresh Vazirani, the founder of Growth Gravy, will be honoured as a guest.Jaiswal said that this year, 108 firms visited the campus for recruitments, and that UG students have been placed with a maximum pay package of Rs 21.6 lakh and an average package of Rs 8.10 lakh per annum. He said several students were selected by public sector undertakings such as BPCL. MTech students were offered an average CTC of Rs 16.4 lakh per annum, while the highest CTC was Rs 22.9 lakh per annum.“The institute has received 56 projects worth nearly Rs 41 crore, and 22 patents have been granted. Recently, NIT Goa, as a SPOKE under Centre’s ANRF PAIR programme, received a research project valued at Rs 6.3 crore in collaboration with IIT Bombay — the hub institute — with total funding support of Rs 100 crore. This interdisciplinary research initiative will focus on areas such as industry 4.0, energy, and sustainability,” Jaiswal said.In the last academic year, three faculty members received three R&D projects, including Rs 25 lakh under Isro’s NISAR-UP programme.“NIT Goa is ready to contribute and help the Goa region in all possible aspects. The institute has submitted a proposal to develop skill and build capacity among ITI students of Goa in various sectors. At least 1,000 high school students have visited the campus to upgrade their knowledge and exposure towards science and technology,” said Jaiswal.
