Indian Institute of Science

The idea for IISc emerged from Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata's late nineteenth-century proposal for an institution devoted to scientific learning and research. The institute's official history describes its founding as the result of joint efforts by Tata, the Government of India and the Maharaja of Mysore. After the Government of India issued a vesting order on 27 May 1909, IISc was established in Bengaluru on land donated by the Mysore Durbar. Tata died in 1904 before the institute came into existence. The foundation stone was laid in 1911, when the first students began their studies.

IISc began with two departments, General and Applied Chemistry and Electrical Technology. Over time it grew into a multidisciplinary institution with departments across six divisions: Biological Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Electrical Sciences, Interdisciplinary Research, Mechanical Sciences, and Physical and Mathematical Sciences. Its current academic structure also lists a Division of Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Sciences and a Division of Medical Sciences. Research and teaching span the natural sciences, engineering, computation and interdisciplinary subjects.

The institute combines advanced research with educational programmes, including undergraduate, postgraduate and research study. On 11 October 2018, IISc was formally notified as an Institution of Eminence Deemed to be University. The official notice described the designation as enabling expansion of research activity and infrastructure, support for major experimental and computational facilities, and stronger international academic engagement. IISc is based in Bengaluru and maintains a newer campus at Challekere in Karnataka, according to its heritage account.