Chennai: To provide industry exposure for undergraduate students, IIT Madras has introduced a new academic structure that enables BTech, BS, and dual degree students to do internships for an entire semester from the next academic year.

According to the revised curriculum framework, students will be able to keep their sixth semester largely free of regular classroom instruction.

“There will be only four elective courses in the sixth semester for all departments. Students will be required to complete their electives and compulsory credits by adjusting their course load in other semesters,” said professor Prathap Haridoss, dean (academic courses), IIT Madras.

The institute also reduced the minimum credits requirement per semester from 66 credits to 50 credits to lessen the academic pressure on students. Students who join in the 2024 batch can exercise this option in their sixth semester in Dec 2026.

“Students found it difficult to do international internships during the summer vacation as it did not match our academic schedule. Now, students can opt for international internships and explore multiple internships in a semester as it offers duration flexibility,” Prathap Haridoss said.

Students can also use the sixth semester to do industry projects, carry out research work, and other approved professional engagements. “By allowing internships to run for several months, IIT-M aims to help students gain deeper exposure to real-world work environments and contribute to meaningful projects. With winter and summer breaks, a student can utilise up to eight months for long internships,” he further said. However, students must obtain approvals from academic authorities while planning their internships.

“Long internships give a better idea about the workplace and companies to students. So, it could potentially increase the number of pre-placement offers to our students. It also improves graduate preparedness and strengthens the collaboration between academia and industry,” he added.

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