Updated on: Monday, April 29, 2013
The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) will be introducing compulsory courses in biology and physics for all first-year students from the next academic year.
The decision, taken by the institute's senate last week, is aimed at producing well-rounded engineers.
A professor mentioned that it could be the first IIT to recognise the need to know biology for engineers.
It is an essential component for a basic sciences foundation, added the professor. This was part of "fine-tuning" the syllabus, which had last been revised about five years ago.
However, the decision will only be formalised once the minutes of the meeting are out. "These areas [biosciences and bioengineering] are becoming increasingly important and are areas in which engineering graduates might later work," said another professor. He added that basic sciences courses had been in the curriculum until some years ago.