Indian Institute of Science - IISc

The Indian Institute of Science was conceived in the closing years of the nineteenth century through correspondence between industrialist Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata and social reformers of his time, and was formally established in 1909 with land granted by the Mysore royal family. It predates Indian independence by nearly four decades and was built on the conviction — radical for its era — that India needed an indigenous institution capable of world-class scientific research, not merely technical training for colonial administration.

Nobel laureate C. V. Raman led its physics department and conducted much of the work that led to the discovery of the Raman effect while based at IISc, and the institute has since produced a long line of scientists, engineers, and institution-builders who shaped independent India’s research and defence establishments. Its alumni and faculty networks extend directly into bodies like ISRO, DRDO, and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Today IISc remains India’s top-ranked research university, its wooded campus in north Bengaluru home to departments spanning aerospace engineering, materials science, computational biology, and more — continuing the founding mandate of building scientific capacity from within the country.

Getting there: The campus has its own dedicated IISc Post Office, located just inside the main gate off CV Raman Avenue.