The first-ever blended medical degree of IIT- Madras has attracted more than 6,000 applications for a sanctioned strength of 30 seats.

“We have received applications in a 1:20 ratio for the first-batch The admissions will be based on the scores in the IISER Aptitude Test (IAT). The course will begin on July 31,” IIT-Madras director V Kamakoti said while explaining various initiatives taken by the institute to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

“This programme is one of the initiatives under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which is promoting interdisciplinary programmes,” he added.

Students joining this programme will study anatomy, physiology of organs, mathematical modelling of organ system, pathology of organ system along with basic engineering principles, fundamental sciences, machine learning and others.

“IIT-Madras has partnered with seven hospitals and roped in doctors as professors of practice to teach the students,” said Boby George, head, department of medical sciences and technology, IIT-Madras.

Kamakoti said the institute was targeting to have 100 startups this year. “As of our records, only 5% of our students have given addresses abroad. However, many are still working in MNCs. We want to attract all our students to startups,” he added.

IIT-Madras is also planning to launch the classes on its first-ever international campus at Zanzibar in Tanzania on October 25.

During the first year, the institute will offer one UG programme and one PG programme in data science and artificial intelligence. He said the courses would be open to students from all countries including India. Students will be enrolled based on a screening test.

The institute also plans to launch its BSc (maths and computing) with BEd to produce good maths teachers at school level. In another initiative, the institute proposes to train 25,000 students from 250 government schools annually in basic electronics. It will be launched in next month.

Around 25,000 candidates have enrolled in the BS in data science and applications, the online degree of IIT-- Madras. Its second online degree programme -- electronic systems -- has attracted 1,800 applications.