The National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli ( NIT-Tiruchirappalli or NIT-Trichy) is a national research deemed university near the city of Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded as Regional Engineering College Tiruchirappalli in 1964 by the governments of India and Tamil Nadu under the affiliation of the University of Madras. The college was granted deemed university status in 2003 with the approval of the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the Government of India and renamed the National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli.
NIT Trichy is recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India under the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (NITSER) Act, 2007 and is one of the members of the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) system, a group of centrally funded technical institutes governed by the Council of NITSER. The institute is funded by the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India; and focuses exclusively on engineering, management, science, technology, and architecture. The institute offers 10 bachelor's, 42 master's, and 17 doctoral programmes through its 17 academic departments and awards more than 2000 degrees annually.
The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranked NIT Trichy first among the NITs for nine consecutive years (2016 to 2024). NIRF also ranked the institute 8 for architecture, 9 for engineering, 51 for management, 31 for research, and 31 overall among the academic institutions in India in 2024. NIT Trichy was titled the "Best Industry-Linked NIT in India" by the Confederation of Indian Industry in 2015, and "University of the Year" by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in 2017.
The founder of the college was Prof. P.S. Manisundaram, a pioneering educationist in India. He was a graduate of Loyola College, Chennai and the Technical University of Nova Scotia (now part of Dalhousie University), Canada. He served as the principal of REC Tiruchirappalli from its formation in 1964 to 1982.
In the early 1980s, the state government began to find the logistics of controlling these colleges from Madras to be tedious and split the aegis into the Bharathidasan and Bharathiar universities for the Tiruchirappalli and Coimbatore areas, respectively. In 1982, the college was thus incorporated under the Bharathidasan University umbrella, of which Dr. P.S. Manisundaram served as the inaugural vice-chancellor. The institute would grant degrees under this name for the next 20 years, except for a brief stint under Anna University in 2001 and 2002. The college continued its progress under Bharathidasan University. addressing at the golden jubilee celebration of NIT Trichy|left]]In 2001, Anna University was granted authority over REC Tiruchirappalli. This was temporary, however, as the 40-year collaboration between the central and the state governments for all the RECs finally dissolved; the central government upgraded all the RECs to NITs and completely took control of them under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (now known as the Ministry of Education). In 2002, former minister of human resource development Murali Manohar Joshi decided to upgrade the RECs to NITs. At the end of that very same year, the institution was granted deemed university status with the approval of the UGC and AICTE; it was renamed the National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli and was finally granting degrees under its own name. In 2007, the National Institutes of Technology Act (now known as the NITSER Act) was passed, which declared NITs as Institutes of National Importance along the lines of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
NIT Trichy celebrated its golden jubilee anniversary on July 19 and 20, 2014, with the president of India Pranab Mukherjee presiding over the event as the chief guest.
The institute has a student activity centre (SAC) and is the hub for most of the major extra-curricular activities. The SAC building was inaugurated in the year 2012. The dance, music and the National Cadet Corps groups carry out all their activities at the SAC. It also houses the Café Coffee Day restaurant.
The Department of Management Studies (DoMS) was established in 1978 and is one of the oldest business schools in India. It offers an MBA programme with specializations in human resource management, marketing, finance, production and operations, business analytics, information systems and IT consulting, and general management. Unlike the rest of the courses in the institute, DoMS follows a trimester pattern with a two-month compulsory internship at the end of the first year.
The Department of Energy and Environment (DEE), formerly known as the Centre for Energy and Environmental Science and Technology (CEESAT), was founded in 1995 with the support of the governments of the United Kingdom and India. The goal of DEE is to develop technologies and technical human resources to address problems and create a better energy and environmental future. DEE supports energetic research and instruction in the fields of environmental pollution control, energy and environmental audit, and sustainable energy technology. The academic staff members of DEE received training at several UK universities, including the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, De Montfort University, the Universities of Salford, Sheffield, Reading, and Leeds, as well as the Building Research Establishment.
The Department of Computer Applications is one of the institution's first departments to provide information technology courses like the MCA, and it is also among the top five departments in the nation that offer MCA programmes.
The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (formerly known as the Department of Humanities) was established in 2004. This Department is renowned for independent, interdisciplinary research and for a vibrant environment for interaction between teachers and students. The Department has continuously worked towards a practical curriculum with a high degree of professional relevance, enabling students to take on real-world difficulties. This has been done to fulfil the demands of industry, business, public and private organizations, academic institutions, and human services. As a result, the Department has been providing both undergraduates and graduates with a broad selection of core and elective courses. Since 2004, the Department has offered a full-fledged Ph.D. programme and has generated excellent research in more recent Humanities and Social Sciences fields. The Department also provides minor degree courses in language/literature and economics in response to the rising demand for humanities-based courses.
The institute has science departments in Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics. The departments of Chemistry and Physics receive exclusive funding from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
Below the NIT Council is the board of governors of NIT Trichy. The board of governors consists of the chairman and ten members, which include government, industry, alumni and faculty representation.
The director serves under the board of governors and is the school's chief academic and executive officer. Academic policies are decided by its Senate, which is composed of some professors and other representatives. The Senate controls and approves the curriculum, courses, examinations, and results. Senate committees examine specific academic matters. The teaching, training, and research activities of various departments of the institute are periodically reviewed to maintain educational standards. The director is the ex officio chairman of the Senate. The deputy director is subordinate to the director. Together they manage the deans, heads of departments, the registrar, the president of the Students' Council, and the chairman of the Hall Management Committee. Deans and heads of departments in NITs are administrative postings rather than career paths. Faculty members serve as deans and heads of departments for limited periods, typically two to three years, then returning to regular faculty duties. The registrar is the chief administrative officer and overviews day-to-day operations. Below the head of department, are the various faculty members (professors, assistant professors, and lecturers). The warden serves under the chairman of the Hall Management Committee.
Admission for Indian candidates to the undergraduate programmes is highly competitive and is based on the rank secured in the Joint Entrance Examination – Main (JEE Main) and selection through the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) and Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB). To be eligible for admission in the undergraduate programmes, the candidates in the general category have to secure at least 75% marks or be in the top 20 percentile and the candidates in the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) category have to secure at least 65% in the 12th class examination conducted by the respective Boards. The JEE Main is considered to be one of the toughest examinations in the world and the high school science students who clear the examination with top ranks generally opt NIT Trichy as their first choice for admissions in undergraduate programmes. Admission for Foreign national, Children of Indian Workers in the Gulf Countries (CIWG), Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) in the undergraduate programmes is based on the rank secured in the JEE Main and selection through the online portal of Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA).
To be eligible for admission to the postgraduate programmes, the candidate has to secure a minimum percentage or CGPA set by the institute or admission authorities of the government of India in the qualifying degree from a university or an institute recognized by the Association of Indian Universities or similar Indian body. Admission to the M.Tech. and M.Arch. programmes is based on the merit list prepared by the Centralized Counseling for M.Tech./M.Arch./M.Plan./M.Des. (CCMT) on the basis of Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) scores as well as selection through CCMT online portal. Admission to the M.S. by research programmes is based on the GATE score and personal interview conducted by the institute. Admission to the M.Sc. programmes is based on the merit list prepared by the Centralized Counselling for M.Sc./M.Sc.(Tech.) (CCMN) on the basis of the ″Common Percentile″ (calculated from the Joint Admission Test for Masters (JAM) Rank) and selection through the CCMN online portal. Admission to the MCA programme is based on the rank secured in the NIMCET (NIMCET) and selection through the NIMCET online portal. Admission to the M.A. programme is through the interview conducted by the institute. Admission to the MBA programme is through the rank secured in the Common Admission Test and personal interviews conducted by the institute.
Applicants interested in seeking admission to the postgraduate programmes who are foreign nationals, PIOs, OCIs who have completed undergraduate programme in any country (including India) or Indian nationals who have completed their undergraduate programme outside India or Indian nationals who have acquired NRI status and holding it for the last three years after obtaining undergraduate degree from India or Indian nationals who have completed undergraduate programme in any centrally funded technical institute under the DASA Scheme or Indian nationals who have completed undergraduate programme in India but have completed their 11th and 12th standard (or equivalent) from outside India, are requested to check the admission details in DASA and institute websites.
The institute also offers 17 Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) degrees programmes. Admissions to the PhD programmes are based on written tests followed by personal interviews conducted by the institute. The doctoral research scholars are given a topic by the professor or work on the consultancy projects sponsored by the industry. Teaching assistantships (TA) and research assistantships (RA) are provided based on the scholar's profile.
In Asia, the institute is ranked 573 by CWUR in 2024, 301–350 by QS in 2024, 201–250 by THE in 2024 and 450 by USNWR in 2022-2023. Also, the institute was ranked 301–350 in emerging economies by THE in 2022.
In India, the institute is ranked 43 by CWUR in 2024, 31 overall by NIRF in 2024 and 41 by USNWR in 2022-2023.
THE ranked the institute 601-800 for engineering and technology in 2023, 601-800 for physical sciences and 601+ for computer science among the universities worldwide in 2020.
USNWR ranked the institute 562 for engineering, 604 for materials science, 854 for chemistry and 699 for computer science among the universities worldwide in 2024-2025.
NIRF ranked the institute 8 for architecture, 9 for engineering and 51 for management in India in 2024.
Outlook India ranked the institute 9 among government colleges for engineering in India in 2024.
CEDI has implemented a project – Technological Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE) funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, which aims to enable young entrepreneurs to initiate technology start-up companies for commercial exploitation of technologies developed by them in the areas of information and communications technology and electronics. CEDI has implemented faculty and entrepreneurship development programmes for faculty, students and potential and existing entrepreneurs in the Tiruchirappalli region. These programmes are sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology through the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India.
The college is a host to many academic societies both national and international. These societies organize several workshops, seminars and guest lectures by eminent personalities in their respective fields, from time to time. They are also responsible for providing opportunities for students to take part in various international events too. The academic society includes IEEE, ACM, ISA and SAE.
The two computing groups are the Delta Force and Spider. The Delta Force is an active group of developers and programmers who are responsible for the maintenance of the institute website and the development, administration, and updating of most of the content on the institute intranet. The Spider group offers various services such as organizing various courses (c language, web designing etc.), blog hosting, providing short message services and now even the facility to check train reservation status.
The hobby groups include RMI, Vox Lumos, Cinema Paradiso and PSI. The RMI (Robotics and Machines Intelligence) is the on-campus robotics group, primarily involved in the development of robotics enthusiasm amongst the students. The group is responsible for holding workshops and organizing competition events in electronics.
The fine arts groups include the Dance Troupe (dance club), Music Troupe (music club), Thespians' Society (drama club) and Visual Arts Club. These groups have won various awards in several events conducted in different colleges held around the country.
There are several Language Clubs which cater to the needs of native speakers. Aayaam (The Hindi Club of NIT Trichy) conducts many Literary events in all major college fests, the flagship event "Umang" conducted every year for the celebration of "Hindi Divas", It also organizes "Dandiya Night" during Navaratri and publishes a yearly magazine called "Pratibimb", It also organizes Hindi learning classes for non-Hindi speakers who show a keen interest in learning the language. Tamil Mandram (Tamil language promoting club) plays a very important role in promoting Tamil amongst the students by organizing various programs, Tamil events in cultural festivals and also book fairs where classics are available at subsidized prices.
The symposiums conducted by the various academic departments are Alchemy (chemical engineering), Archcult (architecture), Bizzdom (management studies), Currents (electrical and electronics engineering), Inphynitt (Physics), Mettle (metallurgical and materials engineering), Moments (civil engineering), Probe (electronics and communication engineering), Prodigy (production engineering), Sensors (instrumentation and control engineering), Synergy (mechanical engineering), Version (computer applications), Vortex (computer science and engineering).
National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli alumni include chief executive officers and top executives of Fortune India 500 and Forbes Global 2000 companies such as Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons; Rajesh Gopinathan, former CEO and managing director of Tata Consultancy Services; T. V. Narendran, CEO and managing director of Tata Steel; K. R. Sridhar, CEO and founder of Bloom Energy and R. Ravimohan, former executive director of Reliance Industries.
In the academic world, they include deans and chairs of faculties such as Nagi Naganathan, president of the Oregon Institute of Technology; Guruswami Ravichandran, chair of the Division of Engineering and Applied Science and Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology; Ramesh R. Rao, director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, San Diego; Nambirajan Seshadri, Professor of Practice of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, San Diego; Rajkumar Chellaraj, CFO and associate dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business; Venkat Selvamanickam, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Physics, director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston; and Nagarajan Ranganathan, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of South Florida.
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