Department Summary
The Department of Computer Science was established in the year 1971 and is one of the earliest Computer Science & Engineering departments in the country. Currently, it has 22 faculty members and over 800 students working towards their Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees. In addition, it actively participates in select off-campus programmes.
The department attracts high-quality students from all over India and has an impressive placement record. Many of graduates choose to join some of the best institutions of higher learning around the world, whereas some prefer to gain a few years of work experience before deciding their next course of action. Still, some others choose to chase their dream, taking a path that is less travelled like taking the social welfare route or liberal arts based vocations.
One of the strengths of the department is its strong entrepreneurial culture,e and many students have successfully involved themselves in creating entrepreneurial ventures, some of which have gone fully commercial within a short period. While some such students benefit from the on-campus Technology Business Incubator provided by the Institute, some others choose to create virtual organizations to keep the costs low and later move on to the regular business models.
In the recent past, we had benchmarked our curriculum with select institutions of higher learning around the world, and currently we are carefully reviewing the impact of these consequent changes to make our programmes even more strong and competitive.
In the past, the department has attracted unrestricted research grants as well as competitive research grants from several sources including national funding agencies (DST, DEITY-MCIT, DEC, UGC, ATB and CAIR), International funding agencies (European Commission, MFA-Government of France) as well as from corporate research laboratories (Microsoft Research (Redmond), Microsoft Research (India), IBM, CISCO, TCS, Digital Think amongst others).
The Computer Science Department at BITS Pilani has been at the forefront of computer science education and research since its inception in 1971. It has established itself over the years as one with academic excellence by having a motivated team of 22 faculty members deeply involved in teaching, research, and innovation. The department also conducts a series of programs at the Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral levels, enrolling over 800 students at present, in keeping with the dynamic and lively learning atmosphere.
The curriculum is structured to stay abreast of the evolution in technology so that students are well-versed in basic knowledge as well as hands-on training in emerging fields like artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, and software engineering. Along with scholarly rigor, the department supports an environment that fosters creativity, team spirit, and problem-solving through projects, initiatives led by students, and labs.
One of the department's distinguishing characteristics is its provision of support for Work Integrated Learning Programs (WILP), which allow for working professionals to continue studying while at work. These off-campus studies make quality learning achievable and application-oriented, thus projecting the department's influence and reach beyond the confines of the conventional classroom.
The department prides itself on its excellent placement record and the diverse careers of its alumni. Alumni have gone on to become part of the best companies in the world, earned master's and Ph.D.'s from leading universities globally, or started successful entrepreneurial endeavors. Others have taken non-traditional routes into careers in social work, education, and the arts, demonstrating the holistic and broad-based grounding that the department offers.
