IIIT Dharwad
IIIT Dharwad is an Institute of National Importance established by an Act of Parliament (23 of 2017) set up in PPP mode between the Ministry of Education, Government of India, Government of Karnataka, and KEONICS.
Mr. Jalaj Dani is the Chairperson of IIIT Dharwad, a respected business leader, philanthropist, and co-promoter of Asian Paints, whose contributions span industry leadership, education, and social impact. The Institute's Director, Prof.
S. R. Mahadeva Prasanna, along with the Board and Senate, constitute highly eminent leaders from administration, academia, and industry.
They are instrumental in steering the institute in the right direction.
IIIT Dharwad is a self-sustaining Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) institute where all the running expenses, including salaries, are met by students' tuition and other fees
Mr. Jalaj Dani Chairperson BoG
Mr. Jalaj Dani is a respected business leader, institution-builder, and philanthropist whose contributions span industry leadership, professional sports development, public health, education, and social impact. As co-promoter of Asian Paints Limited, one of the world's leading paints and coatings companies, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the organization's international expansion, supply chain excellence, and people development.
Beyond his corporate leadership, Mr. Dani is deeply involved in shaping higher education in India.
He serves as the Chairman of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Tiruchirappalli, where he is actively engaged in
governance, academic development, and strategic direction.
As Chairperson of the Dani Foundation, he leads large-scale social initiatives focused on education, public health, culture, women empowerment, and physical literacy. Through the Dani Sports Foundation and the Sportscom movement, he is a national advocate for building India's grassroots sports and physical activity ecosystem. He also supports civic innovation and climate resilience through advisory leadership roles, including with Project Mumbai, a globally recognized public-impact institution.
Across all his roles, Mr. Dani champions the belief that capital must be purposeful and society-enhancing. His deep commitment to India's development, combined with a global perspective on innovation and investments, positions him as a visionary leader steering IIIT Dharwad toward deep technical excellence, interdisciplinary thinking, and innovation that serves society at scale.
Prof. S. R. Mahadeva Prasanna, Director IIIT Dharwad
Prof. S. R. Mahadeva Prasanna is a recipient of the National Award for Teachers 2023 from the honorable President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu. He is currently working as Director, IIIT Dharwad on leave from IIT Dharwad. He is Professor in the Dept. of Electrical, Electronics and Communication (EECE) at IIT Dharwad. He was Dean(Faculty Welfare) at IIT Dharwad before taking charge of Director at IIIT Dharwad. He was earlier Professor in the Dept. of Electronics and Electrical Engineering and Dean (Research & Development), IIT Guwahati. He earned his PhD from IIT Madras in 2004, MTech from NITK Surathkal (then KREC Surathkal) in 1997 and BE from SSIT Tumakuru in 1994. He teaches signal processing, speech processing, artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning related courses. His research interests are in speech processing. He has supervised 28 PhD research scholars in the areas of speech and handwriting processing. Currently 7 scholars are working for their PhD / MS degrees. He has published over 115 journal articles and 200 conference articles in reputed national and international journals and conferences. He has executed large volume externally funded projects from public and private funding agencies. He is also a consultant for many industries working in the niche technology areas, especially, speech technology.
On the academic administration front, at IIT Guwahati he was faculty-in-charge, counseling cell, chairman, students’ welfare board, organizing vice-chairman, GATE 2010, Chairman, GATE 2011, Associate Dean (Research and Development) and Dean (Research & Development). At IIT Dharwad, he was Dean (Faculty Welfare) and Dean (Research & Development) from July 2017 till March 2023. From March 2023 till April 2024, he continued as Dean (Faculty Welfare). He also served IIT Dharwad on different committees towards setting up the institute of national importance in Dharwad, Karnataka.
Vision, Mission and Values
Our Vision
“To be a globally renowned academy of information technology for societal development.”
Our Mission
i. To produce globally competent information technology professionals with the right mix of professional skills and ethical, societal and environmental concerns.
ii. To solve local problems using global technologies and solve global problems using local technologies across disciplines.
iii. To project the nation to the forefront of information technology research and development.
Our Core Values
Integrity, Service, Positivity, Commitment and Passion for Technology
Innovation
IIIT Dharwad is innovating in all its aspects: teaching, curriculum, campus design, and R&D. The idea is to ensure that nothing is boring or ordinary about IIIT Dharwad!
Teaching-Learning: Being a technical institute of national importance, a special emphasis is given to practice-based teaching and learning process.
Curriculum Design: The curriculum at IIIT Dharwad is evolving and dynamic to ensure that the courses taught are current and relevant. The Institute has not hesitated to break out of outdated conventions. It has introduced an IT-focused curriculum from the first semester (e.g., no chemistry) with elective subjects offered in data science, AI, machine learning, IoT, cloud computing, and Blockchain, to name a few. Ample opportunities are provided to learn these cutting-edge areas practically through mini and major projects and events like hackathons.
Visit the department website for further details:
Campus Facility
The Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Dharwad operates from its pristine, state-of-the-art 60-acre permanent campus, fully equipped with modern, smart infrastructure designed to foster academic excellence, research, and holistic student development. The core academic infrastructure features the 'e' Block, which houses naturally well-lit ICT-enabled classrooms, specialized multi-purpose seminar halls with live-streaming capabilities, and cutting-edge laboratories tailored for advanced learning in fields like Computer Science, AI, VLSI, and Networking. Students benefit from an automated, 24/7 self-service Central Library offering a vast repository of digital and physical resources, while the '$\pi$' Block accommodates administrative offices, a dedicated incubation space for student-led startups, and a massive Multi-Function Hall that seamlessly converts into an auditorium or an indoor basketball court. As a fully residential institute, the campus provides a secure, community-driven living environment with high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity throughout. It features distinct, well-furnished hostels for boys and girls—including a Girls' Hostel generously built by the Infosys Foundation—both equipped with spacious dining halls that serve highly nutritious meals catering to diverse regional tastes. Furthermore, comprehensive student wellness and daily needs are centralized in the dedicated 'h' Block, which hosts an on-campus medical and wellness center, extensive outdoor sports grounds, a fully equipped indoor gymnasium, a vibrant cafeteria, an e-Bank/ATM, and provisional stores, ensuring a vibrant and self-sufficient campus life.
Hostel
A 300-seater girls’ hostel, constructed by Infosys as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, is now ready for occupation at IIIT Dharwad. Additionally, a 600-seater boys’ hostel of the same design and quality is also available.
The institute is currently constructing a new 1000-seater boys’ hostel to further expand its on-campus accommodation.
Presently, hostel accommodation on campus is limited and is allotted to boys on a first-come, first-served basis. An additional hostel facility, fully managed by the institute, is available outside the campus.
Research and Development
The hallmark of a good institute is its strength in research. Aptly IIIT Dharwad is being nurtured as a research institute to have close collaborations with the IT industry and other premier R&D institutes. Faculty at IIIT-Dharwad have a wide range of research expertise and experience covering many areas of Information Technology including Data analytics, machine learning, and social network analysis, Computer networks and security , Knowledge management, information retrieval, ontology and semantic web technologies, Digital signal processing and speech technologies, Embedded systems, sensors, MEMS, nano technology and VLSI, Robotics, unmanned vehicles, control and communication technologies, Power electronics and alternative energy systems, Quantum physics, material science and engineering, Social sciences, including women studies and communication, Algorithms, Computational Geometry, Graph theory, networks etc.
The hallmark of a leading institute is its strength in research and innovation. Aptly, IIIT Dharwad is being nurtured as a premier research institute with strong collaborative linkages to the IT industry, deep-tech startups, and leading R&D organizations. The institute actively fosters an ecosystem of translational research, industry-academia synergy, and entrepreneurial incubation through initiatives like the IIIT Dharwad Research Park (IDRP) and its Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Quantum Artificial Intelligence and Computing (QAIC).