IIT Ropar was established by MHRD in 2008. The classes for academic session 2008–2009 were held at IIT Delhi. The Institute started functioning from its transit campus in Rupnagar in August 2009.
Campus
Permanent Campus
IIT Ropar has completely shifted to its permanent campus since June 2019. Campus architecture is inspired by Indus Valley Civilisation with four 41 feet high stone carved pillars at the entrance. The institute started to operate from its permanent campus from July 2018. Some phases of this campus were still under construction. The campus was being built on the land earlier known as Birla Seed Farms. It is located over an area of. Foundation stone for the permanent campus was laid on 24 February 2009 by Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh. The contract was given to CPWD and a Bangkok-based construction company was assigned the task of finishing the first phase. The Computer Science Department has been shifted to this campus in July 2018. A part of the administration office was shifted on 17 June 2018. In June 2019, the Administration and Departments of Electrical, Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering completely shifted to the permanent campus. The institute in the past operated in two different transit campuses located in Rupnagar.
Transit Campus I
The transit campus I of IIT Ropar is former Women's Polytechnic, Rupnagar. The academic and administration buildings of the Women's Polytechnic, Ropar were renovated to accommodate all the requirements of the Institute. This campus houses four hostels: three for boys and one for girls. The day-to-day management of hostels is taken care of by a committee consisting of student representatives, faculty members and administrative staff. This campus currently houses the central library of the institute. It also an independent post office and a branch of State Bank of India. Sports facilities include a cricket field, three tennis courts, a football field, a gymnasium, a basketball court, two volleyball court and also a number of facilities for several athletics. The Students Activity Center has a gymnasium and rooms for different activity clubs.
Transit Campus II
Owing to the Ministry of Human Resource Development's order for increasing seats, the institute started functioning from an additional transit campus. This campus is being shared by and leased from NIELIT Ropar. It is located adjacent to the permanent campus. Along with the main academic area, the campus has three hostels and three faculty residences. Transportation to and from the campus is mainly done via the institute buses, that ply between the two transit campuses.
Departments and Centres
The institute currently has 10 departments and 1 multi-disciplinary centre. The departments are:
The Center for Biomedical Engineering is the multi-disciplinary centre.
Academics
Programmes
The institute offers undergraduate programmes awarding Bachelor of Technology in various engineering areas. Admission to these programmes is through JEE Advanced. The institute also offers postgraduate degrees awarding MTech and MSc in various engineering fields, as well as MSc in basic sciences. PhD courses in various fields are also offered.
The institute stresses in inter-disciplinary research areas including Renewable and Clean Energy, Artificial intelligence, Bio-imaging and Bio-instrumentation, and Agriculture and Rural Development. A Central Research Facility has been established encompassing equipment from various departments. In the academic year 2017-18, the institute organized its first Research Conclave.
Extra curricular activities
Zeitgeist is the annual cultural festival of Indian Institute of Technology Ropar and is held annually as a three-day festival in October or November. It was conceived in September 2010. Advitiya, with its maiden edition in 2017, is the annual technical festival, which is held for three days in February or March. An annual sports festival, Aarohan is also held annually during February. It is currently in its second edition. These college fests are managed financially and conducted entirely by the students. An annual Indian classical music and dance event SPIC MACAY is also organized by the students and the faculty. Events such as Inter Batch Cultural Championship and Inter Year Sports Championship are the intra-college events that are organized annually for the students of the institute. The management of student activities is done by many boards functioning under the Student Affairs Department. These boards have elected student representatives known as General Secretaries, and an overall elected President of the Student Council. They have various societies and clubs to promote extra curricular and co-curricular activities.
Alumni Association
The IIT Ropar Alumni Association was founded on 1 February 2013.
