Established in 1960, the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur is one of the seven Institutes of Technology set up in the country to foster development of high quality scientific and technological education comparable to the best in the world. In its continual endeavor to achieve excellence in both undergraduate and postgraduate education and research, it has earned a superb academic reputation in the global arena.

In addition to the facilities available for postgraduate education and top quality research in the emerging areas of engineering, science, humanities & social sciences and management, it has one of the best libraries and computing environments in the country. The picturesque campus with its academic Departments, Interdisciplinary Centres, Students' Hostels, Community Centres, Parks and Residential Areas provides a free and friendly ambience.

At the Bachelor's level, IIT Kanpur has B.Tech. Programs in Aerospace, Biological Science and Bioengineering, Chemical, Civil, Computer Science, Electrical, Metallurgy and Mechanical Engineering. The Institute also has integrated M.Sc. programs in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Statistics. The students for both B.Tech. and M.Sc. (Integrated) programs are selected through JEE and usually they are the country's most accomplished ones. There are programs for M. Sc. (2 years) in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Statistics, where the students with B.Sc. (Hons.) background are chosen through a rigorous selection process, called JAM. IIT Kanpur runs M.Tech. Programs also in all the engineering branches. Besides, M. Tech. Programs in the interdisciplinary areas such as Nuclear Engineering, Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Laser Technology, Environmental Engineering, Materials Science, and Industrial and Management Engineering are also available. M. Tech. Students are chosen through an all-India examination, called GATE. The Institute has also adopted a dual degree (B.Tech. - M. Tech) program. In this program, the students admitted through JEE, are expected to complete the M. Tech. Program in five years. At the end of five years, the student is awarded both B.Tech. and M.Tech. Degrees. Recently, two interdisciplinary programs have been introduced, namely, MBA and Master of Design. For these programs, the students are selected through the all-India examinations, JMET and CEED respectively. IIT Kanpur does have a vibrant PhD program in all the above academic areas as well as in Humanities and Social Sciences. The Department of Physics offers a M.Sc.-Ph.D. dual degree program, which allows their M.Sc. students to continue for a Ph.D. The M. Tech. and Ph.D. students receive research/ teaching assistantships.

The academic programs of the Institute are regularly evaluated for their usefulness and relevance. The curriculum is updated through continuous inputs from eminent scholars in the field, research organizations and the feedback from the alumni. The undergraduate (UG) program is reviewed and revised every ten years and the curriculum is modified in accordance with the recommendations of the UG review committee. The postgraduate programs are reviewed at the departmental level.

IIT Kanpur took the lead in establishing a center for Computer Science and Engineering in 1971. It flowered into a full-fledged department in 1984. The other well-known initiatives at IIT Kanpur include Programs of Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Laser Technology, Materials Science, Environmental Engineering & Management, MBA and Masters of Design as well as the Department of Industrial Management & Engineering. The latest academic initiative is the creation of Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering.

IIT Kanpur has demonstrated its excellence in research in many areas. To cite a few areas: Finite Element Methods Using Domain Decomposition, Flow Induced Vibrations, Wind Tunnel Testing of Large Scale Prototypes, Computational Chemistry, Nano-materials and Nano-technology, Geometric Optimization of Large Organic Systems, Genomics and Bio-Informatics, Electronic Structure Calculations, Aggregation and Etching, Molecular Dynamics, Thin Film Dynamics, Optical / EM Field Calculations, Computational Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer, Computer Aided Design and Rapid Prototyping, Tomography, Robotics, Multi-Body Dynamics, Geo-seismic Prospecting, Stress Analysis and Composite Materials, Vibration and Control, Semiconductor Physics, Photonics, Neural Networks and Genetic Algorithms, Impurities in Anti-Ferro Magnet, Raman Scattering, Spin Fluctuation in Quantum Magnets and so on.

One of the major initiatives of the student care system at IIT Kanpur is an effective and vibrant Counseling Service. Student volunteers of the Institute Counseling Service receive the freshmen (sometimes at the railway station), take them to the allotted rooms in the hostels, give them necessary help and importantly help them get acquainted with the IIT system. Counseling Service consisting of UG as well as PG wings provides an equitable assistance to all the freshers. In this respect, IIT Kanpur effectively counters the menace of ragging that often leaves many a new entrant to our educational institutes in unenviable conditions.