The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, or IIT Bombay, has announced the dates of GATE 2021. The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering, or GATE, will be held over February 5-7 and February 12-13. The dates, spread over a longer period than usual, have been picked keeping the COVID-19 outbreak in mind. The 2021 edition of GATE will also include other changes including the introduction of two new subjects and relaxation of the eligibility criteria. The changes have been made by the organising team led by Professors Deepankar Choudhury, Upendra Bhandarkar and Mohd. Aslam of IIT Bombay.
With the introduction of the two new subjects -- Environmental Science and Engineering, or ES, and Humanities and Social Science, or XS, the total number of subjects has increased to 27.
Professor Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director IIT Bombay, while appreciating the new initiatives of the GATE-2021 committee, said: “I am particularly delighted at the creation of much needed new career opportunities for those in the Humanities and Social Sciences area as this may serve as one single standardized criterion for admission to various masters and doctoral programs in various IITs and other universities in India.”
The Director further added: “Should any agency, for example, various PSUs [Public Sector Undertakings] want to hire candidates with Humanities background, this new exam paper in GATE will prove to be a great enabler!”
Students applying for GATE 2021 can also opt for two subject papers from the prescribed set of combinations.
An IIT Bombay statement issued in this regard said: “To boost the opportunity to study in inter-disciplinary areas, unlike in the previous year when a candidate could write only one subject paper, the candidate can now opt for up to two subject papers (from a prescribed set of combinations) that the exam calendar would permit.”
Details including application and new GATE 2021 updates is available at the official website -- https://gate.iitb.ac.in
As per the new eligibility criteria, students in the third year of their undergraduate programmes will also be eligible for GATE.
“Eligibility criteria to appear for GATE-2021 is relaxed from the minimum 10+2+4 (ongoing) to minimum 10+2+3 (ongoing), enabling even those in the third year of their undergraduate studies to appear for the examination, thus providing an additional opportunity to candidates to improve their performance to secure better career options,” added the IIT Bombay statement.