BITS Pilani came into existence as a Deemed to be University by an act of the Indian Parliament in the year 1964. In its formative years, the Institute tied up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston, USA. It adopted semester system, modular structure of courses, continuous and internal evaluation, letter grading and the likes. It also created linkages with the industries which yielded structured “Practice School” as an integral component of education.
To make further inroads in terms of collaborative participation in research and teaching, Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) have been signed with various Universities/Industries at home and abroad. This would strengthen educational and research linkages, exchange of faculty and students exchange with an aim to achieve state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities in various fields of Engineering and Science.
An International Programmes and Collaboration Division (IPCD) has been set up with representation in all the four campuses of BITS Pilani, to promote relations with renowned Institutions abroad. Students of BITS Pilani have been pursuing Off-campus Thesis / Semester Abroad programs in foreign universities/ institutes ranked in the first 400 by QS and THE (Times Higher Education).
BITS Pilani has collaborations with several reputed overseas universities and industries.