CHENNAI: IIT-Madras on Tuesday introduced a novel admission pathway, ‘Fine Arts and Culture Excellence’ (FACE), for undergraduate programmes from the academic year 2025-26.

V Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, said that the objective was to reward and encourage students who have demonstrated excellence in fine arts and culture.

“This initiative aims to provide opportunities to students who have excelled in fine arts and culture, while also promoting diversity and inclusivity in the institute’s undergraduate programmes,” he added.

Under this scheme, 34 new seats have been created across 14 UG programmes, including aerospace, biology, chemistry, civil, computer science, electrical, mechanical, AI and data analytics, engineering design, and medical sciences and technology. “Two seats per programme will be allotted, with one seat reserved for women and the other being gender-neutral. Candidates are required to apply through the IITM-FACE admission portal – https://jeeadv.iitm.ac.in/face –for consideration for admission under Fine Arts and Culture Excellence to IIT Madras.”

To be eligible, candidates must have qualified in JEE (Advanced) 2025 and obtained a rank in the Common Rank List (CRL) or category-wise rank list. They must have also received recognition in at least one of the select categories, including Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, National Bal Shree Honour, and National Youth Award, among others.

The admission process through FACE will be separate from the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) portal. For the academic year 2025-2026, only IIT Madras is offering seats through FACE admission.