According to NIRF rankings, IIEST comes at 20th place in the Indian Engineering College ranking, and 44 in overall college ranking. While IISER Bhopal comes 56th place.  The following table will show you the basic differences between IIEST Shibpur and IISER Bhopal. Category IIEST Shibpur IISER Bhopal Recruiters Google, Infosys, BHEL, Deloitte, Axis Bank, Cognizant, Microsoft, ITC, Indian Oil Corporation, SBI, Samsung, Snapdeal, Tata Steel, Indian Army, Jacobs, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro Morgan Stanley, Unilever, Dr Reddy’s, Avanti, Toppr, Excel, Nucleome Average CTC INR 11 LPA INR 2 LPA Highest CTC INR 35 LPA INR 9 LPA Your college selection also depends on your interest and future career plans. Both the colleges provide a different environment.  IIEST Shibpur is an Engineering college and will help you in getting a mostly office job. You will be guaranteed a job in core branches just after graduation. IISER Bhopal is more scientific research-oriented and will help you in getting research jobs at the end of the course.  Therefore, choose either IIEST Shibpur or IISER Bhopal depending on what career you want to pursue. Don’t go with college popularity and rankings. If you have any goal just follow that and choose the right institution.

This mainly depends on the student and where he or she is from. As the location is the major factor. Both the colleges are more or less the same, choose the one that fulfills your requirements. Bhopal might not be a very fancy place like Chandigarh. But this shouldn't influence your choice. IISER Mohali is known for its biology department while IISER Bhopal has an extremely good chemistry department.  Their labs are well maintained and have every facility required by the students. Hostel rooms at IISER Bhopal are a bit small as it was built for one person per room but later the intake became 2 students per room. Hostels are Co-ed in IISER Mohali with bigger rooms and balconies. IISER Bhopal has separate hostels for boys and girls. There are around 16 clubs in IISER Mohali, fewer than IISER Bhopal. Both the colleges are more or less similar when considering academics and infrastructure. Therefore choosing any of them will be good for your career.

IISER Bhopal is a good option for Engineering. The course structure is good. You will study the primary subjects of engineering and basic sciences. Students can take placements after the completion of the 4th year or take another year to complete MS. According to IISER Bhopal placement highlights of recent years, the salary packages offered are in the range of INR 6-28 LPA. 

One of my friends studied at IISER Bhopal, he had a science background as well. According to him, it is his best decision in life. He, being a student there, mentioned that it is really good for sciences.  Every IISER has proper research facilities.  The faculty members are involved in active research. They are very encouraging and helpful. IISER Bhopal has a sprawling 200–250 acre campus which is beautiful and well maintained.  There are different clubs to nurture your interests.  Students secure internship opportunities right after the first semester. But like everything else it has its own flaws. Many IISERs have issues with the attendance system, hostel facilities, etc. Overall if you join any IISER and have an interest in Science, you will not be disappointed.

Engineering Science at IISER Bhopal is a much newer course and it is more like B.Sc. and M.Sc. courses. It is a research-oriented course and not job-oriented like B.Tech. The course links engineering with research. You will get hands-on experience along with theoretical knowledge. Engineering Science is offered under 3 different specializations - Chemical, Electrical, and Computer science. If you want to do research after your MS, then it is a good option. The only hiccup is that this course is still new at IISER Bhopal and placement opportunities will be less. You may have to struggle for it as BS and MS in Engineering Sciences is not considered reliable options.

IISER Bhopal is an excellent place for education that provides students with every facility. Following is a brief about the institute: The seniors are very cooperative and helpful. The academic environment is good, students are enthusiastic and confident.  IISER Bhopal Faculty is good and well experienced. Unlimited Wi-fi is provided but slowed purposefully from 11 PM to 2 AM. The library is a bit small but is maintained really well. Internet connection is also provided there. IISER Bhopal campus is really clean and green. There are many clubs and good opportunities for sports as well. There are table tennis courts in hostel common rooms.  Separate grounds for badminton, tennis, cricket, athletics, football, basketball, and kabaddi. Overall, IISER Bhopal will prove to be a very good experience for you if you have a knack for science. Try socializing with your peers and seniors, as they can advise and guide you during placements or internships. Once you blend in, you will get proper guidance and opportunities.

IISERs get generous funding as they come directly under the MHRD of the central Government. Both IISER Bhopal and IISER Pune have state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities.  The labs, lecture halls, academic buildings, hostels, etc. are present at both the institutes.  IISER Bhopal has the largest campus among all IISERs.  It also has one of the finest sports facilities available in a science institute, both indoor and outdoor. These include football, tennis, basketball, badminton, chess, table tennis, etc.  Community centers and Visitor’ hostels are also available. The whole campus is wifi enabled. It is a self-sufficient campus with facilities like a shopping centre, health centre, bank, etc. all present on the campus itself.  Therefore, it is not appropriate to compare the IISERs as they all have their unique features.

The department of Economic Sciences at IISER Bhopal is one of the few departments in the country to offer a 4-year BS program. It is very new, thus the curriculum, placements, etc. need some time to get sorted. However, it will eventually become better. The program integrates classroom learning with research. There are 5 professors from different fields of Economic Sciences including microeconomics, game theory, trade theory, industrial organization, public economics, social choice theory, corporate finance, option pricing, behavioral economics, agriculture economics, and environmental economics.  There is also an option to pursue BS-MS (Dual Degree) in Economic Sciences by spending an additional year. You can also earn a minor degree in other disciplines. You just have to get a minimum of 30 credits in that particular discipline.

IISER Bhopal expects only two students to share a single room. This has been in effect since the batch of 2017, due to the increasing number of students per batch. However, as part of the expansion of IISER Bhopal in a few years, more hostels shall be built. It will also aim to utilize the overall area available to the best.  There are six hostels, 2 for Girls and 4 for Boys. Ph.D. students used to get a single room within one year, but due to the increasing number of students, they also have a single room shared by 2 students.

This completely depends on your choice and preferences. The only thing you should take into account is how the course will benefit your career ahead. IIEST Shibpur and IISER Bhopal offer different career paths.  IIEST Shibpur is an engineering college and will push you most probably into a technical or corporate line.  IISER has a completely different approach. It focuses on scientific research and you will most probably end up in academia or research-oriented jobs. IIEST is a very old and reputed institute in the country and definitely, its placements will be better compared to IISER Bhopal. This decision entirely depends on you. Choose which career path you want to avail yourself and work toward establishing it.