IIST Trivandrum Reviews

The institute is situated 20 KM away from the city of Thiruvanthapura in the beautiful mountain areas. The institute had a bond with ISRO till last year batch and students could directly get into ISRO but now an interview round has been introduced but ISRO dream still being in the limelight. The institute has a great infrastructure and well-developed labs. Students will have enough exposure to ISRO related activities. The major setback is lack of opportunities to socialize and the lack of sports facilities. Apart from mess food, you will have option to eat food in a small cafeteria and a small restaurant outside campus. The campus has really strict security norms as it is guarded by CISF guards.Read Full Review

The Institute is a good platform for students who are looking forward to build a career in space sector. There are several opportunities available to pursue research & project work in space applications, either through faculty collaborations, ISRO Centers, or IIST-ISRO Small Spacecraft Systems & Payload Centre (SSPACE), where students work on actual small satellite & rocket development. The close relationship of institute with ISRO offers opportunity to do internships at ISRO Centers, or work on ISRO-sponsored faculty projects. Students are given the freedom to pitch their own R&D ideas, propose missions, and work to that end. This is what drew me to IIST, and I think anyone seeking exposure to space R&D at the undergraduate level should definitely consider IIST as an option.Read Full Review

IIST Trivandrum comes under the DOS- Department of Space. The Institute is good in terms of space tech but lacks in terms of external outreach and industry connection. In terms of courses, there are mainly 3 UG programs Aerospace, ECE (Avionics), and Computer Science (started in 2025). The Institute is very good if you want your career to be only focused towards space technology. Exploring different fields other than space tech would be difficult in here. Overall, the Institute is best if you want to pursue Aerospace. Computer Science has been started this year and it does not have a separate department as of now and is currently working under Mathematics department. Other than this, there is an Engineering Physics Branch, is a dual degree program which focuses more on the research side.Read Full Review