Patna, April 6: Engineers and architects of the state will now have three new postgraduate courses to choose from to further their technical skills.

National Institute of Technology (NIT), Patna, is set to offer three new postgraduate courses in the coming academic session. The three courses on offer will be postgraduate degree in computer science, postgraduate programme in communication system under the electronics and communications branch and masters in urban and regional planning under the architecture branch.

U.C. Ray, director, NIT, told The Telegraph: “The Union ministry of human resource development has sanctioned the proposal for three new postgraduate courses. Earlier, these courses were offered only at the graduate level.

“Once these courses are started, NIT will be the only institute in Bihar and Jharkhand to have such programmes at the postgraduate level,” Ray added.

Each course will have 20 seats and admission will be on the basis of the merit list prepared by Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE).

A source said the resolution to start the courses was passed by the NIT senate and forwarded to the governors of the institute for their approval. The governors, in turn, forwarded the proposal to the Union ministry of human resource development

As the ministry governs all the NITs, there is no need to seek approval from All India Council for Technical Education.

The institute has also tied up with Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship Programme, which is a joint venture of the United States and India under the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF). Under this fellowship programme, students, research scholars and teachers from both countries can visit the other for research and learning.

USIEF senior programme manager Sudarsan Dash visited NIT today to spread awareness about Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship Programme and also made presentations on other Fulbright fellowships.

Dash said the US government-funded Fulbright programmes were established in 1946 after the World War II with an aim to increase mutual understanding between Americans and citizens of other countries. The Indian government became part of the programme in 1950. On July 4, 2008 the governments of India and the US signed a new agreement to strengthen educational exchanges between the countries.

Dash said under the programme, the USIEF could offer around 110 Fulbright-Nehru Fellowships in India for 2012. Under the programmes, students, research scholars and teachers from NIT could go to various universities in the US. Similarly students from American universities could also come down to NIT.

The 11-month-long research programmes will be funded by USIEF and students will be selected on the basis of interviews of candidates.