Berhampur, March 26: Efforts to turn the government Industrial Training Institute into a temporary campus for the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research is going on in full swing with construction and allied activities taking shape for classes from July.

In January, the site-selection committee, which visited the city, had chosen the government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) as a transit campus for the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER). Accordingly, work began to develop adequate infrastructure on the ITI campus.

In the first batch, the Odisha branch of IISER will accept 50 students, which may go up to 200 later, said officials.

Government ITI principal Rajat Kumar Panigrahi said 95 per cent construction work for the G+4 storey structure on the ITI campus has already been completed.

"We have kept 16 classrooms and a workshop on the second floor spread over 14,000 sqft ready. Another two floors spread over 28,000 sqft will be ready before the second academic session to facilitate 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students," he said.

Besides, 15 rooms in the girls' hostel of the Government Polytechnic and the unused boys' hostel of the Uma Charan Patnaik Engineering School, both situated near the Government ITI, will house IISER students.

The shifting to the permanent campus from the temporary campus may take two to three years. The site-selection committee, during its visit to the city, had selected Laudigaon, located 20km from the city railway station, as the location for the permanent campus.

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley announced the construction of IISER, Odisha in the Union Budget for 2015-16.

The IISER administration released a notification for admission to the bachelor and masters dual degree programme for the academic year 2016-17 in seven IISERs, including IISER, Odisha, was released in February on their official website www.iiseradmission.in. According to the notification, students seeking admission can apply from May 25. The last date for application is June 12 while the entrance test will be held on July 3. The results of the test will be declared on July 10. Students who have valid Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana fellowship or who have qualified the Joint Entrance Examination of Indian Institutes of Technology channel or state and central boards channel are eligible to apply for admissions. Students passing the 10+2 examination in the current year and the previous year are only eligible for taking admission, sources said.