The selection process for admission to the undergraduate BCyber programme at IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras has concluded, with a total of 52 candidates shortlisted for admission across the two institutes, IIT Kanpur Director Professor Manindra Agrawal announced.
Sharing the update, Professor Agrawal said that emails have been sent to all shortlisted candidates, while the institute-wise admission list will be released on July 10.
Congratulating the selected candidates, he wrote, "For those who did not make it, we will be back next year with a bigger programme as more IITs are likely to join."
The BCyber admissions are based on candidates' performance in a cybersecurity hackathon. The undergraduate programme was initially launched by IIT Kanpur, with IIT Madras later joining the initiative.
Professor Agrawal also announced that IIT Kanpur will reimburse the application fee, after deducting processing charges, to every applicant who has not been shortlisted.
Earlier Clarified Shortlisting Process
Earlier, IIT Kanpur had addressed several queries raised by applicants regarding the shortlisting process. These included why only 121 candidates were initially shortlisted instead of the previously indicated 300-400, why the shortlist increased from 120 to 121 candidates, and why some applicants claiming significant cybersecurity experience were not shortlisted while some shortlisted candidates reportedly had no Capture The Flag (CTF) experience.
Explaining the process, the institute said that it received more than 2,700 applications, of which only 573 applicants had some cybersecurity experience. The cybersecurity work of these applicants was evaluated on a scale of 0 to 100, and a cutoff score of 6 was set for shortlisting.
Based on this criterion, 120 candidates initially qualified. The institute noted that many applicants with scores close to the cutoff had limited or no CTF experience.
Responding to complaints received through email and X regarding alleged errors in the shortlisting, IIT Kanpur said it reviewed all claims. It found that all but one applicant had scored below the cutoff. The remaining candidate had not been evaluated initially due to an issue while uploading the application on the portal. After the application was assessed, the candidate secured a score well above the cutoff, increasing the shortlist from 120 to 121 candidates.