IIIT Bangalore Admission Through GATE: M.Tech AI & DS, M.Tech CSE and PhD

IIIT Bangalore's address is 26/C, Opposite Infosys Gate 10, Electronics City Phase 1, Hosur Road, Bengaluru 560100. For 2026, the admissions pages add a detail worth knowing: first-year M.Tech students are housed at the institute's Extension Campus at Hosa Road, near the Electronic City campus, which the institute says runs with the same faculty and has separate hostels for men and women.

Two M.Tech programmes take a GATE score, and they map neatly onto the two papers this site covers:

Programme	GATE paper	Intake
M.Tech (Artificial Intelligence and Data Science)	DA	30
M.Tech (Computer Science and Engineering)	CS	120

The intake figures are from each programme's page. A third programme, M.Tech (ECE), takes GATE EC or EE. All M.Tech students are residential and full-time, and the admissions page states that hostel stay is mandatory because classes and labs often run past regular hours and into weekends.

IIIT Bangalore does not admit M.Tech students through CCMT or COAP. You apply on its own portal, admissions.iiitb.net, and the institute ranks applicants by GATE score. For the 2026 cycle, the M.Tech admissions pages describe no written test and no interview for M.Tech; selection is GATE score in the relevant paper, valid as of 1 June 2026.

The institute says plainly that it has no fixed GATE cut-off and that the 2026 cut-off would depend on the applications received. What it does instead is publish an offer list with a single "GATE Score Cut-off" figure for each programme, then later lists at lower figures.

After the regular lists come Live Online Rounds. In 2026, candidates who had applied and whose GATE score met a stated eligibility figure were emailed a registration link. Registered candidates received a Rank Token Number, issued in decreasing order of GATE score, and joined a live online counselling session. The Round 1 announcement says the token number is an indication of how many candidates are ahead of you.

The M.Tech AI & DS admissions page states that admission is on the basis of GATE scores in "DSAI - Data Science and Artificial Intelligence", which is the DA paper. The programme page lists the selection procedure simply as "GATE (DSAI) SCORE". It does not list GATE CS for this programme.

Eligibility in 2026 was 65% in a four-year B.E./B.Tech in any branch. M.Sc holders in CSE, Mathematics, Statistics or Operational Research could also apply, provided their B.Sc was in Computer Science or included Mathematics. Final-year students graduating by July 2026 were eligible.

This is a two-year, four-semester programme. In the first semester students take Algorithms, Machine Learning, Math for ML, and Neural Networks and Deep Learning. Electives are grouped into Data and Systems, AI Theory, AI in data domains and AI in application domains, and each student does one elective on AI and Ethics or Data and Society.

Because any branch is accepted, a civil or mechanical graduate with 65% and a strong GATE DA score qualifies on paper.

The M.Tech CSE admissions page accepts GATE scores in CS (Computer Science and Information Technology). The degree requirement is narrower than for AI & DS: 65% in a four-year B.E./B.Tech in CSE, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, Information Systems, Electronics and Communication Engineering, or AI and Machine Learning, or an equivalent branch.

With an intake of 120, this is the larger of the two programmes. According to the programme page, first-semester students choose foundation courses in algorithms, software systems and mathematics, take mandatory electives in Theoretical Computer Science and Software Systems, and then specialise in one of:

• Theory and Systems for Computing and Data
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Networking and Communication
• VLSI Systems
• Digital Society

If you are taking GATE CS and want AI work, note that the AIML specialisation sits inside M.Tech (CSE). The AI & DS M.Tech itself takes DA scores only.

IIIT Bangalore printed one GATE score per list on its admissions pages. These are GATE scores out of 1000, as printed, with no category-wise split shown.

List (2026)	M.Tech (AI & DS), GATE DA	M.Tech (CSE), GATE CS
1st List, 8 May	651	653
2nd List, 24 June	623	632
3rd List, 2 July	614	none printed
Live Online Round 1, 14 July	608	625
Live Online Round 2, 28 July	607	625

To register for the live rounds you needed a minimum score: 585 (AI & DS) and 620 (CSE) for Round 1, per the Round 1 announcement, and 578 (AI & DS) and 613 (CSE) for Round 2.

For context, the same pages say 2025 offers went up to a GATE score of 596 for AI & DS and 635 for CSE. The DA figures rose sharply in 2026. Read these as the 2026 outcomes; the institute itself says the cut-off varies with applications.

Step	2026 cycle
Applications open	19 March 2026
Last date to apply and pay the fee	4 May 2026
1st list	8 May 2026
2nd list	24 June 2026
Reporting	9 July 2026
Live Online Round 1	14 July 2026 (moved from 10 July)
Live Online Round 2	28 July 2026

The 2026-27 tuition fee is ₹2,76,000 per semester, ₹11,04,000 for the whole programme. Hostel and campus facilities cost ₹39,000 a semester and catering ₹28,800 a semester, with a refundable library deposit of ₹4,000, a refundable hostel caution deposit of ₹15,000, and insurance of ₹3,000 a year. Those numbers are the institute's own and apply to both M.Tech programmes; budget for them early.

M.Tech admission queries for 2026 went to admissions2026@iiitb.ac.in.

Research admissions run separately on the research admissions page, through the portal pravesh.iiitb.net, with an application fee of ₹1,000. Each research domain sets its own GATE rule, and the institute says the criteria for Computer Science, Software Engineering and Data Sciences cannot be used interchangeably.

• Data Science & AI domain: applicants should have qualified GATE, preferably in DA, CS, ST or MA. Shortlisting uses that score and the application, followed by an interview.
• Computer Science and Software Engineering domain: a GATE or GRE score from the last five years. Candidates with suitable experience may have the score waived but must clear IIIT Bangalore's written exam on data structures and algorithms, discrete maths, DBMS, operating systems, programming and computer architecture.

MS by Research needs a four-year B.E./B.Tech and is full-time only. A PhD needs a Master's in engineering (M.E./M.Tech) for these domains; the institute does not treat an MCA as equivalent for PhD. The Integrated PhD asks for at least 75% in a four-year degree and a valid GATE score, with interview shortlisting on UG marks and GATE.

The Term 2 2026-27 call is open as of this writing: applications close on 9 November 2026, written tests and interviews are set for 23 to 27 November, and joining is on 4 January 2027. Stipends for 2026-27 are ₹20,000 a month for MS by Research and ₹38,500 a month for PhD, rising to ₹43,500 at a later stage under institute policy.

The choice of paper decides the programme here. GATE DA leads to M.Tech (AI & DS) and nothing else at M.Tech level; GATE CS leads to M.Tech (CSE). With no CCMT or COAP involved, you have to apply on IIIT Bangalore's portal before the early-May deadline, separately from any NIT or IIT applications, and keep watching the admissions pages through July for the live rounds.

On the 2026 numbers, a DA score in the low 600s was the zone where offers were made after the first list, and CS offers stayed at 625 or above. For DA, start with the GATE DA preparation guide; for CS, the GATE CSE guide. Use previous year questions and practice sets to build speed, and see the Bengaluru city page if you will write GATE there. For another Bengaluru option with a different process, see IISc Bengaluru.