Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad (IIT Palakkad / IITPkd) is one of the newest and most promising Institutes of National Importance, established in 2015 and proposed in the 2014 Union Budget of India in response to Kerala's long-standing demand for an IIT. It is one of India's third-generation IITs and is mentored by IIT Madras — India's top-ranked engineering institute for 9 consecutive years by NIRF — ensuring that its academic programs, research culture, and institutional practices are shaped by the very best in the country. Located in the serene town of Palakkad in Kerala, IIT Palakkad operates from its beautifully designed permanent campus at Kanjikode, at the scenic foothills of the Sahyadri (Western Ghats) mountain range. The campus is divided into two adjacent sections: the 40-acre Nila Campus housing the Samgatha academic complex, the Manogatha laboratory complex, the Institute Clinic, Csquare Innovation Lab, and student hostels Brindavani, Tilang, and Bageshri; and the sprawling 504-acre Sahyadri Campus housing the Saraswati academic block (2,000-seat classroom complex), the APJ Abdul Kalam Block, Central Fabrication Facility, Heavy Machinery Lab, Research Complex, Infrastructure Testing Lab, and hostels Malhar and Saveri alongside the Kedaram dining hall. A complimentary shuttle service connects both campuses. The campus is eco-friendly with solar power systems, rainwater harvesting, and waste management, aimed at net-zero environmental impact. Academically, IIT Palakkad offers B.Tech in five specializations, M.Tech in six specializations, M.Sc in three science disciplines, MS by Research, and PhD programs. The institute's academic philosophy is distinctively innovative: faculty members can hold multiple departmental affiliations, and graduate research programs (MS/PhD) are administered centrally by the Graduate Research Council, fostering deep interdisciplinary research. The Csquare Innovation Lab supports student entrepreneurship. Research centres include the Smart AgriTech Centre for Advanced Research and Development, the Global Sanitation Centre of Excellence (GSCOE), and the Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF). The Shreenivas Library houses over 1,50,000 books and subscriptions to national and international journals, open from 8 AM to 1 AM daily. The institute has signed study-abroad agreements with Auckland University of Technology (New Zealand), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), and the University of California San Diego (USA), allowing final-year B.Tech students to study one semester abroad. IIT Palakkad also launched a free 12-week Applied Accelerated Artificial Intelligence course on NPTEL, and PG Certificate programs in Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, and Applied Data Science through Eruditus. In 2024-25, 155 students were placed out of 190 registered (81.58% overall rate). Highest package: INR 52 LPA (CSE and EE). CSE averaged INR 19.14 LPA (84.78% rate); Civil Engineering achieved 94.44% placement rate. In NIRF 2025, IIT Palakkad ranks 64th in Engineering and 101–150 band Overall. It has been ranked in the top 100 globally in the Times Higher Education (THE) Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2026 — remarkable for an institute less than a decade old.