The institute's Main Campus is fully residential and is spread over 400 acres of land in the heart of Bangalore city. It is located in the north of Bangalore, about 6 kilometres from
Bangalore City Railway Station and
Kempegowda Bus Station, on the way to
Yeshwantpur. It is connected with city's
Namma Metro Sandal Soap Factory metro station and by various bus stations of
Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation. The institute is about 30 kilometres southwest of
Kempegowda International Airport. As a research hub, it is in the vicinity of a number of other research institutes,
Raman Research Institute,
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),
Wood Research Institute and
Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), are close to IISc. Most of these institutes are connected to IISc by a regular shuttle bus service. The main campus houses more than 40 departments marked by routes such as the Gulmohar Marga, the Mahogany Marga, the Badami Marga, the Tala Marga, the Ashoka Marga, the Nilgiri Marg, the Silver Oak Marg, the Amra Marga and the Arjuna Marga. The campus features six canteens (cafeterias), a gymkhana (gymnasium and sports complex), a football ground and a cricket ground, five dining messes (halls), one multi cuisine restaurant, nine men's and five women's hostels (dormitories), an
air strip, a library, two shopping centers and residences of the faculty members and other staff, besides other amenities. The IISc campus harbours both exotic and indigenous plant species with about 110 species of woody plants. The roads on the campus are named after the dominant avenue tree species. The architecture of the Main Building, which today houses the administration and the Faculty Hall, is classical in style, fronted by a grey, handsome tower. In front of it stands the work of
Gilbert Bayes, a monument erected in the memory of
J. N. Tata. At its feet is an inscription that serves to remind future generations of the generosity of Jamsetji Tata and the persistence with which he worked for the welfare of India. The building, as one of the prominent landmarks of Bangalore, was designed by C. F. Stevens and Company of Bombay in 1912–13.
J. R. D. Tata Memorial Library J. R. D. Tata Memorial Library is the main library of IISc. Apart from the main library, the institute also has independent departmental libraries. The library moved into the present premises in January 1965, built out of grants provided by
University Grants Commission (UGC), in commemoration of the golden jubilee celebrations of the institute in 1959. In 1995, the library was renamed as "
J. R. D. Tata Memorial Library". The
National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM) has recognised this library as Regional Center for Mathematics for the south region and continued to award a special grant towards subscription of Journals in Mathematics. The annual budget of the library is over Rs. 100 million (almost US$2,500,000) of which subscription towards periodicals alone is about Rs. 90 million. The library currently receives over 1,734 periodical titles, of which 1381 are subscribed, while the remaining titles are received gratis or on an exchange basis. About 600 titles are accessible through the library subscription. In addition, over 10,000 journals are accessible online, thanks to INDEST subscription. The total holdings of the library exceed 411,000 documents. The buildings for the metallurgy and aerospace departments were designed by the German architect
Otto Königsberger in 1940.
Historical artifacts on campus A 10th century
hulibete veeragallu, or hero stone commemorating a fight with a tiger, was discovered on the IISc campus in the late 1970s by two children of a professor who lived there. Veeragallus were typically erected to honor individuals who died in acts of valor, usually civilians. They are found mostly in the Karnataka region, dating from the 8th to 17th centuries. Those with inscriptions are especially helpful to historians as they provide more context about the event and martyr. While the IISc veeragallu lacks an inscription, experts believe it dates to the 10th century when the Western Gangas ruled Bangalore. The sculpture is partially damaged, but you can still see the martyr's left hand gripping a bow and his right hand about to shoot an arrow at an attacking tiger. This is one of only three known
hulibete veeragallus in Bangalore. The others are located at Bangalore University (7th or 8th century) and in Madivala (14th century).
Challakere Campus A second campus is in
Challakere, on a lot of land. Research centres and labs here include the Talent Development Centre, Skill Development Centre funded by
HAL under CSR Act, Solar Power Research Center and a Climate Observatory. The Centre for Sustainable Technologies has commenced its activities here under the project "C-BELT" i.e., the Centre for Bio-energy and Low-Carbon Technologies.
Janardhana Swamy, then Member of Parliament from the Chitradurga Lok Sabha as well as a notable alumnus of IISc and Amalan Biswas, then DC of Chitradurga District played significant roles in setting up the IISc's new campus at Challakere. They were instrumental in identifying all the required 1500 acres of land for the new campus, getting the existing building leased from the Sheep Farm, obtaining the various needed approvals from the government, and having the initial funds released from the State. ==Organisation and administration==