The Department of Chemistry is one of the first Departments to function after the Indian Institute of Technology Madras was founded in 1959.
The Department began with one Professor and one lecturer as faculty members, to conduct classes for the undergraduate engineering programme of the Institute.
Prof. Ramesh Gardas has been awarded the Excellence in Review Award from the Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research (IECR) journal.
Prof. Md Mahiuddin Baidya has been awarded the prestigious CRSI Bronze Medal for 2025.
Dr. Yamijala S R K Chaitanya Sharma has been awarded Young Faculty Recognition Award 2024 at IIT Madras
Prof. Md. Mahiuddin Baidya has been awarded Teaching Excellence Award for the year 2024
Applications are invited throughout the year from highly motivated, talented students who have completed M. Sc in Chemistry with a valid GATE score or a valid fellowship from CSIR(JRF), UGC(JRF) or DST(INSPIRE).