The first Prime minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru initiated the process of starting Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in 1953 with the objective of rapidly progressing in the field of Science and Technology through collaboration with world class institutions. IITs have two prime objectives: (a) to perform high quality teaching and research, and (b) to produce high quality teachers and researchers.

IIT Patna was started in 2008 with B.Tech programs in 3 departments, viz., Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. At present, the institute has 6 Engineering (Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Civil and Infrastructure, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Material Science and Engineering and Mechanical Engineering) departments, 3 Basic Science (Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics) departments and a Humanities and Social Science department. These academic departments are responsible for teaching and doing research. To fulfil the objective of producing quality teachers and researchers the institute intends increasing the student strength from about 1100 at present to 5000 in the near future. All the departments are encouraged to update existing programs and launch new ones, especially keeping in mind real life needs.

The standard of an educational institute depends on the quality and integrity of its academic work. Academic integrity is a commitment to five fundamental values: Honesty, Trust, Fairness, Respect and Responsibility as defined in a document of ICAI (Int. Center for Academic Integrity 1999). IIT Patna will maintain high standard of academic integrity, while striving for excellence in teaching and research.