phd rules iitb

Centre for Urban Science and Engineering

Indian institute of technology bombay, ph.d. programme, admission details 2023-24.

Admissions for Ph.D. Programme 2023 (New)

ELIGIBILITY FOR ADMISSION First Class or 60% marks (55% marks for SC/ST), as specified in the General Eligibility Criterion, in the qualifying degree with any one of the following:

i. M.Tech./M.E./ 2­year MBA (following B. Tech/B.E or equivalent) or equivalent degree in any branch of Engineering/Medicine consistent with the research areas of the Centre      OR Master’s degree in Architecture, Urban Planning, or equivalent degree consistent with the research areas of the Centre

ii. B.Tech./B.E./MBBS or equivalent degree in any branch of Engineering/medicine consistent with the research areas of the Centre*      OR Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Urban Planning, or related disciplines*      OR M.Sc./MA/ MBA (following B.Com/B.Sc. or equivalent) or equivalent degree in Environmental Sciences, Energy Sciences, Geography, Social Sciences, Economics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, or related disciplines*.

For qualifying degree listed under ii, candidates must also fulfil ONE of the following additional requirements : 1. Valid GATE/CEED score (for TA/TAP/RA/RAP) 2. Selected through National Eligibility Test – UGC NET including lectureship (Assistant Professorship) 3. A valid CSIR/UGC/DBT JRF or a valid ICMR JRF not linked to ICMR project (for FA)/BINC any fellowship that will provide scholarship for 5 years. 4. Experience as specified earlier in A.5 and A.6 (for CT, EX, IS, PS, SF, SW category) 5. Selected through a National level examination conducted by MHRD or its agencies/Institutions such as UGC/ IIT/ IISc./ IISER/IIIT etc.

* Minimum of TWO years of professional experience relevant to the research areas of the Centre (acquired after obtaining the qualifying degree and completed before the starting of the semester in which admission is sought)

Additional Information:

Course Work and Minimum CPI

The course requirement for a student joining PhD programme with M Tech/ME or equivalent or master’s degree in Architecture, Urban Planning, or equivalent as qualifying degree will be 2 courses and one seminar. Thus, the minimum credit requirement for such students would be 16.

Students joining PhD programme with B. Tech./B.E. or Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Urban Planning, or related disciplines or M.Sc. or M.A as qualifying degree need to complete minimum of 44 credits. However, in view of Rule 4.2 (of rules and regulations of PhD programme), the minimum credit requirement in case of students with M.Sc./M.A. or equivalent as qualifying degree may be reduced to 34 with the approval of CPGC up on the recommendation of the supervisor.

Every PhD student must maintain a minimum CPI of 7.0 in the course work to continue in the PhD programme.

For the confirmation of a candidate’s PhD registration, a two-stage qualifier as per the following details is recommended. 

Stage-1: The “credit seminar” will form Stage-1. This should be completed before the end of the first semester of joining. The credit seminar should be oriented towards formulation of the research proposal. It should include identification of the research topic and its importance, literature review and appraisal of current state-of-the-art, gaps in the area and motivation of the proposed work.

The panel of examiners for credit seminar evaluation should involve at least two faculty members in addition to the supervisor. If the grade earned is BC or less, then the candidate should be asked to repeat the seminar again within 3 months. This repeat seminar will not have any credits associated with it; however, if found unsatisfactory then the candidate should be given a final warning that the next stage i.e., PhD Qualifier Examination would be the last chance for continuation of PhD. These inputs will be passed on to the PhD Qualifier Committee.

Stage-2 : A “PhD Qualifier Examination” will form the Stage-2 of the qualifier. This should be conducted before the end of the second semester of joining. This PhD Qualifier Examination will be a oral examination conducted for evaluation of candidate’s aptitude towards carrying out the proposed research work. The knowledge of the candidate in the basic subject areas of the proposed research will be tested by the examiners in the PhD Qualifier Examination. The examination board for this will be named as “PhD Qualifier Committee” consisting of the research supervisor of the candidate and two relevant subject experts. The constitution of this committee needs to be approved by Centre PGC,

If the PhD Qualifier Examination is unsatisfactory and the candidate has cleared the Stage-1 in 1 st attempt, then the candidate should be asked to give repeat PhD Qualifier Examination within 3months. This repeat PhD Qualifier Examination would be the last chance for continuation of PhD.

If the PhD Qualifier Examination is unsatisfactory and the candidate has cleared the Stage-1 in 2 nd attempt then the candidate will have to discontinue. There will not be any repeat PhD Qualifier Examination in this case.  

The confirmation of the PhD program should be done after successful completion of the above two stages of assessment. The entire process of confirmation (i.e., course work and qualifier) should be completed within a maximum time of 1 year 3 months from the date of joining of the Ph.D. scholar.

*Phd Qualifier Requirement for students converting from MTech program to PhD

MTech student should have minimum BB or more in seminar and CPI of 7 or more in coursework for conversion into MTech – PhD dual degree programme. Such students have to clear only the stage 2 qualifier examination for confirmation of their registration. The student must appear for PhD qualifier examination within 6 months of the date of conversion from MTech to PhD and should complete it within a maximum period of 9months from the date of conversion.

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Please follow this links for rules and regulations for ph.d. programme:.

• Guidelines for preparation for Ph.D. Synopsis
• Rules for exit option for (M.Sc.+ Ph.D.) Dual Degree Programme
• Rules & Regulations for Ph.D. Programme

Please follow this link for Rules and Regulations for B.Tech/Dual Degree/M.Sc Programme:

• B.Tech/Dual Degree/M.Sc rules

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• PhD Course Structure

Below is an overview of the minimum-credits requirement based on the degree of entry:

Postgraduate	Design-related degrees	MDes, MFA, MArch, MURP, PG Diploma of NID and equivalent	min 20 credits
	All other degrees *		PhD Committee may ask to do additional design courses, up to a maximum of 44 credits
Undergraduate	Design-related degrees	BDes, BFA, BArch, UG Diploma of NID and equivalent	min 44 credits
	All other degrees *		PhD Committee may ask to do additional design courses, up to a maximum of 56 credits

* One needs to reach out to the PhD supervisor in such a case

• In the first year, all PhD scholars are required to take up mandatory courses on 'Design Research Methodologies'.
• The PhD scholars who are required to take up electives must choose the courses in consultation with their respective supervisors.
• In the first and the second semester, a PhD scholar is required to undertake one minor project each. This project will have a research orientation or a combination of design and research. It is strongly encouraged that the output of the minor project is published as a paper in a peer-reviewed conference or a journal.

Below is an overview of the courses and the credits for the 1st year PhD students:

DE 803	Quantitative Design Research Methods	6
DE 804	Qualitative Design Research Methods	6
DE 801	Mini Project I	4
DE 802	Mini Project II	4
DE 899 *	Communication Skills	Non-Credit
TA 101 *	Teaching Assistant Skill Enhancement & Training	Non-Credit
GC 101 **	Gender in the Workplace	Non-Credit
(for postgraduate entry)
Electives from any department (for undergraduate entry)		24
(for undergraduate entry)

* The award of the degree is subject to completing these courses. DE 899 is required to be cleared within the first two semesters. For exemption from doing DE 899, please refer to the IITB PhD Rules .  ** The award of the degree is subject to completing the institute course GC 101, Gender in the Workplace. Students are required to complete the course in their first semester as per the IITB PhD Rules .

On successfully completing the course credit requirements, the PhD scholar is granted the confirmation of PhD registration.

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The Course Credit Requirements and the Qualifier Examination Rules for the Ph.D. Programme at CSRE can be found here.

The following courses are offered as a part of the Ph.D. Programme Curriculum at CSRE:

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GNR 803		Prof. B.K. Mohan
GNR 804		Prof. S.S. Gedam
GNR 805		Prof. Y.S Rao, Prof. Avik Bhattacharya and Prof. Gulab Singh
	Prof. M.V.R Murti and Prof. Ritesh Gautam
GNR 807		Prof. S.S. Gedam
GNR 808		Prof. B.K. Mohan

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Posted on May 24, 2022

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CSRE M.Tech. Spot Admission 2024

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Updated on July 28, 2023

Instructions for Ph.D. Autumn 2023-24 Semester (May 2023)

Updated on April 17, 2023

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• assessment For updating any changes on CSRE Website, please contact : Prof. Y.S. Rao Email: [email protected]

Demystifying the PhD Program

26 December 2021 | Mihir Kavishwar, Sheel Shah, Pudi Seshasainadh

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program offered by the Department of Electrical Engineering is widely known for nurturing talented research scholars who play leadership roles in research and development, either in industry or academia. Of the 1100+ students in our department, we have over 400 PhD students who devote around five years of their lives to the department's research activities. The research contributions made by our PhD students have been crucial for advancing the state of knowledge in various specializations of Electrical Engineering. However, despite having such significant representation among students and an impressive research reputation, the daily struggles of the PhD community largely remain a mystery to the undergraduates who seldom get to interact with them. Therefore, through this article, we seek to demystify the PhD program of our department, and subsequently, we also highlight some key challenges our research scholars face. We hope that such discussions lead to more positive interactions among all students and a greater appreciation for our research scholars who push the boundaries of human knowledge.

What do we mean by a PhD, and when has a student earned a Doctoral qualification?

It is not an easy question to answer and requires intense deliberation. In 2014, a document titled "Goals and Roadmap of PhD Program - A Desiderata” was prepared within the department after thoughtful discussions among multiple professors and incorporation of feedback from research scholars. We encourage our readers to go through the entire document to gain interesting insights into the motivations behind the current structure of our doctoral program.

To quote from this document, "the degree of Doctor of Philosophy recognizes a clearly discernible advancement in the state of knowledge in a particular branch of learning, clearly attributable in the large, to the recipient of this degree and acknowledged by representatives of the peer community in that field. At the end of the PhD program, a student should be an independent researcher. He/she should be able to stand alone and work in some area of choice. He/she should be a creative thinker and should be able to analyze and assess research work. The PhD program should have instilled enough confidence in the student so that he/she has the courage to venture out to some new frontiers of knowledge."

Admission Categories

PhD students in the department are majorly admitted under the teaching assistant or research assistant categories. A limited number of teaching assistant (TA) positions are available which are funded by the Ministry of Education. Teaching assistant positions through sponsored projects may also be open sometimes and these are called teaching assistantship through project (TAP). All teaching assistants (whether TA or TAP) are required to assist course instructors in grading, conducting tutorials and tests for the prescribed hours in a week. They may also be assigned any other academic or administrative duties related to the department such as admissions and examinations. PhD students under the research assistantship through project (RAP) categories are usually funded by sponsored research projects being undertaken by faculty members of the department. In such cases, research work leading to a PhD, is in general, closely related to the objectives of the respective project. There are various other categories of admission as well, such as those who are sponsored by their employing organisations (SW), quality improvement program for teachers of other engineering institutes (QIP), external candidates (EX), project staff of the institute (PS), institute staff (IS) and fellowship awardees from external organisations (FA). Admissions to the PhD program are usually conducted twice a year around May and December respectively. Additionally, admission into a dual degree program combining MTech and PhD is offered as well; and existing MTech students are also given an option to convert into this dual degree program.

Stages in the PhD program

The IITB PhD process as described in the Desiderata document is given below. An approximate duration for each stage of the process is also given, however the exact exit point depends upon successful completion of the exams and evaluations at each stage.

Stage 1: Preparation to begin thesis (1-1.5 years)

• Completion of minimum course work
• PhD Qualifiers: Tests comprehension and critical thinking based on course work and research paper review

Stage 2: Thesis Development (2 - 5 years)

• Analysis Capability
• Lab work/ Tools Capability
• Context Development
• Technical Communication
• Annual Progress Seminar (APS): Updates on progress made by the PhD candidate
• Pre-Synopsys Exam: Test for completion of research

Stage 3: Thesis Defense (0.5-1 year)

• Every PhD candidate has to defend his/her final thesis in front of a Research Progress Committee (RPC) which certifies the completion of a PhD if it finds that all the learning objectives were adequately met

Challenges faced by PhD students

During the pandemic, shutting down of labs hindered the progress of scholars who were involved in experimental work. The relatively sudden closing down of the institute also meant that ongoing experiments and their setups had to be left midway. The inconsistency of the 2020 semesters had a negative impact on the Annual Progress Seminars as well. Peer learning, which is an instrumental part of research, plummeted during the virtual semesters. Even after returning to campus, physical interaction with guides and other faculty did not start immediately, slowing the research progress of scholars.

Apart from problems caused by the pandemic, issues related to funding persist even during normal times. It is pretty evident from the data that the average stipend for research scholars at IITs is significantly less than what many foreign universities or industry jobs can offer for the same amount of work. The problem is exacerbated for PhD students from the TAP category who face a lot of uncertainty concerning their stipends. These students are already overburdened as they are required to work on their sponsored project and perform teaching assistantship duties in addition to carrying out independent research. The latter often becomes necessary since industry projects usually have restrictions on publishing the results.

Land is scarce in Mumbai, and with IIT Bombay being constrained by space as well, accommodation is an important issue for PhD students. The institute doesn't have sufficient rooms to accommodate all research scholars. Hostel allocations often get delayed, sometimes by a couple of years, and the rent in Mumbai is very high to be a viable alternative. Married research scholars find it especially difficult to get accommodation on campus.

PhD advisors play a very crucial role in the academic development of their students. Lack of understanding between a professor and a student can be detrimental to both and negatively hamper research progress. Other than this, the research scholar community in our department is highly diverse and scattered, with students coming from widely different backgrounds. Unlike undergraduates, research scholars have less common courses and instead have to work on independent research topics. Therefore, informal interaction among scholars often gets limited to their research groups.

Despite such challenges, our research output has increased considerably in the last few years, thanks to immense efforts from both students and faculty. We hope that the concerns raised by our postgraduate student representatives, some of which we highlighted here, are addressed in due course of time so that a further boost can be given to research activities. We thank Vishakha Pandey, Surya Varchasvi and Parth Mehta for their valuable inputs in this article.

Click here to view the Desiderata document on our department's PhD program.

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Doctoral Programme

Results of PhD Admissions 2024-25 expected on 30 May 2024 Schedule

List of Candidates Called for In-Person Interview Click here

List of Candidates Called for In-Person Written Examination Click here

Instructions for Candidates Called for Written Test/Interview Click here

	10 May 2024 9:30 AM LT 201 & LT 202
	9 May 2024 9:30 AM LC 202

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must hold any one of the following qualifying degrees:

• (1a) BE/BTech or an equivalent* degree with 60% marks/6.0 CPI (55% marks/5.5 CPI for SC/ST).
• (1b) Bachelor’s degree in Medicine (MBBS 4 year or more).
• (2)   MSc/MA/MCom/LLM/MCA or an equivalent* degree with 60% marks/6.0 CPI (55% marks/5.5 CPI for SC/ST) at postgraduation level.
• (3)   MBA/ME/MTech/MPhil from any institute recognized by a Government body (AICTE/UGC/AIU) with 60% marks/6.0 CPI (55% marks/5.5 CPI for SC/ST).

*All equivalent degrees must be certified by their respective institution(s).

Applicants with qualifying degrees listed in 1 or 2 above must also fulfil ANY ONE of the following additional requirements:

• (a)  A valid CAT/GMAT/GRE score.
• (b)  Qualified in GATE/UGC-NET (Lectureship)/UGC-JRF/CSIR-NET (Lectureship)/CSIR-JRF/DAE/DST/DBT/ICMR/NBHM, etc.
• (c)  At least two years of work experience (acquired after obtaining the qualifying degree and completed before the starting of the semester in which admission is sought).

Teaching Assistantship (TA)

• Applicants admitted in the Teaching Assistantship (TA) category will receive a monthly fellowship. The eligibility criteria for awarding TA positions for PhDs are according to the guidelines determined by IIT Bombay. Please refer to it for more details.
• Other national-level scholarships and sponsorships can be availed from the central and state governments, subject to fulfilling the required eligibility criteria.

Teaching/Research Assistantship (TAP/RAP)

• The Ashank Desai Centre for Policy Studies (ADCPS) will offer Teaching/Research Assistantships through Project (TAP/RAP) depending upon project availability. To be considered for the same (if available), candidates applying must submit a valid GATE score.

Shortlisting Process and Admission Policy

• Digital Societies and Governance
• Social Policy—Education, Ageing, and Identity
• Water, Sanitation, Energy, and Climate Change

Please visit https://www.cps.iitb.ac.in/research for more details.

• Applicants must submit a research proposal (policy-relevant) along with their online application and indicate clearly in the proposal the research area at ADCPS that it aligns with. The proposal should contain the problem identification, a brief literature review, the proposed methodology, and a list of references (2000 words maximum, excluding references).
• Admission to the PhD programme is based on grading the applicants’ research proposal and their performance in a written test and an interview . The institute adheres to the reservation policies outlined by the Government of India.

Note: Applicants are advised to go through the research interests of the faculty members and contact/e-mail them to see if the scope aligns. Please visit https://www.cps.iitb.ac.in/faculty for the faculty profile.

Doctoral Programme

We encourage international students to apply for the IIT Bombay institute TA fellowships for our PhD programs. More details about this can be found at " Scholarship for Foreign PHD Students ".

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Minimum Qualifications for admission to Full-time PhD Programmes

Table 1 defines the minimum qualifications required for admission to full-time Ph. D. programmes at IIT Delhi. Please note:

These are Institute minimum requirements and any Department/Centre/School operating through their DRC/CRC/SRC can specify higher short-listing criteria than what is specified here.

This table includes most of the degrees, but each DRC/CRC/SRC is free to specify the qualifications and disciplines acceptable for admission to their programmes.

Candidates in the final year of their programmes and who expect to complete all their qualifying degree requirements before the date of registration are also eligible to apply for admissions. For short-listing purposes, their performance until the preceding semester (preceding year if their programmes are year based) would be considered but their admission would be provisional, subject to their meeting the minimum eligibility criteria after their final qualifying examination results are announced. In any case, all admissions are provisional at first and it is confirmed only after all certificates and previous records are duly checked and verified, a process which may take a few weeks into the starting semester.

Table 1: Minimum Qualification for Admission to full-time PhD Programmes

Qualifying Degree	Minimum performance in qualifying degree for General/OBC (Non-Creamy Layer) category students	Qualification through national level examination requirements
M.Tech./M.E./M.D. or equivalent	60% marks or 6.00 CGPA on a 10-point scale	Nil
M.Sc./MBA/M.A./M.B.B.S. or equivalent	60% marks or 6.00 CGPA on a 10-point scale	Qualified GATE/ CSIR/ UGC/NET/ICAR/ICMR/ DST-INSPIRE Fellowship
B.E./B.Tech. or equivalent	70% marks or 7.00 CGPA on a 10-point scale	Qualified GATE/CSIR/ UGC NET/ICAR/DST-INSPIRE Fellowship

Exemptions, relaxations and clarifications:

For SC/ST/PwD category candidates , the minimum performance in the qualifying degree (S. No. 1 & 2 in Table 1) is relaxed from 60% to 55% (CGPA relaxed from 6.00 to 5.50).

For SC/ST/PwD category candidates , the minimum performance in the qualifying degree (Sr. No.3 in Table 1) is relaxed from 70% to 65% (CGPA relaxed from 7.00 to 6.50).

Qualifying degree performance is computed by aggregating performance over all the semesters/years of the qualifying degree, as per the credit or weightage system approved in the institution/ board where the degree has been completed.

Requirement of qualification in GATE / National Exam is waived for the following categories of applicants:

Currently registered students in Centrally Funded Technical Institutes (CFTIs) pursuing B.Tech./B.E./ Integrated M. Tech/ Integrated M.Sc. Programmes (or any other programme of minimum four year duration, admission to which is on the basis of JEE), who have completed 6 semesters or more, and have CGPA of 8.00 or above (on a 10 point scale). Such students must obtain a CGPA of 8.00 or above at the time of graduation, and before they formally register for the Ph.D. programme (80% aggregate marks, if marks are the primary mode of evaluation);

Graduates of CFTIs (in the programmes marked under (i)) with a final graduation CGPA of more than 8.00 (80% aggregate marks, if marks are the primary mode of evaluation);

M.A or M.Sc. graduates from IITs with CGPA 8.00 or above.

For purposes of shortlisting, the primary method of evaluation (i.e., CGPA/CPI, or aggregate percentage, whichever is appropriate) followed by the institution where candidate has obtained his/her qualifying degree will be used by IIT Delhi for determining whether the candidate meets the final shortlisting requirements.

For assistantship purposes only (and not for qualification), candidates with M.B.B.S. qualification will be considered equivalent to M. Tech., for admission to Ph.D. programme in Centre for Biomedical Engineering;

For candidates with M.A. degree in English, a 5% relaxation in marks or 0.5 relaxation in CGPA may be permitted for admission to the Ph.D. programme in Humanities and Social Sciences;

Candidates holding an MBA degree are eligible for applying to the Ph.D. programme in the Department of Management Studies.

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