PhD Admission 2024: Notifications, Application Form, Entrance, Eligibility, Top Institutes

PhD Admission 2024: Various institutes like IISc, IITs, IIMs, NITs, IISERs, CSIR Labs, Research Institutes, Govt. and Private universities offers PhD Program.

PhD Admission 2024 in India is done based on national level exam like UGC NET, CSIE NET, GATE or university conduct there own entrance exams like DUET, JNUEE etc.

Mostly application form for PhD Admission 2024 is filled online.

Check here full details on PhD Admission 2024 like Dates, Selection Process, Latest Notifications, Entrance Exams, Syllabus etc.

PhD (Doctor of Philosophy)

PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) is a research degree which is one of the most common types of doctoral degrees that concentrates on research studies in the domains like arts, science, engineering, management, pharmacy, mass communication, law, commerce, etc.

In a PhD course aspirants need to select a topic or a subject and do in-depth research on it and answer any queries related to the topic/ subject.

In India duration of PhD is typically minimum duration of 3 years and a maximum duration of 6 years.

PhD Admission Categories

  • Full-time Research Scholar (usually stay on-campus and work full-time towards the PhD degree)
  • Part-time Research Scholar (usually employed with some organization and work part time towards the PhD degree)

Popular PhD Fields

  • PhD Humanities and Social Sciences
  • PhD Sciences
  • PhD Engineering
  • PhD Commerce
  • PhD Management
  • PhD Law
  • PhD Education

PhD Institutes in India

  • Government Universities/Institutes
    • There are Public universities or Institutes that are controlled by State Governments or the Union Government of India, collectively known as Government Universities/Institutes.
  • Private Universities
    • There are many private universities offering PhD Program.

PhD Admission 2024: Latest Notifications, Application Form and Dates

Check more – Latest PhD Admission Notifications

Top Colleges for PhD Admission 2024

List of top 25 Research Institutes in India as per NIRF Rankings

RankNameCityState
1Indian Institute of Science BengaluruKarnataka
2Indian Institute of Technology Madras ChennaiTamil Nadu
3Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi New DelhiDelhi
4Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay MumbaiMaharashtra
5Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur KharagpurWest Bengal
6Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur KanpurUttar Pradesh
7Tata Institute of Fundamental Research MumbaiMaharashtra
8Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee RoorkeeUttarakhand
9All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi New DelhiDelhi
10Vellore Institute of Technology VelloreTamil Nadu
11Homi Bhabha National Institute MumbaiMaharashtra
12Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad HyderabadTelangana
13Jadavpur University KolkataWest Bengal
14Jawaharlal Nehru University New DelhiDelhi
15Banaras Hindu University VaranasiUttar Pradesh
16University of Delhi DelhiDelhi
17Indian Institute of Science Education & Research, Pune PuneMaharashtra
18Academy of Scientific & Innovative Research GhaziabadUttar Pradesh
19Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi New DelhiDelhi
20Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) DhanbadJharkhand
21Anna University ChennaiTamil Nadu
22Bharathiar University CoimbatoreTamil Nadu
23National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli TiruchirappalliTamil Nadu
24National Institute of Technology Rourkela RourkelaOdisha
25Institute of Chemical Technology MumbaiMaharashtra

Check – NIRF India Research Ranking

PhD Admission 2024: Eligibility Criteria 

  • For UGC affiliated universities as per UGC Regulations Candidates must have a master’s degree or MPhil degree with at least 55% marks in aggregate or its equivalent grade ‘B’ in the UGC 10- point scale (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed) or an equivalent degree from a foreign educational institution accredited by an Assessment and Accreditation Agency which is approved, recognized or authorized by an authority, established or incorporated under a law in its home country or any other statutory authority in that country to assess, accredit or assure quality and standards of educational institutions to pursue a PhD Program. A relaxation of 5% of marks, from 55% to 50%, or an equivalent relaxation of grade, may be allowed for those belonging to SC/ST/OBC (non-creamy layer)/Differently-Abled, Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and other categories of candidates as per the decision of the Commission from time to time, or for those who had obtained their master’s degree before 19th September 1991.
  • Some institutes also allow a candidate seeking admission after a 4-year/8-semester Bachelor’s degree with Research should have a minimum CGPA of 7.5/10.
  • Institutes like IISc, IITs, IIMs, IISERs and Research institutes have their own eligibility criteria. For institute wise eligibility criteria refer to their websites.

PhD Admission Process

Admission to the PhD courses is carried out both through merit as well as the entrance-based process. Institutes may also conduct interview.

As per UGC all universities shall admit Ph.D. Scholars through a National Eligibility Test (NET) or National Entrance Test or an Entrance test conducted at the level of individual universities. Provided that, any circular/notification/communication by the UGC/Ministry of Education, Govt. of India regarding the conduct of a common entrance test for this purpose shall be applicable and binding on the Universities concerned (and covered under such a circular/notification/communication).

Entrance Exam Based PhD Admission 2024

  • National wise and institution-wise entrance exams are conducted for the admission of PhD courses.
  • Some institutions even organize personal interviews along with the entrance exams for the admission of PhD courses.

Direct Admission / Merit-Based / Entrance Exempted PhD Admission 2024

  • Top institutions offer PhD admission through a merit-based process on the basis of academic scores or/and national level exam like NET/GATE scores.
  • Some institutes may also ask for the candidates to submit the outline of the research proposal to offer PhD Admission 2024.
  • Institute may also conduct interview.

PhD Entrance Exam 2024

Universities accept the scores of either a national-level PhD entrance exam or an university-level PhD entrance exam.

As per UGC all universities shall admit Ph.D. Scholars through a National Eligibility Test (NET) or National Entrance Test or an Entrance test conducted at the level of individual universities.

National Level PhD Entrance Exams 2024

Some of the national-level PhD entrance exams are –

  • CSIR UGC NET
    • Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and University Grants Commission Jointly organises National Eligibility Test (CSIR UGC NET) is a national level exam. 
    • NTA conducts CSIR UGC NET exam twice a year to recruit candidates for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and lectureship.
  • UGC NET
    • University Grants Commission organises National Eligibility Test (UGC NET).
    • It is a national level exam conducted by NTA. 
    • NTA conducts UGC NET exam twice a year to recruit candidates for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and for lectureship.
  • GATE
    • GATE exam is conducted by IITs.
    • It is conducted in online mode in the month of February every year.
    • IITs, NITs, Research Institutes and some universities consider GATE score for PhD Admission.
  • TIFR GS
    • TIFR GS exam is conducted by TIFR.
    • It is conducted every year.
  • JEST
    • JEST exam is conducted by IISERs or TIFR for Physics and Theoretical Computer Sciences.
    • IISERs, Research Institutes and some universities consider JEST score for PhD Admission.
  • AIIMS Ph.D. Entrance Exam
  • Indian Agricultural Research Institute Ph.D. Entrance Exam
  • DBT JRF Biotech Entrance Test

Institution Level PhD Entrance Exams 2024

Some of the institution-level PhD entrance exams that are conducted specially for the admission of courses offered by those institutions –

PhD Entrance Exam Pattern

Generally PhD entrance exam pattern consists of two parts.

  • Part A- Research Aptitude (Research aptitude consists of sections of logical reasoning, numerical ability and language proficiency).
  • Part B- Subject Specific (Subject specific contains questions related to the selected subject).

PhD Admission 2024: Entrance Syllabus

  • The syllabus for PhD Admission depends on the stream they have selected.
  • For the science stream, the topics are similar to CSIR NET Syllabus whereas for the other subjects the topics are in line with the UGC NET Syllabus.
  • Some universities will also release their PhD entrance syllabus on their website.

PhD Admission 2024: Entrance Preparation Tips

  • Check syllabus and previous year PhD entrance exams question papers available through the internet.
  • The format of the entrance exam varies depending upon the conducting body and hence be aware of the format to plan accordingly.
  • Cover all the topics of the exam well before the commencement of the exam so that you will get proper time for revision.
  • Practice various mock tests.