Ph.D. Qualifiers

The department has done away with the Qualifier Examination, in order to give Research Scholars more time to pursue their research problem. Instead, for students with M.Tech. qualifying degree, the grade point average of the three courses in which the candidate has performed the best, which must exclude the R&D project, seminar, and undergraduate courses, should be at least 8.0. This requirement should be met by the end of the candidate’s second semester. For the purpose of CPI calculation for qualifiers, courses from outside the department should be from a basket of pre-approved courses (maintained by the group convener). Students should obtain prior approval from the corresponding convener if they wish courses not included in the basket to be considered for qualification.

For other students, the grade point average of the six courses with the best performance, again excluding the R&D project, seminar, courses from outside the department, and undergraduate courses should be at least 8.0. This requirement should be met by the end of the candidate’s third semester.

Students not meeting this requirement will be asked to leave the program without an exit degree.

During PhD

Research Scholars spend their work time producing novel research. They read about the latest advances in their area, propose and experiment with novel ideas, critically analyze their results, and publish and present their findings at highly selective international conferences and journals for peer-review and information dissemination. While doing so, they develop, under the apprenticeship of their faculty supervisors, skills for critical reading, ideation, experimental design, implementation, analysis, synthesis, writing, and communication. Many Research Scholars also help their faculty supervisors in informally guiding Master’s and Bachelor’s students on smaller projects, writing proposals for research funding, and actively pursuing collaborations with other research groups from around the world. Ph.D. students are expected to take their own initiative and transition to become independent researchers over the course of time. To obtain a Ph.D., the Research Scholars have to publish their research in reputed journals and conferences and produce a Ph.D. thesis (dissertation). Research Scholars are encouraged to make their study, research, and self-development plans and seek regular feedback on plans, progress, and results from their faculty supervisors and Research Progress Committee (RPC) members. 

A detailed guide for PhD students is available here.