The fundamental mission of the PhD programme of IITGN is to foster creative and scholarly inquiry while inculcating intellectual habits required for successful careers in teaching, research, innovation and entrepreneurship. At its core, it is envisioned that an IITGN PhD degree will be a personal journey for the student during which they undergo deep introspection and mature both academically and personally. Without compromising the above core ideals and fundamental mission, the PhD programme affords flexibility and independence while encouraging the various interdisciplinary interactions needed for learning.

Program Requirements

Although the core of the PhD programme emphasizes top-quality research, there is also a substantial coursework requirement in the PhD programme at IITGN. This coursework provides students with the fundamentals needed in their research and allows them to explore other areas. Students are also required to take project courses that foster a spirit of curiosity and creativity and prepare them to face a diversity of challenges.

Students entering the programme will have to take total credits ranging from 88 through 120, out of which coursework credits (typical course is of 4 credits) can go anywhere between 32 through 64, depending upon the area of interest/discipline and the previous degree attained by the student. In addition, all PhD students are required to complete the PG Orientation Programme Aarohan (2 credits) and two courses of Physical Education (0 credits). See the table below for a detailed description of the minimum coursework and research credits required. However, meeting this minimum credit requirement will not lead to a PhD degree.

• • Completing PG Orientation Programme Aarohan (2 Credits) is a mandatory graduation requirement for all PhD students. It is a two-week long programme that all the newly joined students are expected to complete before they commence the first semester in their academic programme. 

• • Students joining the PhD programme from semester – I, 2021-22 onwards, are required to complete two Physical Education (PE) courses, one each in their first two semesters, as part of their graduation requirements. These courses will be evaluated on a Pass/No Pass grade basis.

• • Candidates pursuing their degree in Engineering and Natural Sciences must earn at least four credits through HSS courses. Similarly, the candidates pursuing their degree in HSS must earn at least four credits through Engineering and Natural Sciences courses.

• • A 4-credit Writing course is required to be taken by all doctoral students.

• • Out of the minimum credits through coursework, a minimum of 12 credits are required to be completed through project-based courses. Each unit of this project course will have three credits, and four of such courses must be registered during the programme. Project-based courses may include lab-based experiments, independent study with a faculty, design study, book review etc., that involve at least 100 hours of overall engagement for a 3-credit course by the student in a given semester.

• • In addition, a student can earn proficiency credits by engaging in any of the approved activities. These credits are typically earned in later stages of the PhD programme (after the qualifying examination). Such credits will be mentioned in the student’s transcript; however, these will not be counted towards graduation requirements. A student will generally be expected to earn at least six such credits before graduation.

• • The Doctoral Studies Committee (DSC) may set additional course requirements for a candidate whose research is in an area significantly different from the background in his/her past qualifying degrees.

• • All doctoral students must comply with two calendar years of the minimum residency requirement.

• • In addition to the above credit requirements, every student will have to register for one credit of seminar attendance every semester, expecting him/her to attend, on average, one seminar per week from across the Institute. Based on the student’s consistent attendance, the advisor will award Pass (P)/Fail (F) grades. However, this additional credit will not be counted toward the total credit requirement for graduation.

Academic Performance Requirements

• • The minimum CPI for graduation is 6.5 out of 10.

• • There will be no maximum permissible duration to complete the requirements of the programme. However, at any time, credits earned older than eight years will be deemed expired and will not count towards the graduation requirements. After 13 semesters, a request from the student is needed to extend the programme on a semester by semester basis.

• • The thesis units registered by a student will be graded using letter grades A, B, C and F, where A, B and C are passing grades and F is a fail grade. A student may register for one 4 credit thesis unit or a multiple of it and can be graded according to the number of units which they have registered for. The thesis grades will not be counted towards the CPI calculation.

• • If the student accumulates F grades in more than 24 credits of thesis units any time during their PhD programme, the student will have to exit the programme.

• • In case the CPI of a student falls below 6.0 out of 10, the fellowship provided, if any, by the Institute will be stopped immediately and for the future.

• • The student must successfully clear the Qualifying Examination (preferably within three semesters and no later than two years from joining in exceptional circumstances). The admission will be terminated if the student fails to do so.

• • All PhD students must give a Proposal Defense Seminar within four months of successfully clearing the Qualifying examination.

• • More specific details are available in the PhD programme advisory.

Graduate Teaching Fellow/Graduate Institute Fellow

The doctoral programme of the Institute places a significant emphasis on the holistic development of the students with leadership skills for their future endeavours. Besides the expectation of in-depth work in thesis work, the PhD Curriculum expects the students to attend seminars, organize conferences, write research grant proposals and participate in Institute activities. To enable active participation of the students in teaching and coordination of activities with the mentorship of faculty members of the Institute, the Institute has created Graduate Teaching Fellow/Graduate Institute Fellow positions.