NIT Kurukshetra PhD Admission 2025-26 (Even Semester)

National Institute of Technology (NIT) Kurukshetra, Haryana invites online application for PhD admission for the academic session 2025-26 (Even Semester).

Classification of Research Scholars

The research scholars shall be classified in the following manner:

• On the basis of time devoted to the Ph.D. programme
  • Full-time
  • Part-time
• On the basis of occupation
  • Teacher, a person serving as the faculty of a department of a teaching institute.
  • Non-Teacher, a person serving as non-teaching employee including officer cadre of any Institute/Department, Organization.
  • Project staff, a person working on a project undertaken by the Institute (NITKKR). The Ph.D. research domain of such a candidate should be related to the project work.
• On the basis of country
  • Indian, a person holding valid Indian citizenship
  • Foreigner, foreign nationals admitted through the Embassy of the respective Governments, after getting approval from the Ministry of External Affairs and ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the Ministry of Education, Government of India or admitted under an MoU. A foreign national can be admitted by the Institute directly, if eligible, following the admission process as specified under R-3.
• On the basis of financial assistance
  • Self-financed, the research scholar who does not receive financial support (scholarship/assistantship) of the Institute, or from any other source during the Ph.D. programme. The institute reserves the right for admission under this category.
  • Fellowship/ Scholarship Awardees
    • A research scholar getting Institute fellowship / scholarship.
    • A research scholar receiving fellowship / scholarship from Government/Semi-Government agency such as CSIR/UGC/DOE/DST/DBT/NBHM/INSPIRE etc.
    • A research scholar receiving fellowship / scholarship from ICCR, Govt. of India or any institution of the Govt. of India.
    • A research scholar receiving fellowship under an R&D project being carried out at NITKKR.
    • A research scholar receiving scholarship from any private entity including foreign university, trust or sponsoring agency.

Eligibility Criteria

Educational Qualifications

The candidate possessing the prescribed qualifications shall be eligible for admission to the Ph.D. programme of the Institute. The Degrees obtained through distance education programmes shall not be considered.

The academic programme as well as the University of qualifying degree must be recognized by AICTE /UGC. The academic programme of the autonomous Institutes established by the Parliament will not be required to have recognition of the UGC/AICTE. The degrees and academic programme of the Institute/University will be verified by the Academic Section before registration of the candidate in Ph.D. Programme.

Minimum Qualification for Eligibility

A Master’s Degree in Engineering/Technology/Sciences/Humanities and Social Sciences/ Management in respective discipline or equivalent recognized by the Institute with a minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 6.5 on a 10-point scale or equivalent as determined by the Institute wherever letter grades are awarded in the qualifying degree, or 60% marks in aggregate where marks are awarded. The candidate having Master’s Degree must possess full time Bachelor’s Degree in respective discipline or equivalent in accordance with R-3.1(a) in brochure also with a minimum CGPA of 6.5 on a 10-point scale or equivalent as determined by the Institute wherever letter grades are awarded in the qualifying degree, or 60% marks in aggregate where marks are awarded. OR

Full-time Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering /Technology or equivalent with a minimum of 80% marks in aggregate or 8.5 CGPA on 10-point scale or equivalent.

Note:

• Only primary mode of evaluation (CGPA or percentage) as mentioned in the qualifying degree certificate/mark sheet will be considered for verification of eligibility. Conversion from CGPA to percentage or vice versa given by individual Institute/University will not be considered.
• For the SC/ST/PwD candidates, the eligibility requirement of marks/CGPA will be relaxed by 5% or by a CGPA of 0.5 (on a 10-point scale) at both the Bachelor and Masters level.

Additional Eligibility Conditions for Part-time Ph.D. Programme

• Regular Employees working in R&D Organizations/Industries, National Laboratories, Government Organizations, Industries, PSUs, State Undertakings having MOU with NITKKR.
• Regular Employees of NITKKR working in any Department, Centre, Section and Cell of the Institute.
• Regular Employees of Educational Institutions either fully funded by Government or Government Aided Colleges/Institutes or maintained in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
• Regular Employees working in Government Organizations/Industries that do not have MOU with NITKKR.
• Regular Faculty of Private Academic Institutes having sufficient facilities to carry out research at their place in the related research area.

All such candidates should have a minimum experience of one year which will be counted from the date of joining in the sponsoring organizations to the last date of application in the Ph.D. programme. The candidate is required to produce the experience certificate at the time of interview by the respective DRC. Minimum qualification for these candidates will be the same as for the Full-time candidates.

NOC for Part-time Candidate

All Part-time candidates are required to submit a “No Objection Certificate” on the letterhead from the appropriate authority in the organization clearly stating the following:

• That the candidate is permitted to pursue the Ph.D. research work on a part-time basis.
• That the candidate’s official duties permit the candidate to devote sufficient time for research work.
• That the candidate will be sanctioned leave for a sufficient duration for the conduct of research work in case the research facilities are not available in the Institute/ Industry/ Organization.
• That his/her services with the Organization will be retained during the period of carrying out the coursework and research work at NITKKR.

Application Process

• Visit the Institute’s website www.nitkkr.ac.in for Ph.D. application form.
• Before submitting the online application (Google Form) for Ph.D. admission, all interested candidates are advised to read the Ph.D. Ordinance, available on the Institute website, carefully for eligibility and other requirements

Selection Process

• Applications as received will be scrutinized by the committee constituted by HoD of the concerned Department. After scrutiny, the list of all eligible candidates will be uploaded on the Institute website by the Office of the Dean (Academic).
• All eligible candidates shortlisted for presentation and interview will be required to appear before the respective DRC, which will act as the Admission Committee, for a brief power point presentation on the related research area followed by an interview. The candidates who are called for presentation and interview may contact prospective supervisors in the Department.
• All eligible candidates who are not exempted from the written test are required to appear in an objective type (MCQ) written test of PG level comprising two papers.
  • Paper I – Research Methodology (Analytical skills, Reasoning, Aptitude) 30 marks, 30 minutes duration
  • Paper II – Area of Research Specialization: 40 marks, 40 minutes duration
• DRC will evaluate the candidates and award the marks out of 30 (10 marks each for presentation, interview, and academic achievements).
• The qualifying marks will be 40% (written + interview) **Relaxation as per latest Govt. of India norms

Exemption from Written (entrance) Test

Following category of candidates shall be exempted from the written (entrance) test. However, they are required to appear before the DRC for presentation and interview subject to fulfilment of other prescribed norms in terms of the eligibility conditions.

• Part-time:
  • Regular employees of R&D Organizations, National Laboratories, Public/Private Industries/PSUs/ State Undertakings having an MoU with NITKKR and possessing First Division or 6.5 CGPA on 10-point scale or equivalent at M.Tech./PG level with minimum 5 years of relevant experience
  • Regular employees of NITKKR.
  • Candidate with GATE qualified (any passing year)/valid NET-LS or JRF from UGC, CSIR etc
• Full-time on Institute Fellowship:
  •  Candidate with GATE qualified (any passing year)/valid NET-LS or JRF from UGC, CSIR etc.
• Full-time with Fellowship / Scholarship from some external funding agency:
  • Candidate with GATE (valid score)/valid NET-LS or JRF from UGC, CSIR, etc.

Final Merit List

• For the candidates exempted from the written test, DRC will award marks out of 100 on the basis of their presentation and interview with DRC for inclusion in the merit list.
• For all other candidates the score will awarded on the basis of total score out of 100.
• Based on the total number of seats available, the respective DRC will recommend the merit list of candidates along with allocation of the seat in accordance with the advertisement and the respective allotted supervisor(s).
• Based on the total number of seats available, the respective DRC / SRC will recommend the merit list of candidates along with allocation of the seat in accordance with the advertisement and the respective allotted supervisor(s).
• In case of tie, merit list will be prepared on the basis of following (in order of preference):
  • Performance of the candidate in written test (if not exempted)
  • Percentage of marks in qualifying degree
  • Percentage of marks in undergraduate degree
  • Percentage of marks in 10+2
  • Percentage of marks in 10th
  • Seniority as per Date of Birth.
• After receiving the merit list as mentioned above, Office of Dean (Academic) will issue the admission letters to recommended candidates for joining the Ph.D. programme.

• Start of Online Application (Website Open): 24 October, 2025
• Last Date for submission Of Online application (Website Closure): 24 November, 2025 (5:00 p.m.)
• Tentative Schedule for Written Test/Interview: 10-11 December, 2025

• Brochure
• Application Form
• NIT Kurukshetra Website