NIFTEM Thanjavur PhD Admission 2026-27

National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) Thanjavur invites application for PhD Admission 2026-27.

Eligibility Criteria

Food Process Engineering

• Candidates should have passed a 4-year Bachelor’s degree.
• Candidates should have passed a 2-year Master’s degree in any of the following disciplines;
  • Food Technology / Food Process(ing) Engineering / Food Science and Technology / Food Engineering/ Agricultural and Food Engineering / Agricultural Engineering / Post Harvest Engineering / Agricultural Process Engineering / Processing and Food Engineering / Dairy Engineering / Food Supply Chain Management / Food Process Engineering and Management / Food Technology and Management / Food Plant Operations Management / Fisheries Engineering/ Aquaculture Engineering / Fish Process(ing) Engineering / Fish Process Engineering and Management / Biochemical Engineering / Biosystems Engineering / Biological Engineering / Chemical Engineering
  • Or Equivalent foreign degree in concerned discipline
  • Or Mechanical Engineering with Two Years of experience in Food Industry
• The candidates should have obtained a minimum of 60% aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA of 6.5 / 10 in UG and PG for admission under General / EWS / OBC-NCL category or a minimum of 55% aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA of 6.0 / 10 in UG and PG for admission under SC/ ST / PwD category. The preference will be given to GATE qualified students and the GATE score in the relevant field must have been obtained within the last 10 years.

Food Process Technology

• Candidates should have passed a 4-year Bachelor’s degree.
• Candidates should have passed a 2-year Master’s degree in any of the following disciplines;
  • Food Technology / Food Process (ing) Technology / Food Science/ Food Science and Technology / Food Science and Nutrition / Food Nutrition and Dietetics / Food Science and Quality Control / Food Processing and Preservation Technology / Food Technology and Management / Food Process Engineering / Food Engineering and Technology / Food Technology and Biochemical Engineering / Food and Nutritional Biotechnology / Agricultural Engineering / Agricultural and Food Engineering / Post Harvest Technology / Home Science / Dairy Technology / Poultry Technology / Meat Science and Technology / Livestock Products Technology / Fish Process(ing) Technology / Oil Technology with Food Technology specialization / Chemical Engineering / Biosystems Engineering / Biological Engineering / Biochemical Engineering
  • or Equivalent foreign degree in the concerned discipline.
• The candidates should have obtained a minimum of 60% aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA of 6.5 / 10 in UG and PG for admission under General / EWS / OBC-NCL category or a minimum of 55% aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA of 6.0 / 10 in UG and PG for admission under SC/ ST / PwD category. The preference will be given to GATE qualified students and the GATE score in the relevant field must have been obtained within the last 10 years

Food Safety and Quality Assurance

• Candidates should have passed a 4-year Bachelor’s degree.
•  Candidates should have passed a 2-year Master’s degree in any of the following disciplines;
  • Food Technology / Food Safety and Quality Assurance / Food Science and Nutrition / Food Science and Quality Control / Food Science / Food and Nutrition / Food Safety and Quality Management / Fish Process(ing) Technology / Industrial Microbiology / Applied Microbiology / Food and Nutritional Biotechnology / Biotechnology / Industrial Biotechnology / Biochemical Engineering / Food Science and Technology / Agricultural Microbiology / Agricultural Biotechnology / Entomology / Food Engineering / Food Supply Chain Management / Food Safety and Quality Management / Food Process Engineering and Management / Food Technology and Management / Food Plant Operations Management / Food Process(ing) Technology / Home Science / Nutrition and Dietetics / Community Science / Food Processing and Preservation Technology / Food Process(ing) Engineering /Post Harvest Technology / Dairy Engineering / Dairy Technology / Dairy Science / Poultry Technology / Food Nutrition and Dietetics
  • or Equivalent foreign degree in the concerned discipline.
• The candidates should have obtained a minimum of 60% aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA of 6.5 / 10 in UG and PG for admission under General / EWS / OBC-NCL category or a minimum of 55% aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA of 6.0 / 10 in UG and PG for admission under SC/ ST / PwD category. The preference will be given to GATE qualified students and the GATE score in the relevant field must have been obtained within the last 10 years.

Selection Criteria

Food Process Engineering

• GATE qualified candidates in relevant field (AG, ME, CH, XE, XL) need to appear for a Personal Interview.
• Non-GATE candidates will be called to appear for an NIFTEM-T Entrance Examination and Personal Interview.
• NIFTEM-T Entrance Examination-2026 will be conducted at NIFTEM-Thanjavur Main Campus.
• The merit list / ranking of candidates in each category will be based on the cumulative score that is calculated based on UG/PG marks, awards / medals, patents, publications, work experience, GATE Score or NIFTEM-T Entrance Exam Score and Personal Interview.
• Reservation policy is as per Gol norms.
• Selection is purely based on merit.

Food Process Technology

• GATE qualified candidates in relevant field (AG, CH, XE, XL) need to appear for a Personal Interview.
• Non-GATE candidates will be called to appear for an NIFTEM-T Entrance Examination and Personal Interview.
• NIFTEM-T Entrance Examination-2026 will be conducted at NIFTEM-Thanjavur Main Campus.
• The merit list /ranking of candidates in each category will be based on the cumulative score that is calculated based on UG/PG marks, awards / medals, publications, work experience, GATE Score or NIFTEM-T Entrance Exam Score and Personal Interview.
• Reservation policy is as per Gol norms.
• Selection is purely based on merit.

Food Safety and Quality Assurance

• GATE qualified candidates in relevant field (XE, XL, BT, CH) need to appear for a Personal Interview.
• Non-GATE candidates will be called to appear for an NIFTEM-T Entrance Examination and Personal Interview.
• NIFTEM-T Entrance Examination-2026 will be conducted at NIFTEM-Thanjavur Main Campus.
• The merit list / ranking of candidates in each category will be based on the cumulative score that is calculated based on UG/PG marks, awards / medals, publications, work experience, GATE Score or NIFTEM-T Entrance Exam Score and Personal Interview.
• Reservation policy is as per Gol norms.
• Selection is purely based on merit.

Application Process

• If an applicant wish to submit more than one discipline, the applicant can submit separate applications with prescribed application fee for each disciplines.
• Applicants MUST upload the following scanned documents while submitting the Ph.D. Application.
  • Proof of Date of Birth – Birth certificate/SSLC certificate
  • Proof for UG/PG Degree – Provisional / Degree certificate
  • Proof of UG/PG Mark – Consolidated Mark sheet / Transcript card
  • Proof of EWS/OBC-NCL/PwD/SC/ST certificate
  • Scanned Photo
  • Scanned Signature
  • Proof of GATE score card (If applicable)
  • Proof of Award Letter of CSIR/UGC/DST/ DBT/ICMR Fellowships for pursuing PhD
  • Proof of First page of publications (Paper in reputed Journals)
  • Proof of Posters in Conference, Seminar, and Workshop Compendium (Certificate to be attached)
  • Proof of Trainings/Internships
  • Proof of Work Experience from Employer (Date of joining and Date of relieving must be there in Experience Certificate)
  • A summary of tentative Research Proposal (if any, 500 Words) (Only for assessing the research aptitude) and Statement of Purpose (SoP) (500 Words) in one page (More than one page will not be considered).
• Apart from the above-listed documents, if the Institute requires any additional information/clarification, the applicant should provide it by email.

• Portal Opens for Submission of Online Application: 4 June, 2026
• Last date for Online Application: 20 July, 2026
• Notification of Eligible Candidates: 27 July, 2026
• Entrance Examination at NIFTEM-T, Thanjavur Campus (Compulsory for non-GATE Candidates): 5 August, 2026
• Personal Interview at NIFTEM-T, Thanjavur Campus: 5 August, 2026
• Notification of Selection List: 11 August, 2026
• Last Date for Admission and Fee Payment: 14 August, 2026
• Physical Reporting for certificate verification & hostel admission: 31 August, 2026
• Guide allotment, Course selection and Semester Registration: 1 September, 2026 to 2 September, 2026
• Commencement of course: 3 September, 2026

• Prospectus
• Application
• NIFTEM Thanjavur Website