IISER Mohali PhD Admission 2025 (Aug)

Applications are invited from prospective candidates for admission to the PhD program at IISER Mohali for the session beginning in August 2025.

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant should have a Masters / B.Tech / MBBS / M.Tech degree with good academic records and should be CSIR-UGC-JRF / ICMR-JRF / DBT-JRF / DBT-BINC / DST-INSPIRE qualified in the relevant subject or other national-level fellowships or sponsored fellowships from private or state agencies.
• GATE/JEST/ GPAT/ICAR-NET/ NET-LS/CSIR_UGC-Cat3 candidates willing to join for a PhD without a fellowship will also be considered for admission. A limited number of SC/ST/PD/OBC-NCL/EWS candidates with these qualifications would be eligible for a PhD fellowship from IISER Mohali, and some candidates from all categories may also be paid fellowships from extramural project grants available with the faculty.
• While applying for admission in a given department, candidates are expected to meet departmental eligibility criteria.
• Selection will be done following the provisions of The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 and its amendments.

Departmental Eligibility Criteria

Biological Sciences

• The applicant should have a Master’s degree / B.Tech / MBBS / M.Tech / ME / M.Pharm or equivalent degrees with a good academic record (at least 60% and above) and should be GATE / CSIR-UGC (JRF/LS) / ICMR-JRF / ICAR-NET / DBT-JRF (Category I/II) / DBT-BINC / DST-INSPIRE qualified in the relevant subject or other national-level fellowship or sponsored fellowships by private or state agencies.

Chemical Sciences

• The applicant should have a Master’s degree / B.Tech / MBBS / M.Tech / M.Pharm in Chemical sciences, Physical and Biochemical sciences/biotechnology/ nanotechnology or any other relevant subject with a good academic record (at least a high second class) and should be CSIR-UGC (JRF/LS) / GATE/ ICMR-JRF/ DBT-JRF / DBT-BINC / DST- INSPIRE qualified in the relevant subject or other national-level fellowship or sponsored fellowships by private or state agencies. Candidates’ research interests will be considered while assigning a laboratory and guide.

Physical Sciences

• The applicant should have a Master’s degree / B.Tech / M.Tech with a good academic record (at least a high second class). The candidate should also have passed one of the following entrance tests: CSIR- UGC (JRF/LS), JEST-Physics, DST-INSPIRE in Physics, or GATE-Physics (all of these to be valid as of August 01, 2025).

Mathematical Sciences

• Master’s degree or a BTech degree with a good academic record (at least a high second class). Students from SC/ST/PD/OBC-NCL/EWS who have not qualified the national level tests mentioned above, but are GATE/JEST/GPAT/ICAR-NET/NET-LS qualified in the relevant subject would be eligible for consideration of award of an institute PhD fellowship, and are hence also encouraged to apply.
• Please note again that for admission in Mathematics, all candidates must appear in the NBHM Doctoral Scholarship Test conducted by the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM), and while applying through the online admission portal of IISER Mohali, candidates must mention their NBHM Doctoral Scholarship Test roll numbers and test centre in their application.
• Based on the performance in NBHM Doctoral Scholarship written test some candidates may be invited for an interview at IISER Mohali. Based on the performance in the interview, some of them may be offered admission. Preference will be given to candidates who have a valid scholarship, e.g. UGC-CSIR (JRF), DST- INSPIRE, NBHM Doctoral Scholarship etc.

Earth and Environmental Sciences

• An applicant should have an MSc/M. Tech degree with a first-class academic record throughout (minimum 65% for General/OBC category and minimum 60% for SC/ST/PD) in one or more of the following sub-jects: Atmospheric Sciences / Computer Sciences and IT / Climate Sciences / Chemistry / Data Sciences / Artificial Intelligence / Earth and Environmental Sciences / Microbiology / Biotechnology / Bioscience and Bioengineering / Environmental Engineering/ Geology / Geophysics / Hydrology / Mathematics / Meteorology / Microwave Remote Sensing / Planetary Science / Physics / Remote Sensing / Civil Engineering / Geomatics Engineering or BTech degree (with a minimum 75% for General /OBC category and minimum 70% for SC/ST/PD) in one or more of the following subjects: Computer Science and Information Technology/Data Sciences/ Artificial Intelligence/engineering streams (e.g. Civil / Aerospace / Agri-culture / Electrical / Electronics and Communication).
• Applicants should have qualified for a national-level qualifying exam such as GATE, CSIR-UGC (JRF/LS) / DST-INSPIRE fellowship / DBT-JRF in the relevant subject or any other national-level fellowship or sponsored fellowships by private or state agencies (all of these to be valid as of August 01, 2025). A limited number of institute fellowships will be available in the following areas: Meteorology, Seismology, Geochemistry/hydrogeology, Microwave Remote Sensing and Microbiology/Biotechnology/Bioscience and Bioengineering.

Humanities and Social Sciences

• Applicants should have an M.A. / M.Sc. / M.Phil / B.Arch / M.Arch degree (minimum 55% for General and OBC category, minimum 50% for SC/ST/PD.) in one or more of the following subject areas: English Literature and film studies / Modern Indian History / Political Economy / Indian Political Thought / Legal History / Intellectual History / Archaeology or its sub-disciplines / Anthropology / Ancient Indian History / Ancient History.
• Applicants should have a valid national-level qualifying exam such as GATE, UGC (JRF/LS). External fellowships are encouraged as institute fellowships are limited. Candidates from SC/ST background and women who do not have external fellowships are encouraged to apply.
• Apart from applying online, an applicant must send a statement of proposed research (minimum 1500 words) to the following email address: hssiisermohali@gmail.com, mentioning the broad subject area (History, Literature, Archaeology, etc.) as the subject of the email, failing which the application will not be considered for shortlisting. This email address is meant ONLY for sending the statement of the proposed research for Humanities and Social Sciences.

Selection Process

Short-listed Applicants will be invited for a screening-test/interview at IISER Mohali.

Application Procedure

Prospective candidates should apply online using the “Online Application Facility” by visiting the website at https://www.iisermohali.ac.in.

The online application facility will remain active until Thursday, April 10, 2025 up to 11:59 PM.

• Notification
• Online Application
• IISER Mohali Website