Ph.D. Programme in Biology – January 2025  

IISER Pune hosts a diverse group of researchers working in various areas. Research in Biology at IISER Pune currently encompasses both theoretical and experimental approaches. Fields of research open to application in this round of PhD selections are given below, along with names of faculty members working in the respective fields:

Ecology and Evolution: For students interested in ecology and evolution (both theoretical and empirical).

• Deepak Barua
• Sagar Pandit
• Sutirth Dey

Molecular Biology / Cell Biology / Biochemistry: For students interested in molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, cellular biophysics, developmental biology, microbiology, immunology, epigenetics, chromosome biology, and cancer biology.

• Girish Ratnaparkhi
• Jeetender Chugh
• Kundan Sengupta
• Mayurika Lahiri
• Nagaraj Balasubramanian
• Madhusudhan M.S.
• Richa Rikhy
• Sarita Puri
• Sudha Rajamani
• Sunish Radhakrishnan

Plant Biology: For students interested in plant biology and plant biotechnology.

• Deepak Barua
• Sagar Pandit

Theoretical and Computational Biology: For students interested in any branch of theoretical biology including theoretical neuroscience, evolution, bioinformatics and computational cell biology.

• Leelavati Narlikar
• Madhusudhan M. S.
• Pranay Goel 
• Suhita Nadkarni

Note: only those faculty members whose names are given above will accept students through this round of PhD admissions. Therefore, before applying, students should check this list carefully to ensure that labs of their interest are available for admissions in this round.

Application criteria:
All candidates who fulfil criteria A1 and any one of the criteria mentioned in A2 are eligible to apply. Based on these applications, IISER Pune will create the list of students to be invited for the online interviews.

Eligibility Criteria:

A1. Masters' (or B.E., B.Tech., M.Tech., MBBS) degree holders in any branch of science including physics, chemistry, mathematics, biological sciences, ecology and environmental sciences, biodiversity, psychology or equivalent. Applicants must have a minimum of 60% marks in aggregate (overall percentage and not just in majoring subject) or an equivalent CGPA in the General /OBC/EWS category or minimum 55% marks in aggregate (overall percentage and not just in majoring subject) or an equivalent CGPA in the SC,ST or PwD category.

Students whose final results in Masters or equivalent are yet to be declared can also apply. However, if selected, the offer for these students will be provisional, subject to their fulfilling the above criteria.

A2. Applicants must have any one of the following qualifications.

• Qualified a National Eligibility exam that provides a 5-year Ph.D. fellowship such as CSIR–JRF / UGC–JRF / DBT–JRF–A / ICMR–JRF / DBT–BINC–JRF / Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship / Maulana Azad National Fellowship / National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste Students by CSIR-UGC / National Fellowship for Higher Education of ST Students / National Fellowship for OBC Candidates / National Fellowship for persons with disabilities (NFPWD). The fellowships must be valid on January 01, 2025.
• Qualified JEST* or GPAT or NBHM in the last two years.
• INSPIRE-PhD fellowship (should be in possession of provisional selection letter at the time of Interview).
• IISER BS-MS dual degree students with CGPA ≥ 8.0
• BS-MS/Masters students from any of the Institutes of National Importance
  with a CGPA 8 or above on a 10-point scale are exempted from national-
  level test eligibility related criteria.
• Qualified GATE exams (GATE Life Sciences, GATE Chemistry, GATE Eco-Evo, GATE Biotechnology, GATE Mathematics) in. The GATE score must be valid on January 01, 2025.
• Qualified JGEBILS (IISER Pune will shortlist based on the ranks of the students).
• For all the national eligibility examinations which provide a common rank / score, the cut-off rank / score for shortlisting for the Interviews for the reserved categories shall be lowered to 1.25 times the General category rank / score.

Shortlisting and Interview Process:

Meeting the above-mentioned criteria merely makes the candidate eligible for application. IISER Pune reserves the right to use other / more stringent criteria for the purpose of shortlisting for interviews. Specifically, the scores obtained in the “Research Question” and “Design a study” can be used for the purpose of shortlisting for interviews. Only shortlisted candidates will be informed. Therefore, all candidates are requested to check this page regularly for updates.

Important Note :

The complete application to the PhD programme in Biology mandatorily requires the applicant to complete an additional form describing a specific research question and designing a short study around this question. A link to this form will be received along with the email confirming the receipt of the application. This second form also needs to be completed by 05.00 PM, October 25, 2024. We recommend candidates start the application process well in advance of the deadline.

Ph.D. Programme in Chemistry – January 2025

Applications are invited for admissions to the PhD Programme in Department of Chemistry at IISER Pune from January 2025. Interested candidates with an excellent academic track record who satisfy the eligibility criteria mentioned below are encouraged to apply.

Minimum Eligibility Criteria:

1A. Minimum 60% marks in aggregate (overall percentage; not only in the majoring subject) or an equivalent C.G.P.A on 10-point scale (55% or an equivalent C.G.P.A in aggregate for SC, ST and Specially abled candidates PwD/VH) in Masters' Degree in any branch of Science: Chemistry/ Physics/ Mathematics/ Biology or equivalent.  Candidates with Integrated BS-MS degree/ B.E./ B. Tech./ B. Pharm./ ME/ M. Tech./ M. Pharm. degree satisfying the above criteria of marks can also apply.

Students whose final results in Master's or equivalent are yet to be declared can also apply. However, if selected, the offer for these students will be provisional, subject to their fulfilling the above criteria at the time of admission.

AND

1B. In addition to the above criteria, the candidate MUST qualify at least any ONE of the following exams:

(a) National Eligibility Test (NET) with VALID CSIR-JRF/UGC-JRF

(b) DBT fellowship

All shortlisted applicants will be further screened based on the ranks/score for their eligibility set by the Institute/Department committee.

Above fellowships MUST be valid at least till the date of admission to the PhD program

Selection Procedure:

Based on application forms received and the above listed criteria, applicants will be further shortlisted for the interview based on additional criteria set by the Department. All the candidates selected for the interview will receive a separate email to appear for the in-person interview. Shortlisted candidates will be selected for admission to the PhD programme through a rigorous evaluation process that includes an interview by a selection committee.

The mere application/shortlisting does not guarantee admission into the PhD programme.

Applicants are advised to go through the Departmental Web-pages to explore the research programs of individual faculty.

PhD Programme in Earth and Climate Science - January 2025

The Earth and Climate Science program at the IISER Pune invites applications from highly-motivated students for admissions to Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program for the session January–2025. Please visit https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/earth-and-climate-science/research to know about the research profiles of the individual faculty members, and feel free to contact them for further details.

Minimum Eligibility:

1. Students with minimum 60% marks in aggregate (overall percentage; not only in majoring subject) or a CGPA 6 out of 10 point scale (55% in aggregate or equivalent CGPA for SC/ST and PD candidates) in Master’s (or BS-MS) degree in Geology/ Applied Geology/Physics/Mathematics/Atmospheric Science/Climate Science/Engineering/Biology/Environmental Science, or related subjects. BE/BTech students may also apply.

            Additionally, the candidate MUST have qualified in any ONE of the following exams:

• National Eligibility Test (NET) with valid* CSIR-JRF / UGC-JRF/ UGC-LS/ CSIR-LS/ or a valid* GATE/JEST score,

(b) INSPIRE-PhD fellowship (The candidate should be in possession of provisional selection letter at the time of interview),

*The score/rank MUST be valid at least till the date of admission 1st January 2025.

Or,

2. IISER BS-MS and MSc students with CGPA >= 8.0.

Selection procedure: Selection will be based on interviews of the short-listed candidates. 

Note:

Only online application will be accepted.

Applying does not automatically guarantee that a candidate will be shortlisted for interview. The department may use additional criteria in order to shortlist candidates for interviews depending on the number of applications received.

For any admission related query please contact ecsphdselection@iiserpune.ac.in

Admission to PhD Program in Physics for the January 2025 Batch 

For the session starting January 2025, IISER Pune invites applications for the PhD program in Physics in the following areas,

     i) Soft & Living Matter Physics

     ii) Condensed Matter Physics

Eligibility Criteria for Application 

The candidate should have a minimum of 60% marks in aggregate (overall percentage; not only in the majoring subject) or a CGPA of 6 on a 10 point scale (55% or equivalent CGPA in aggregate for SC, ST and PwD/VH candidates) in MSc or BTech/BE

and,

the candidate should have qualified the National Eligibility Test (NET) with a score in the CSIR-JRF/UGC-JRF category, valid at the time of admissions in January 2025. 

(Students currently in the final year of their post-graduate programs are welcome to apply. If  the candidate is shortlisted after the final interview a provisional admission will be offered. The final admission will be subject to the condition that all of the above eligibility criteria are satisfied.)

Note that additional criteria, beyond the above eligibility criteria, is likely to be imposed when shortlisting candidates for interviews.

Interview 

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to appear for an interview to be conducted in-person (Dates for the interviews will be announced on the IISER Pune website). The final selection to the program will be based on the candidate's performance in the interview. 

Further Information 

For more information about the PhD Physics program, please visit the following link http://www.iiserpune.ac.in/education/phd  

For information about the Physics department please visit https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/physics 

Any queries regarding admissions may be addressed to physicsphdselection@iiserpune.ac.in