Admissions to the PhD Programme in Biology- August 2023
List of candidates selected for PhD Programme in Biology (including Ecology and Evolution) commencing from 2023 August Semester
Important Instructions and list of candidates shortlisted for first round of Interviews (only for Ecology and Evolution) to be conducted between May 22-24, 2023 via Zoom
List of candidates shortlisted for final round of Interviews to be conducted between May 8-9, 2023 at IISER Pune campus
List of candidates shortlisted for first round of Interviews to be conducted between April 3-5, 2023 via Zoom
IISER Pune hosts a diverse group of researchers working in various areas. Research in Biology at IISER Pune encompasses both theoretical and experimental approaches.
The 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:
Molecular Biology / Cell Biology / Biochemistry: For students interested in Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Cancer Biology, Cellular Biophysics, Chromosome Biology, Developmental Biology, Epigenetics, Immunology, Microbiology, Neurobiology and Structural Biology.
- Chaitanya Athale
- Gayathri Pananghat
- Girish Ratnaparkhi
- Jayant Udgaonkar
- Jeetender Chugh
- Kundan Sengupta
- M.S. Madhusudhan
- Mayurika Lahiri
- Mridula Nambiar
- Nixon Abraham
- Nagaraj Balasubramanian
- Saikrishnan Kayarat
- Siddhesh Kamat
- Sudha Rajamani
- Sunish Radhakrishnan
- Thomas Pucadyil
Plant Biology: For students interested in Plant Biology, Plant Biotechnology, Agricultural Biotechnology and Plant Chemical Ecology.
- Anjan Banerjee
- Kalika Prasad
- Sagar Pandit
Theoretical and Computational Biology: For students interested in any branch of Theoretical Biology including Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, Evolution, Bioinformatics and Computational Cell Biology.
- Chaitanya Athale
- Collins Assisi
- Leelavati Narlikar
- M.S. Madhusudhan
- Pranay Goel
- Suhita Nadkarni
Ecology and Evolution: For students interested in Ecology and Evolution (both Theoretical and Empirical).
- Deepak Barua
- Ramana Athreya
- Sagar Pandit
- Sutirth Dey
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.
The eligibility criteria are given below. Last date for applying: 05-April-2023, 5 pm IST
List of candidates shortlisted for final round of Interviews to be conducted on May 23, 2023 via Zoom
** Zoom credentials for first round of interviews in Ecology and Evolution have already been sent to all shortlisted applicants. In case the same has not been received, please write immediately to biologyapplications@acads.iiserpune.ac.in stating your Application Number. **
Please note that the interviews for this group (Ecology and Evolution) will happen between May 22-24, 2023.
Application Criteria
All candidates who fulfill criterion A1 and any one of the criteria mentioned in A2 are eligible to apply.
Based on the applications received, IISER Pune will create the list of students to be invited for the first round of online interviews that are scheduled to happen between March 29-31, 2023.
Minimum 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.
For applicants from General/OBC/EWS category: Applicants must have a minimum of 60% marks in aggregate (overall percentage and not just in the majoring subject) or an equivalent CGPA.
For applicants from SC, ST or PwD category: Applicants must have a minimum of 55% marks in aggregate (overall percentage and not just in the majoring subject) or an equivalent CGPA.
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
A2. Applicants must have any one of the following qualifications.
- JGEEBILS: Those students who had appeared for JGEEBILS in December 2022 are requested to temporarily select “Yes” in the application form for the question that asks if you have qualified JGEEBILS. Please note that IISER Pune will shortlist the candidates based on the scores of the students and will invite only the ones who make this short list.
- Qualified a National Level Eligibility Examination that provides a 5-year PhD fellowship such as CSIR–JRF / UGC–JRF / DBT–JRF–A / ICMR–JRF / DBT–BINC–JRF / Rajiv Gandhi 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 aforementioned fellowships must be valid on August 31, 2023.
- Qualified JEST, or GPAT or NBHM with a valid score on August 31, 2023. In case, the exam does not mention a validity explicitly, the validity will be taken to be 3 years from the date of intimation of the result to the candidate.
- 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
- Qualified GATE exams (GATE Life Sciences, GATE Chemistry, GATE Eco-Evo, GATE Biotechnology, and GATE Mathematics). The GATE score must be valid on August 31, 2023.
For all the national level 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 makes the candidate eligible for only the application step. IISER Pune reserves the right to use other/ more stringent criteria for the purpose of shortlisting candidates for the interview stages. Please note that additional criteria will be used for selecting the candidates who will be invited for interviews. Furthermore, the content detailed in the “Research Design” and “Design an experiment” can also be used for the purpose of shortlisting for interviews.
Only those candidates who have been shortlisted for the interview stages will be informed of further details. Therefore, all candidates are requested to check this page regularly for updates. The referees of the shortlisted candidates alone shall be contacted for the reference letters.