APPLICANTS MUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS LISTED BELOW:
1. You are about to start the Online application form for admissions to the PhD Program in the August 2025 session at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali.
2. All fields marked by (*) are mandatory to complete your application.
3. Incomplete applications will not be considered and will be REJECTED.
4. You MUST read the FAQ section before filling up the application. This is because, the FAQ section has important instructions about year of graduation, percentile, etc.
5. While filling the Online application, if your browser closes unexpectedly or if you have logged out, please use the Login information sent to your email to continue filling your application.
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 given below. Selection will be done following the provisions of The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 and its amendments.
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 fellowshipor 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:
Minimum Eligibility: 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.
How to apply? Candidates must appear in NBHM Doctoral Scholarship Test conducted by the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM).
Online application link: https://www.imsc.res.in/~nbhm/
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.
Selection: 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 Infor-mation 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 / Intellectual History / Archaeology or its sub-disciplines / Anthropology / Ancient Indian History / Ancient History / Built environment studies / Architecture / Critical Infrastructure Studies / Labour Geography / Feminist geography /Political philosophy / Ethics / Post-structuralism – Modern Indian thinkers / Buddhist philosophy / Philosophy of science / Philosophy of language. Applicants should have a valid national-level qualifying exam such as GATE, UGC (JRF/LS). External fellowships are encouraged as the available institute fellowships in HSS department are highly limited at the individual faculty level. Candidates from SC/ST background and women who do not have external fellowships are encouraged to apply. It is recommended to see faculty profiles on the department website before applying. Apart from applying online, an applicant must send a statement of proposed research (minimum 1500 words) to the following email address:
* Last date: last date to apply Wednesday, April 16, 2025 up to 11:55 PM.
* FAQ section Kindly click on these links:
(i) https://www.iisermohali.ac.in/news/front-page-articles/faq-phd
7. There are five pages in your application
* Personal Details
* Qualifying Exam Details
a) Academic details are required to complete your application.
b) Originals of Mark sheets, Rank certificates, etc. must be produced at the time of interview.
* Competitive Exam Details
a) Test Score details are required to complete your application.
b) Please click on Add Test Details button to save Test Score details. You can save one entry for one exam.
* Statement of Purpose/Research Interest.
* Additional Information
a) If you want to specify any other additional information, please use this area.
b) Specify here if you are going to appear for any competitive exam or yet to get any scholarships or
mention the scholarships you got that is not listed in the application form.
8. After filling each page, Click 'Save' to continue.
9. After you finish entering all the details and clicked the 'Save' button, a preview of all pages will be shown for you to cross check your entries. If everything is fine, click the ‘Submit’ button.
10.Once application is submitted, no correspondence regarding correction/addition to the application form will be entertained. Please check all the information entered by you before you click “Submit”.
11. After you submit the form, 'Download Report PDF' link is provided for you to download your application and take a print copy for further use.
12.A print copy should be duly signed by you with date and would be verified at the time of interview. It should be submitted at the time of PhD admission.
13.For relaxation in the requirements for candidates, please refer to the main page.
The applicants are strongly advised to complete and submit their applications well ahead of the deadline. Institute will not be responsible for any last-minute problems such as poor internet connectivity.
For any subject-specific queries, the contacts emails of respective conveners are given below:
For General queries about the PhD programme, you may write to:
Regarding online application facility or login issues, you may write to
Note: You may find these instructions in each page of your application at top left as Help. Move your mouse over the green icon besides each field for help if required.