Ph. D. Admission - Varsha 2021

Applications are invited from highly motivated students for admission to the Ph. D. programme of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram (IISER TVM) in the Schools of Biological, Chemical, Mathematical and Physical Sciences for the session starting from August 2021, i.e., Varsha 2021 semester. Candidates are required to apply through the online portal only. The online application portal will be open till 26th June 2021 at http://appserv.iisertvm.ac.in/phd/

Since many national level eligibility tests have been postponed, IISER TVM plans to conduct one more round of admissions of the Ph. D. programme after the results of these tests have been announced.

General Eligibility Criteria

(For school specific eligibility criteria see the tables below)

  1. 7.5 CGPA in 10-point scale (or first-class equivalent) or first-class Master’s degree in relevant areas as declared by the respective University. (BE/BTech degree in relevant areas is admissible for selected research areas in School of Physics (see Research Areas))
  2. The candidate must have qualified at least one of the following examinations: CSIR-UGC, UGC-NET JRF or GATE or any other national-level examinations as mentioned below, with validity as on 01 August 2021.
  3. BS-MS/Masters students from any of the IISERs/IITs/IISc with CGPA 8 or above on a 10-point scale are exempted from national level eligibility test related criteria.
SCHOOL RELEVANT AREAS ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Biological Sciences Biological Sciences/Chemical Sciences/Physical Sciences/Mathematics/Bioinformatics/Agricultural Sciences/Veterinary Sciences or a Bachelor Degree in Medicine (MBBS).
• (General Eligibility 1 AND General Eligibility 2)
OR
• General Eligibility 3
OR
DBT-JRF(Category I)*/ ICMR-JRF*/ GATE** (EY, XL, BT only) /JGEEBILS (GS-2021)*** are also eligible to apply.
* Only candidates whose ranks make them eligible to avail Category 1 DBT-Junior Research Fellowships tenable at any university/institution in India. Fellowships restricted to join DBT or ICMR sponsored projects are not eligible.
** GATE (EY) qualified candidates will be considered only for Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour. GATE (XL) or GATE (BT) qualified candidates will be considered only for Bioinformatics.
***Candidates may be further shortlisted by IISER TVM Ph. D. applications shortlisting committee based on the marks/score.
Chemical Sciences Chemical Sciences
• (General Eligibility 1 AND General Eligibility 2)
OR
• General Eligibility 3
Mathematical Sciences Mathematics/Statistics/Engineering/relevant area of science
• (General Eligibility 1 AND General Eligibility 2)
OR
• General Eligibility 3
Physical Sciences Physical Sciences/Material Science/ Engineering areas closely related to the research areas of School of Physics, IISER TVM
• (General Eligibility 1 AND General Eligibility 2)
OR
• General Eligibility 3
For the * marked research areas listed below BE/BTech candidates are eligible to apply.

Research Areas

SCHOOL RESEARCH AREAS
Biological Sciences
  • Bioinformatics
  • Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour
  • Genetics
  • Neurodegenerative Disease Biology
  • Stem Cell and Development Biology
  • Genomics
  • Molecular Biology
  • Molecular Virology
  • Cell Biology
  • Structural Molecular Biology
Chemical Sciences
  • Main Group Chemistry
  • Synthetic Methods for Organic Synthesis, Asymmetric Catalysis and C–H Activation/Functionalization
  • Sustainable Organic Synthesis: Transition Metal-based Organometallic Catalysis, Photocatalysis, Metal-Free Coupling Reactions
  • Supramolecular Chemistry, Organic Synthesis, Medicinal Chemistry
  • Electrocatalysis, Kinetic and Mechanistic Study of the Electrochemical Reduction of Oxygen in PEM Fuel Cells
  • 2D materials, MXenes, Energy Storage, Multivalent Batteries and Hybrid Metal-Ion Capacitors
  • Asymmetric Total Synthesis, Asymmetric Catalysis, Development of New Methodologies and Medicinal Chemistry
  • Asymmetric Catalysis and Cross-Coupling Reactions
  • DNA Nanotechnology, Supramolecular Chemistry, Bionanomaterials
  • Photochemistry, Organic Synthesis
  • Theoretical Chemistry
  • Supramolecular Chemistry: Host-guest Chemistry, Molecular Switches and Machines, Synthesis and Applicaiton of Rotaxanes and Catenanes;
  • Supramolecular Catalysis
  • Bioinspired Coordination Chemistry, Metal-free Small Molecule Activation
  • Reaction Mechanism Investigation
  • 2D Hybrid Materials, Metal Nanocluster, Cluster-as-sembled Materials, Metal-Organic Framework,Photophysics and Energy Applications
  • Novel Synthetic Methodologies for the C-C and C-X (N, O, B) Bond Formation Reactions: Photoredox Catalysis, Metal Catalysis
Mathematical Sciences
  • Algebra, Number Theory & Geometry: Linear Algebra, Group Theory, Commutative Algebra, Homological Algebra, Differential Geometry, Category Theory, Algebraic Geometry, Number Theory
  • Analysis: Functional Analysis/Numerical Functional Analysis, Harmonic Analysis, Wavelet Analysis, Operator Theory, Operator Algebra, Complex Dynamics, Ergodic Theory, Dynamical Systems
  • Applied Mathematics: Partial Differential Equations (PDEs), Control Theory, Image Processing using PDEs, Stochastic PDEs, Mathematical Finance, Financial Engineering, Numerical Analysis & Scientific Computing, Mathematical and Computational Fluid Dynamics, Optimal Control of PDE’s, Computational Biology
  • Computational Sciences: Numerical Functional Analysis/Mathematical Finance/Financial Engineering/Mathematical Biology/Data Science Research/Applied Cryptography, High Performance Computing
Physical Sciences

Experimental Physics

  • Magnetic and Superconducting Materials
  • *Design and Development of Light Sheet Microscopy (LSM) or Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) Imaging System (for biological applications);
  • *Design and Development of Photacoustic Imaging (PAI) System - both Microscopy and Tomography - for Clinical and/or Industrial Applications
  • *Hybrid Nanostructures for Energy-Related Applications
  • Terahertz Spectroscopy of Condensed Matter Systems
  • 2D Materials, Surface Science, Photocatalysis, & Plasmonics
  • Organic, Organic-Inorganic Hybrid, 2D Semiconductors and Devices, Especially Solar Cells, Device Physics and Photophysics Using Different Spectroscopy Techniques
  • Infrared Plasmonics of Conducting Oxides
  • Semiconductor Qubits, Quantum Electrical Sensing, Quantum-Transport
  • Van der waal Materials for Sensors and Energy
  • *Nano Engineering Materials for Energy Efficient Electronic Devices
  • High Temperature Superconductivity, Physics at Nano-Scale
  • Advanced Semiconductor Devices for Power/Energy Conversion
  • Nonlinear Optics, Frequency Combs, Microwave Photonics

Theoretical Physics

  • Particle Physics, Beyond the Standard Model, Collider Phenomenology

Important Dates

SCHOOL SELECTION PROCEDURE
Biological Sciences
It is mandatory for all the candidates to submit a short research proposal of 300-400 words, which should clearly state a research problem the candidate find interesting to address and the approach you will take to solve the problem. While applying online, please upload this proposal under the section "Statement of Purpose". Please note: the proposal does not need to be related to the research ongoing at the School of Biology, IISER TVM. The proposal will be used to evaluate your scientific aptitude and will be a major criterion for short-listng candidates for the interview. Your application will be treated as incomplete if you do not submit the short research proposal.
Short-listed candidates will have to appear for online interviews conducted by IISER TVM. There will be two rounds of online interviews, conducted over three days. The final selection of candidates will solely be based on the performance during the interviews.
Chemical Sciences Marks based shortlisting and two rounds of online interviews.
Mathematical Sciences Applicants satisfying the above eligibility criteria will be shortlisted and be called for online interviews. The selection will be based on the performance during the interview.
Physical Sciences Shortlisted candidates will be selected based on their performance in online interviews.

Important Dates

Online application portal opened from 25 May 2021
Last date for receipt of online applications 26 June 2021
Tentative Interview Dates
Biological Sciences 07-09 July 2021
Chemical Sciences 12-15 July 2021
Mathematical Sciences 12-14 July 2021
Physical Sciences 12-13 July 2021
Mode of examination Online Interview

General Information and Application Procedure

  1. Applicants should complete the online application form at the url: http://appserv.iisertvm.ac.in/phd
  2. Only applications complete in all respects would be considered. Do not forget to click the "Submit" button after completing your application.
  3. Applicants will also be prompted to upload all the supporting documents online.
  4. Applicants should provide Name/Affiliation/Contact number and Email addresses of two referees in the application form.
  5. Applicants belonging to GE/OBC and SC/ST/PH categories are required to make a payment of Rs. 500/- and Rs. 250/-, respectively, as a processing fee online at: https://www.onlinesbi.sbi/sbicollect/icollecthome.htm
  6. On submission of the online application form, the applicants will receive an acknowledgement email with a unique application number.
  7. Applicants are NOT required to post a hard copy of the application to IISER TVM.
  8. In case of any application-related queries, please contact the Ph. D. coordinator by email at: phdprogramme[at]iisertvm[dot]ac[dot]in . Any other mode of communication will not be entertained.
  9. Mere fulfilment of the eligibility criteria does not entitle a candidate to be called for the interview
  10. Relaxation for reserved categories to the eligibility criteria will be applicable as per Government of India rules.