Eligibility Criteria

Doctor of Philosophy

For admission to the PhD Programme, a candidate must have either a Master’s degree or a Four-year Bachelor’s degree in the relevant discipline as sepcified in the following table. The following Cumulative Performance Index (CPI)/Marks criteria in respective qualifying degrees will be applicable:

  • Master’s Degree: 6.0 on 10-point scale (or 60% of marks)
  • Four-year Bachelor’s Degree: 7.0 on 10-point scale (or 70% of marks)

The CPI/Marks criteria will be relaxed by 0.5 CPI (or 5% marks) for SC/ST/PwD candidates.

Discipline wise qualifying degrees (along with CPI/Marks criteria, if it is different from the above) are listed in the following tables:


Engineering Departments

DepartmentsGeneral Criteria Alternative Criteria
Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Medical Sciences/Veterinary Sciences/Pharmacy in the relevant area, or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Medical Sciences in the relevant area
  • Two-year Master's degree (after completion of 4-year Bachelor's degree), or
  • Three-year Master's degree (after completion of 3-year Bachelor's degree) in Engineering/ Technology/Science, or
  • Two-year MSc degree (after completion of 3-year Bachelor's degree) in a relevant area.
Department of Civil Engineering
  • For admission in the area of specialization ‘Construction Management’: Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology or equivalent in a relevant area, with a Postgraduate Degree in Management Science(Finance) or MBA with Finance specialization or equivalent, is also considered. In this case, the CPI/Marks criteria will be 6.0 CPI (or 60% marks) in Bachelor's level and 6.0 CPI (or 60% marks) in the postgraduate degree.
  • A candidate having MSc degree with Mathematics as a subject at bachelor’s level is also considered for admission in the Department of Civil Engineering. The candidate should have a minimum of either 7.0 CPI or 70% marks in Master’s level with consistent first class at other levels.
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
  • Postgraduates in Computer Science (ALCCS) from Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), with a minimum 6.0 CPI (or 60% of marks), or
  • Two-year MSc degree in CS/IT/M&C/Maths/Data Science (after completion of 3-year bachelor’s degree in CS/IT/M&C/Maths/Data Science as major) with valid GATE score in CS.
Department of Chemical Engineering
Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • Medical qualification viz., MBBS / BDS / MD / MS / BVSc / MVSc having 6.0 CPI (or 60% marks), or Allied health care professional degrees viz., Masters in Physiotherapy / Prosthetics and Orthotics / Occupational Therapy having 6.0 CPI (or 60% marks) in both bachelor degree and master degree.


Departments of Design/Science/Humanities
Academic Centres/Schools

Departments/Schools/Centres Qualifying Degrees and Disciplines
Department of DesignFor PhD in the Discipline of Design
One of the following:
  • MArch/ MDes/MTech/ ME degree in a relevant area, or Master’s degree in Applied Arts/ Ergonomics/ Fine Arts/ Visual Arts/ Psychology/ Physiology/ Occupational Safety and Health/ Journalism/ Mass Media Communication, or two-year Master’s degree in Management (MBA or equivalent) with relevant studies in Design field.
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Design or Engineering/Technology or Five-year BArch degree in a relevant area with at least 7.0 CPI (or 70% marks)
  • Four-year Undergraduate Diploma in Design (NID or equivalent), with postgraduate qualification in relevant area with at least 6.0 CPI (or 60% marks).
  • A two-year Post-Graduate Diploma in Design and relevant areas (NID/CEPT or equivalent) with first class at Bachelor’s level.
  • BFA (4-year professional programme, after 10+2)/ GD Art (5-year programme after 10th standard) with one-year professional experience, with at least 7.0 CPI (or 70% marks).
  • Master of Computer Application(MCA), with one year of professional experience, with at least 6.0 CPI (or 60% marks).
For PhD in the Discipline of Electronic Product Design (Project Mode)
A two-year Master’s programme with 6.0 on 10-point scale (or 60% of marks) or a Four-year BTech or B.E. in Electrical / Electronics / ECE / EEE / Mechatronics / Computer Science / Computer Science and Engineering / Medical Electronics / Instrumentation / Electronic & Telecommunication, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical Engineering, or any combination of these disciplines with a minimum CPI of 7.0 out of 10 or minimum 70% of marks. The candidate must have cleared CEED or GATE.
Department of Physics
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Design/Science in the relevant area, or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Design/Science in the relevant area.
Department of Chemistry
Department of Mathematics
Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Design/Arts/Commerce/Science in the relevant area, or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Design or equivalent in the relevant area.
School of Agro and Rural Technology
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Science/Environmental Science/Agriculture and other relevant fields, or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Agriculture or equivalent in the relevant area.
Jyoti and Bhupat Mehta School of Health Sciences and Technology
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Science/Medical Sciences/ Veterinary Sciences/ Pharmacy/ Design/ Allied Health Care Programmes in a relevant area, or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Design/Pharmacy in the relevant area, or
  • Degrees in Medical Sciences viz., MBBS / BDS / BVSc in a relevant area with a minimum 6.0 CPI (or 60% marks).
School of Business
  • Master’s degree in Management or equivalent, or
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Science/Commerce or in allied fields of Management in case of Social Sciences, or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology.
Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Science in the relevant area, or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Science.
School of Energy Science and Engineering
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Science/Architecture/Environmental Science/Agriculture in the relevant area, or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Agriculture in the relevant area
Center for Nanotechnology
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Science/Design/Architecture/Medical Sciences in the relevant area, or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Medical Sciences or equivalent in the relevant area
  • Further, Master’s degree in Social Sciences in a relevant area is also considered for admission to PhD in the Centre for the Environment.
Center for the Environment
Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Science/Design/Arts/Commerce in the relevant area, or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Design or equivalent in the relevant area.
Center for Disaster Management and Research
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Science/Agri-Engineering/ Design/ Architecture/ Disaster Management and other relevant fields (Environmental Science/Agriculture/Social Sciences/ Economics/ Geology/ Statistics, etc.), or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Agriculture or equivalent in the relevant area.
  • In case, Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Agriculture is from any of the Centrally Funded Technical Institutions, the CPI/Marks criteria is 6.5 CPI (or 65% of marks).
Centre for Sustainable Polymers
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Science/Design in the relevant area, or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology in the relevant area, or
  • Degrees in Medical Sciences viz., MBBS/ BDS/ MD/ MS/ BVSc/ MVSc having 6.0 CPI (or 60% marks), or
  • Master's in allied health care professional degrees having 6.0 CPI (or 60% marks) in both bachelor's degree and master's degree.
Center for Linguistic Science and TechnologyOne of the following:
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/ Technology in CSE / ECE / EEE or equivalent / Master of Design.
  • Master of Science in CSE / IT / ECE / Physics / Mathematics / Statistics/Speech and Language Pathology/ Audiology or equivalent.
  • Master of Arts in Linguistics/any language with specialization in Linguistics/Language Studies or equivalent.
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/ Technology in CSE / ECE / EEE or equivalent / Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Design.
  • Four-year Undergraduate Diploma in Design (NID/ CEPT or equivalent), with postgraduate qualification in relevant area with a minimum CPI of either 6.0 or 60% marks.
  • Two-year Postgraduate Diploma in Design (NID/ CEPT or equivalent) with first class at Bachelor’s level.
Center for Intelligent Cyber Physical Systems
  • Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Design or other relevant disciplines, or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology/Design or other relevant disciplines.
Center for Sustainable Water Research
  • Master’s degree in the relevant area, or
  • Four-year Bachelor’s degree in the relevant area.


Dual MTech + PhD

IIT Guwahati offers Dual MTech + PhD programme in Computer Science and Engineering. This programme is meant for Non-CSE or Non-IT discipline candidates. For more details of the programme visit the website of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

Eligibility Criteria:

For admission to the Dual MTech +PhD in CSE, a candidate must satisfy the following criteria:

  1. B.E. or B.Tech. degree or equivalent in any discipline other than Computer Science and Engineering or Information Technology with a minimum 7.0 CPI on 10-point scale (or 70% marks).
  2. Having valid GATE score in any GATE Examination Paper.
The requirement of valid GATE score is exempted for the Candidates with qualifying degree as Bachelor's (B.Tech./B.Des.) degree from an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) with minimum CPI of 8.0 on 10-point scale.

The CPI/Marks criteria will be relaxed by 0.5 CPI (or 5% marks) for SC/ST/PwD candidates.

Studentship Category:

Students for the Dual MTech +PhD in CSE programme are admitted only in the Regular category. A student in this category works full-time and receives assistantship from the Institute.



Dual MS + PhD

IIT Guwahati offers Dual MS(Engineering) + PhD programme in Electronics and Electrical Engineering. For more details of the programme visit the website of the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering.

Eligibility Criteria:

For admission to the Dual MS(Engg) +PhD in EEE, a candidate must satisfy the following criteria:

  1. Bachelors degree in Engineering or Technology or equivalent in any discipline with a minimum 7.0 CPI on 10-point scale (or 70% marks).
  2. Having valid GATE score in any GATE Examination Paper.
The requirement of valid GATE score is exempted for the Candidates with qualifying degree as Bachelor's (B.Tech./B.Des.) degree from an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) with minimum CPI of 8.0 on 10-point scale.

The CPI/Marks criteria will be relaxed by 0.5 CPI (or 5% marks) for SC/ST/PwD candidates.

Studentship Category:

Students for the Dual MS(Engg) +PhD in EEE programme are admitted only in the Regular category. A student in this category works full-time and receives assistantship from the Institute.