Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), a Deemed to be University, Thiruvananthapuram- 695547 that envisions basic and applied research for meeting the national R&D requirements of Science and Technology in general and the Indian Space Programme in particular, has invited applications for admission to its full time Ph.D. Programme, January 2026 session.

Ph.D. Programs are offered in the departments of (i) Aerospace Engineering (ii) Avionics (iii) Chemistry (iv) Earth and Space Sciences, (v) Humanities and Social Sciences, (vi) Mathematics, and (vii) Physics.

Eligibility: Applicant should be an Indian citizen below 35 years of age as on 20th November, 2025. Age relaxation is applicable as per the Government Rules.

Educational Qualifications: The minimum educational qualification for admission falls into one of the following four broad categories, based on the highest qualifying examination

(a) Applicants with a Master’s Degree in Engineering/Technology as their highest qualifying degree: M.E./M.Tech. With 60% marks/equivalent grade (55% marks/equivalent CGPA for OBC/EWS/SC/ST/PwD) in the qualifying Master’s degree or Master of Science in Engineering/equivalent from leading foreign Universities with a minimum CGPA of 8.00/10 or 3.60 /4 or equivalent. Applicants must qualify a National Eligibility Test, such as GATE/CSIR/UGCNET/NBHM/JEST or Screening Test conducted by IIST.

(b) Applicants with a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering/Technology as their highest qualifying degree: B.E./B.Tech. With 75% marks/equivalent grade (70% marks or equivalent CGPA for OBC/EWS/SC/ST/PwD) in the Qualifying Bachelor’s degree. They should have a valid GATE score. Those with B.E./B. Tech or Dual degree (Bachelor’s in Engineering and Master’s in Science) from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology/ Indian Institute of Technology with 7.50 CGPA (CGPA of 7.00 for OBC/EWS/SC/ST/PwD) in the Qualifying Bachelor’s degree are exempted from the requirement of GATE score. They need to qualify the screening test conducted by IIST. Those who have qualified CSIR/UGC-NET/NBHM/JEST in the relevant disciplines with a score/certificate valid at the time of application are also exempted from the GATE score.

(c) Applicants with a Master’s/BS-MS Degree in Science/Humanities/Management/Social Sciences as their highest qualifying degree: Master’s in the relevant area with a minimum of 60% marks/equivalent grade (55% marks or equivalent CGPA for OBC/EWS/SC/ST/PwD) in the Qualifying Master’s degree. They must have qualified for a National Eligibility Test, such as CSIR/UGC-NET/NBHM/JEST/GATE, in the relevant discipline. The score/certificate should be valid at the time of application.

(d) Applicants with a Bachelor’s Degree of four-year duration in Science/Humanities/Management/Social Sciences as their highest qualifying degree: Bachelor’s Degree (4 years’ duration) with 75% marks/equivalent grade (70% marks or equivalent CGPA for OBC/EWS/SC/ST/PwD). They must have cleared a National Eligibility Test, such as CSIR/UGCNET/NBHM/JEST/GATE, in the relevant discipline. The score/certificate should be valid at the time of application.

Those with a Bachelor’s degree as their highest qualification need to undergo additional coursework, as prescribed by the institute. Those awaiting results of the final year/semester are also eligible to apply if they meet the prescribed eligibility criteria. In such cases, IIST will offer provisional admission to the selected candidates. For confirmation of admission, applicants must produce the relevant documents within the specified time; failing which, the provisional admission will be cancelled.

Selection: Applicants who satisfy the minimum eligibility criteria and have a valid CSIR/UGC-NET/ NBHM / JEST/GATE score will be shortlisted and invited for an interview. Applicants satisfying the minimum eligibility criteria but not having a valid CSIR/ UGCNET/ NBHM /JEST/GATE score are admitted for PhD through the screening test of one hour duration, followed by an interview. Screening test will be conducted at the IIST campus on December 15, 2025 (Monday), and the interview will be held from December 16 to 19, 2025 (tentatively) for the candidates who qualify the screening test. Details are given in the Notification at https://admission.iist.ac.in.

Research Fellowship: All scholars selected to the PhD programme (listed in Table 1 of Notification) shall receive a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) of Rs. 37,000/- per month. Research Scholars selected with CSIR/UGC - NET-JRF / NBHM and State Government Science and Technology Scheme, etc., shall draw fellowship from the concerned organisations. For all research scholars with external fellowship, the concerned rules and regulations of the funding agency apply. The fellowship will be enhanced to a Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) of Rs. 42,000/- per month based on a performance review after two years of the programme. SRF will be given for a maximum of another three years.

Application: Applications can be submitted online at https://admission.iist.ac.in, latest by 2359 hrs on November 20, 2025 (Thursday). Application fee is Rs. 700/- (for SC/ST/PwD and Women applicants – Rs. 350/-).

For more details, the notification may be seen. Website: https://www.iist.ac.in/