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    Analysis Of PhD Candidates At India’s Top Five IITs

    By Atul Ade
    21 Dec'23  4 min read
    Analysis Of PhD Candidates At India’s Top Five IITs
    Synopsis

    Each year, over 2,000 candidates begin the arduous process of acquiring the most coveted doctoral degree at the premier IITs. Careers360 in this analytical article tracks the number of PhD candidates which seem to have increased over the last three years.

    Analysis Of PhD Candidates At India’s Top Five IITs
    Synopsis

    Each year, over 2,000 candidates begin the arduous process of acquiring the most coveted doctoral degree at the premier IITs. Careers360 in this analytical article tracks the number of PhD candidates which seem to have increased over the last three years.

    India, historically, has been famous for its academic excellence. Our research scholars, scientists and laureates in literature have proven their brilliance in respective fields for long. It is no surprise then, that even today many dream of having the highest academic qualification to their name - the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Moreover to receive this honour from India’s most prestigious technical institutes, the Indian Institute of Technology is definitely a noteworthy achievement, which many may aspire but only a few finally achieve.

    In the last three academic years till 2021-22, more than 2,000 candidates signed up for the PhD programme at each of the top five Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in the country. An analysis of the last five years shows that on an average around 230 candidates could successfully complete the PhD programme every year. Which means around 1/10th of the total candidates were successful in getting the PhD degree from top five reputed IITs.

    There has been a steady increase in the number of candidates admitted to the PhD programme in all the IITs. While the number of candidates who completed the programme decreased in the last three years, except at IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi.

    Careers360 has considered data of full-time and part-time PhD candidates registered at top five IITs. This data has been obtained from the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), by the Ministry of Education.

    Pursuing PhD Programme: Top IITs

    The number of candidates admitted in PhD programmes has increased in all IITs over the last three years.

    Around 99 per cent increase in the number of PhD candidates is seen in IIT Bombay in three years from 2019-20.

    Student Pursuing Full-time PhD In Top 5 IITs over 3 Years

    Institutes Names

    2021-22

    2020-21

    2019-20

    Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

    2392

    2168

    2112

    Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

    3114

    2826

    2349

    Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

    3745

    2069

    1879

    Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

    2136

    1936

    1742

    Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

    2360

    2100

    1880

    PhD Candidates Course Completion

    Almost all the IITs showed an increase in the number of candidates pursuing PhD over the years. In terms of course completion, in the last three years the numbers have sagged for IIT Madras, IIT Bombay and IIT Kharagpur in the year 2020-21. While, IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur showed an increase of just seven and four per cent respectively during the same period of time.

    But in 2021-22 only IIT Kanpur and IIT Roorkee had decreased the number of graduates who had successfully completed the PhD programme compared to previous year.

    Full-time PhD Student In Top 5 IITs over 3 Years (including Integrated Ph.D)

    Institutes Names

    No. of Ph.D students graduated (including Integrated Ph.D)2021-22

    No. of Ph.D students graduated (including Integrated Ph.D)2020-21

    No. of Ph.D students graduated (including Integrated Ph.D)2019-20

    IIT Madras

    231

    203

    264

    IIT Delhi

    238

    224

    196

    IIT Bombay

    416

    122

    205

    IIT Kanpur

    190

    208

    232

    IIT Roorkee

    169

    185

    235

    Average Pursuing vs Passed Candidates In Full Time PhD Programme

    Every year these five IITs award just one PhD candidate with a doctorate degree for every 9 to 14 PhD candidates pursuing the programme.

    For our analysis, we’ve considered the data from 2019-20 to 2021-22 for the average of pursuing candidates. While the graduating average is taken from five years data from 2017-18 to 2021-22.

    Average PhD. Candidate Pursuing and Graduated


    Institutes Names

    Average PhD. Candidate Pursuing

    Average PhD. Candidate Graduated

    IIT Madras

    2224

    230

    IIT Delhi

    2763

    223

    IIT Bombay

    2564

    234

    IIT Kanpur

    1938

    203

    IIT Roorkee

    2113

    215


    PhD Candidates In Part-time Programme

    In 2021-22, IIT Delhi had the highest number of candidates pursuing PhD programmes in the part time mode while IIT Bombay had the highest number of graduates.

    IIT Madras does not have a single student who completed their PhD part-time programmes in 2021-22.

    Average PhD. Candidate Pursuing and Graduated

    Institutes Names

    Candidates pursuing PhD

    PhD candidates Graduated

    IIT Madras

    43

    0

    IIT Delhi

    630

    69

    IIT Bombay

    303

    303

    IIT Kanpur

    34

    5

    IIT Roorkee

    307

    12

    Average Pursuing vs Passed Candidates In Part-Time PhD Programme

    In IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur and IIT Roorkee, the graduating numbers for part-time PhD are better than the full-time PhD candidates. Here, for every one graduating student there are, on average, three to 11 PhD candidates.

    The average of pursuing candidates is taken from three years data from 2019-20 to 2021-22. While the graduating average is taken from five years data from 2017-18 to 2021-22.

    Average PhD. Candidate Pursuing and Graduated

    Institutes Names

    Average PhD candidates pursuing

    Average PhD candidates Graduated

    IIT Madras

    39

    3

    IIT Delhi

    569

    85

    IIT Bombay

    318

    126

    IIT Kanpur

    30

    4

    IIT Roorkee

    262

    24

    It should be noted that the number of PhD (full-time) candidates graduating every year is lower than the new joinees for the same programme. A very few PhD candidates actually complete the programme and get the doctoral degree, in comparison to the ones pursuing it.

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