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.
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.
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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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