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    PhD Programme Analysis At India’s Top Five NITs

    By Atul Ade
    23 Dec'23  4 min read
    PhD Programme Analysis At India’s Top Five NITs
    Synopsis

    India’s top five National Institutes of Technology have over 500 candidates pursuing PhD programmes with them. The doctorate programme is quite competitive, and the analysis undertaken in this article will help you understand the prestigious qualification and its impact a little more deeply.

    PhD Programme Analysis At India’s Top Five NITs
    Synopsis

    India’s top five National Institutes of Technology have over 500 candidates pursuing PhD programmes with them. The doctorate programme is quite competitive, and the analysis undertaken in this article will help you understand the prestigious qualification and its impact a little more deeply.

    Many students dream of adding the highest academic qualification to their name – the PhD. The National Institute of Technology (NIT) is among the most prestigious technical institutes of the country, and many candidates pursue the doctorate programme from the many NITs located across India.

    Over the last three years more than 500 candidates registered themselves for the PhD in the top five NIT Tiruchirappalli, NIT Karnataka, NIT Rourkela, NIT Warangal and NIT Calicut. The number of PhDs awarded every year at each of these NITs is somewhere between 65 to 123. It should be noted that NITs offer both, the part time and full time PhD programmes at their campus.

    Previously Careers360 has covered PhD Candidates At India’s Top Five IITs, and this article is the part II of the study. We have collated the data from the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for the full-time and part-time PhD candidates registered in the top five NITs. It helped understanding how many students were pursuing and were awarded the PhDs.

    Pursuing PhD Programme: Full-Time

    The number of candidates pursuing PhD programmes in NITs has fluctuated over the last three years since 2019-20, except NIT Warangal. Around five per cent increase was seen in NIT Warangal, rest of the NITs had decreased the number in 2021-22.

    In 2022, the number of pursuing PhD candidates decreased by around 40 per cent in NIT Rourkela.

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

    Institutes Names

    Ph.D (Student pursuing doctoral program till 2021-22)

    Ph.D (Student pursuing doctoral program till 2020-21)

    Ph.D (Student pursuing doctoral program till 2019-20)

    National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli

    647

    685

    649

    National Institute of Technology, Karnataka

    682

    711

    622

    National Institute of Technology, Rourkela

    636

    1069

    1183

    National Institute of Technology, Warangal

    480

    457

    500

    National Institute of Technology, Calicut

    656

    701

    613

    Also Read | Mental Health Counselling For Studying Abroad: Importance, Challenges, Easier Access

    PhD Candidates: Full-Time

    The number of total PhD students who graduated and the total number of students who were pursuing the PhD programmes in 2022 decreased. Major increase in graduating PhD candidates were seen only in NIT Rourkela. The rest of the NITs showed a decrease in the graduating PhD candidate’s number.

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

    Institutes Names

    2021-22

    2020-21

    2019-20

    NIT Tiruchirappalli

    87

    121

    117

    NIT Karnataka

    103

    104

    114

    NIT Rourkela

    123

    90

    114

    NIT Warangal

    65

    71

    81

    NIT Calicut

    89

    96

    75

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    Average Pursuing vs Awarded Candidates In Full Time PhD Programme

    On average, for every six to eight PhD candidates pursuing, there is just one candidate graduating the programme.

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

    Average PhD. Pursuing and Graduated Candidate

    Institutes Names

    Average PhD. Candidate Pursuing

    Average PhD. Candidate Graduated

    NIT Tiruchirappalli

    660

    92

    NIT Karnataka

    672

    104

    NIT Rourkela

    963

    113

    NIT Warangal

    479

    67

    NIT Calicut

    657

    89

    PhD Candidates In Part-time Programme

    For the part-time PhD candidates, the percentage of candidates graduating with respect to the ones pursuing is lower as compared to full-time PhD candidates, except in NIT Tiruchirappalli. NIT Tiruchirappalli showed a result for part-time candidates almost equivalent to full-time PhD candidates.

    Pursing And Graduating PhD Candidates(Part-time) 2021-22

    Institutes Names

    candidates pursuing PhD

    PhD candidates Graduated

    NIT Tiruchirappalli

    256

    36

    NIT Karnataka

    246

    23

    NIT Rourkela

    199

    0

    NIT Warangal

    279

    15

    NIT Calicut

    7

    0

    Also Read | PhD Candidates At The Top Five State Universities In India

    Average Pursuing vs Awarded Candidates In Part-Time PhD Programme

    Shockingly, NIT Rourkela has a good number of pursuing PhD candidates but over the period of five years not a single candidate has graduated from the programme.

    Average PhD. Pursuing and Graduated Candidate

    Institutes Names

    Average PhD candidates pursuing

    Average PhD candidates Graduated

    NIT Tiruchirappalli

    317

    33

    NIT Karnataka

    215

    20

    NIT Rourkela

    181

    0

    NIT Warangal

    207

    13

    NIT Calicut

    43

    5

    Also Read | Analysis Of PhD Programmes At Private Universities

    As compared to top five IITs, the full-time PhD candidates in NITs performed better. While for part-time, the performance was vice-versa. Nevertheless, India’s technical institutes have a varied and high percentage of scholars aspiring to get the coveted doctoral degree, making sure the research sector of this country remains vibrant and competitive.

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