Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has invited applications for admission to its January 2027 Research Programmes. The admission includes PhD and M.S. by Research programmes across Engineering, Science, Humanities, Management and interdisciplinary areas.

IIT Madras is an autonomous institute of national importance located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu – 600036. The institute was established in 1959 and offers research opportunities across a wide range of academic and interdisciplinary fields.

The January 2027 research admission process is conducted online through the official IIT Madras Research Admission portal. Candidates are advised to carefully check the eligibility requirements, department-specific criteria, research areas, admission category and fellowship requirements before submitting an application.

The last date to submit the online application is 30 October 2026 at 5:00 PM. No hard-copy application is entertained for this admission.

1. Introduction
2. Admission Overview
3. Important Dates
4. Research Programmes
5. PhD Eligibility
6. Direct PhD Eligibility
7. M.S. by Research Eligibility
8. Admission Categories
9. Departments & Research Areas
10. Aerospace Engineering
11. Applied Mechanics & Biomedical Engineering
12. Biotechnology
13. Chemical Engineering
14. Chemistry
15. Civil Engineering
16. Computer Science & Engineering
17. Data Science & Artificial Intelligence
18. Electrical Engineering
19. Engineering Design
20. Humanities & Social Sciences
21. Management Studies
22. Mathematics
23. Mechanical Engineering
24. Medical Sciences & Technology
25. Metallurgical & Materials Engineering
26. Ocean Engineering
27. Physics
28. School of Interdisciplinary Studies
29. Interdisciplinary Research Areas
30. Selection Process
31. Application Fee
32. Fellowship & Financial Assistance
33. Documents Required
34. How to Apply
35. Important Notes
36. Official Links
37. Apply Online

Candidates should regularly check the official IIT Madras Research Admission portal and the website of the concerned department for department-specific shortlisting, test, interview and admission updates.

IIT Madras offers research programmes leading to PhD and M.S. by Research degrees in several academic and interdisciplinary areas.

• Engineering
• Science
• Humanities and Social Sciences
• Management
• Biomedical and Medical Sciences
• Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
• Interdisciplinary Research

The exact programme and research area available to an applicant depend on the eligibility criteria and requirements of the concerned department.

Candidates applying for PhD admission must satisfy the general eligibility requirements as well as the additional or stricter criteria prescribed by the concerned department.

Engineering Departments

• Master's degree in Engineering or Technology, or an equivalent research Master's degree.
• Candidates with relevant 5-year dual degrees may also be eligible.
• Candidates with a Master's degree in Science and an appropriate national-level qualification may be considered for relevant engineering disciplines.
• A 2-year M.Sc. degree from IITs through JAM with CGPA of 8.0 or above may receive exemption from the national-level examination, subject to the applicable department criteria.

Science Departments

• Master's degree in Science with a good academic record and a valid GATE, UGC-JRF/NET, CSIR-JRF or other prescribed qualification.
• Candidates with Engineering/Technology Master's degrees or relevant 5-year integrated degrees may also be eligible.
• IIT M.Sc. candidates meeting the prescribed CGPA requirements may receive exemption from the national-level examination.

Humanities & Social Sciences

• Master's degree, dual degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant non-engineering discipline.
• UGC NET/JRF, CSIR-JRF, GATE or an equivalent qualification may be required depending on the area.
• Candidates with Engineering/Technology Master's degrees or relevant integrated degrees may also be eligible.

Management Studies

• Master's degree or relevant 2-year postgraduate diploma with Bachelor's degree and good academic record.
• The applicant should normally have at least five years of undergraduate and postgraduate education.
• GATE, CAT, UGC-JRF/NET, CSIR-JRF or equivalent qualification may be required depending on the category.
• MBA or 2-year postgraduate diploma from a CFTI with CGPA of 8.0 or above may receive exemption from the national-level examination, subject to applicable criteria.

Data Science & Artificial Intelligence

For the full-time PhD programme in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence, candidates with a postgraduate degree in Engineering or Technology meeting the prescribed requirements may be eligible.

Department-specific eligibility requirements can be stricter than the general requirements. Therefore, applicants should check the concerned department's admission information before applying.

IIT Madras provides Direct PhD admission opportunities for candidates satisfying specific academic and qualification requirements.

• Candidates with a 4-year B.Tech./B.E./BS (Research) or equivalent degree with an exceptionally good academic record may be considered.
• Candidates from CFTIs with B.Tech./BS Research and CGPA of 8.0 or above may qualify under the prescribed criteria.
• Candidates with an engineering Bachelor's degree from another recognised university with CGPA of 8.0 or above and a valid GATE qualification may be eligible.
• Certain external R&D candidates may also qualify under the prescribed conditions.
• MBBS/BDS candidates with first-class performance and a valid NEET-PG qualifying score may apply for Direct PhD in Engineering Design under the specified HTRA category.
• M.Sc. Mathematics/Computer Science candidates from CFTIs or recognised institutes such as ISI/CMI with CGPA of 8.0 or above and valid GATE Mathematics/Computer Science may be eligible for Direct PhD in Computer Science & Engineering.

IIT Madras also offers admission to M.S. by Research programmes. Eligibility depends on the academic discipline, department, research area and admission category.

Candidates should possess the relevant Bachelor's/Master's degree or equivalent qualification prescribed by the concerned department and satisfy any required national-level examination or additional criteria.

Since department-specific requirements may differ, applicants should carefully verify the eligibility conditions of the department and research area selected in the application.

The January 2027 research admission brochure provides different categories of research admission, subject to the applicable eligibility conditions.

• Regular – HTRA
• Regular – National Fellowship
• Regular – Project HTRA
• Project – NHTRA
• QIP
• Institute Staff
• External
• Foreign Nationals
• Other specified admission categories

Candidates must select the appropriate category according to their qualification, fellowship, employment status and the requirements prescribed by IIT Madras.

The January 2027 brochure lists the following departments and academic units for PhD research admission:

1. Aerospace Engineering
2. Applied Mechanics & Biomedical Engineering
3. Biotechnology
4. Chemical Engineering
5. Chemistry
6. Civil Engineering
7. Computer Science & Engineering
8. Data Science & Artificial Intelligence
9. Electrical Engineering
10. Engineering Design
11. Humanities & Social Sciences
12. Management Studies
13. Mathematics
14. Mechanical Engineering
15. Medical Sciences & Technology
16. Metallurgical & Materials Engineering
17. Ocean Engineering
18. Physics
19. School of Interdisciplinary Studies (SIDiS)

The official brochure does not provide one consolidated department-wise vacancy table for all research departments. Therefore, no unverified vacancy numbers are included here.

Major research areas include aerodynamics, aircraft structures, propulsion, dynamics and control, computational fluid dynamics, aerospace systems and related areas.

Research areas include biomedical engineering, solid mechanics, fluid mechanics and interdisciplinary biomedical research.

Areas also include AI/ML/DL for medicine, computational neuroscience, healthcare informatics, medical imaging, biomaterials, cellular mechanics, thermal systems and computational mechanics.

Research areas include cellular, molecular and structural biology, signal transduction, stem cells, protein crystallography and structure prediction, drug design, QSAR, bioorganic chemistry, biosensors and environmental biotechnology.

Other areas include biochemical engineering, bioinformatics, biomedical engineering, biomaterials, computational neuroscience and molecular genetics.

Research areas include reaction engineering, thermodynamics, transport phenomena, process design and control, environmental engineering, polymer science, semiconductor materials, particle technology and catalysis.

Additional areas include modelling, advanced separations, computational fluid dynamics, materials processing and environmental pollution control.

Research areas cover analytical chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry, main-group chemistry, inorganic heterocycles, materials and nanomaterials, solid-state chemistry, cages and clusters, organometallic chemistry and supramolecular chemistry.

Organic research includes organic synthesis, natural products, asymmetric catalysis, carbohydrate chemistry, bioorganic chemistry, medicinal chemistry and physical organic chemistry.

Other areas include photochemistry, polymers, electrochemistry, chemical physics, quantum and theoretical chemistry, spectroscopy, NMR, fluorescence, statistical mechanics and molecular dynamics.

Research areas include building technology, construction materials, construction management, geotechnical engineering, hydraulics, water resources, environmental engineering and structural engineering.

Other areas include transportation, GIS, hydrology, water and wastewater systems, earthquake-resistant design and intelligent transportation systems.

Research areas include automata and formal languages, algorithms, graph theory, cryptography, software engineering, parallel and distributed systems, mobile computing and programming languages.

Other areas include VLSI, computer architecture, graphics and visualization, computer networks, security, databases, artificial intelligence, machine learning, Indian language systems, speech, computer vision and neural networks.

Research areas include deep learning, reinforcement learning, physics-informed machine learning, computational mathematics, responsible and deployable AI and data-driven systems.

Applications include smart cities and transportation, systems biology and healthcare, networks, manufacturing and financial analytics.

Research areas include communication systems, information theory, coding, communication networks, optimisation, queuing and network theory, digital signal processing, speech, image processing and computer vision.

Other areas include control systems, robotics, power electronics, drives, instrumentation, microelectronics, MEMS, power systems, high voltage engineering, RF, optics, photonics and integrated circuit systems.

Research areas include automotive engineering, biomedical design, materials and design, robotics and mechatronics, electric vehicles, autonomous systems and medical imaging.

Other areas include biomechanics, medical devices, additive manufacturing and medical and rehabilitation robotics.

Research areas include English studies, memory and cultural studies, film studies, English language teaching, translation, Indian literary theory and postcolonial studies.

Economics research includes environmental, development, agricultural and industrial economics, international trade and related areas.

Other areas include development studies, political sociology, religion, borderland and Tibetan studies, history of mathematics and astronomy in India, Indian Knowledge Systems, science and engineering education, applied ethics and philosophy of mind.

Research areas include finance, corporate finance, banking, risk management, financial markets, venture capital, private equity, development finance, public-sector finance and behavioural finance.

Information systems research includes privacy, personalization, misinformation, assistive technology, human-machine interaction, responsible AI, cybersecurity, AI/ML, recommender systems, network analysis, human-AI interaction and digital transformation.

Other areas include healthcare, governance, strategy, technology management, business models, entrepreneurship, marketing, operations, supply chain management, logistics, organisational behaviour, HRM, leadership, cognition, diversity and wellbeing.

Research areas include algebra, geometry, topology, cryptography, number theory, K-theory, homological and geometric group theory, low-dimensional topology and related areas.

Functional analysis, operator theory, operator algebras, optimisation, harmonic analysis, fractals, signal and image processing, CAGD, fuzzy systems, control, game theory, PDEs and inverse problems are also included.

Other areas include differential equations, mathematical modelling, numerical analysis, fluid dynamics, heat and mass transfer, water waves, probability, stochastic processes, queuing theory, reliability, simulation, logic, graph theory, algorithms, computation, coding and complexity theory.

Research areas include mechanical design, manufacturing, robotics, materials, composites, biomaterials, tribology, fatigue and fracture, finite element methods and CAD/CAM.

Other areas include precision manufacturing, fluid power, thermal systems, combustion, refrigeration and air conditioning, acoustics, microfluidics and related mechanical engineering research.

Research areas include medical and clinical research in areas such as:

• Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery
• Neurology and Neurosurgery
• Orthopedics
• Nephrology and Urology
• Perinatology
• Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Research areas include nanostructured materials, ceramics, composites, biomaterials, medical materials, magnetic materials, optoelectronic materials, hydrogen and fuel-cell materials, energy materials, sensors, carbon nanotubes, smart materials, shape-memory materials, advanced steels, aluminium, magnesium, titanium, superalloys, intermetallics, bulk metallic glasses, high-entropy materials and polymers.

Research also covers printed electronics, ultra-high-temperature ceramics, casting, forming, joining, synthesis, phase transformations, powder metallurgy, surface engineering, coatings, corrosion, electrochemistry, fatigue, fracture, creep and additive manufacturing.

Computational and modelling areas include CALPHAD, crystal plasticity, phase-field modelling, molecular dynamics and artificial neural network-based materials modelling.

Research areas include petroleum engineering, ocean and ship hydrodynamics, floating systems, ocean structures, coastal processes, marine geotechnical engineering, marine materials and ocean energy.

Research areas include applied and quantum optics, photonics, nonlinear optics, atomic and molecular physics, biological physics, complex fluids, cosmology and gravity, statistical physics and field theory.

Other areas include low-temperature physics, superconductivity, magnetism, hydrogen storage, microwaves, dielectrics, semiconductor physics, photovoltaics, solid-state ionics, molecular electronics, thin films, X-ray diffraction, amorphous materials, spintronics, computational materials and nonlinear dynamics.

Research also includes quantum chaos, quantum information, oxide and magnetic materials, metal-oxide materials and nanostructured thin films.

The School of Interdisciplinary Studies provides opportunities for research that crosses traditional departmental boundaries.

The brochure identifies interdisciplinary research themes including engineering, science, technology, sustainability, healthcare, energy, environment, computation and advanced technologies.

IIT Madras offers interdisciplinary research opportunities across several emerging and multidisciplinary areas.

• Combustion
• Atmospheric Science and Climate
• Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
• Materials Science and Technology
• Sustainability
• Technology and Policy
• Computational Engineering
• Environmental Science and Engineering
• MEMS, NEMS, Lab-on-Chip and Microfluidics
• Bioengineering
• Advanced Sensors, Instrumentation and Control
• Energy Technology
• Medicine and Healthcare
• Communication Technology
• Security and Defence
• Big Data

Eligible candidates who satisfy the minimum qualifications and the additional criteria prescribed by the concerned department may be shortlisted for further selection.

1. Application Screening: Applications are examined against the prescribed eligibility and department-specific requirements.
2. Shortlisting: Eligible candidates are shortlisted by the concerned department.
3. Departmental Test / Interview: Depending on the department and programme, candidates may be called for a test and interview or interview.
4. Final Selection: The final recommendation is based on the academic record and performance in the prescribed test/interview.

Candidates whose qualifying UG/PG degree was obtained 10 years before the application closing date may be required to take a departmental test, as applicable.

Reservation is applicable according to the Government of India rules.

For eligible regular HTRA PhD/Direct PhD candidates attending an offline interview, travel assistance may be provided according to IIT Madras rules.

The application fee for January 2027 research admission is non-refundable and depends on the applicant's category.

The application fee is non-refundable.

Candidates applying to more than one department or research programme must submit a separate application and pay the applicable application fee separately for each application.

Regular PhD and M.S. by Research scholars may be eligible for Half-Time Research Assistantship (HTRA), subject to the applicable rules and conditions.

PhD HTRA Institute Fellowship

HRA is provided according to the applicable Government of India norms.

M.S. by Research HTRA

M.S. by Research HTRA is provided at ₹12,400 per month for the initial two years, with an additional six months possible subject to the prescribed recommendation and conditions.

Research Work Requirement

HTRA scholars are required to undertake prescribed academic/research assistance work of approximately 8 hours per week in their department.

Continuation or renewal of assistantship is subject to enrolment, satisfactory research progress and satisfactory performance.

Other fellowships such as UGC-JRF, CSIR-JRF, DBT-JRF, NBHM and INSPIRE may also be available according to the applicable funding agency rules.

Applicants should keep the required academic and supporting documents ready before completing the online application.

• Recent photograph
• Academic certificates and mark sheets
• Degree / provisional degree certificates, where applicable
• National-level examination certificate / score details, where applicable
• Fellowship certificate, where applicable
• Caste certificate, where applicable
• PwD certificate, where applicable
• EWS certificate, where applicable
• OBC-NCL certificate, where applicable
• Experience certificate, where applicable
• NOC / sponsorship documents for applicable categories
• Research proposal / write-up where required by the category or department
• Any additional document specifically required by the concerned department

OBC-NCL and EWS candidates must ensure that their certificates are in the prescribed format and satisfy the validity requirements specified in the admission brochure.

The application process for January 2027 research admission is completely online.

1. Visit the official IIT Madras Research Admission portal.
2. Read the January 2027 Research Admission Brochure carefully.
3. Check the eligibility requirements of the department and research area you want to apply for.
4. Select the appropriate research programme and admission category.
5. Register and complete the online application form.
6. Enter academic, fellowship, category and other required details.
7. Upload the required documents.
8. Pay the applicable non-refundable application fee.
9. Review all information carefully before final submission.
10. Submit the application before 30 October 2026 at 5:00 PM.
11. Keep a copy of the submitted application and payment details for future reference.

No hard-copy application is entertained. Candidates should complete the online application within the prescribed deadline.

• The last date for online application is 30 October 2026 at 5:00 PM.
• Applications must be submitted online through the official IIT Madras Research Admission portal.
• No hard-copy application is entertained.
• Eligibility requirements may vary between departments and research areas.
• Departments may prescribe additional or stricter eligibility requirements.
• Meeting the minimum eligibility requirement does not guarantee shortlisting or admission.
• The selection method may include a departmental test and interview or interview, depending on the concerned department.
• Candidates applying to multiple departments/research programmes must submit separate applications and pay separate application fees.
• OBC-NCL and EWS applicants must use the prescribed certificate format and satisfy the applicable certificate date requirements.
• Candidates should regularly check the concerned department website for shortlisting, test/interview and admission updates.
• Applicants should rely on the latest official IIT Madras admission information in case of any subsequent update or modification.

Candidates should use the official IIT Madras websites for the latest admission information, department updates and application-related instructions.

Candidates interested in IIT Madras PhD and M.S. by Research Admission January 2027 should carefully check the official admission brochure, department-specific eligibility requirements, research areas and admission category before submitting the application.

The online application deadline is 30 October 2026 at 5:00 PM. Candidates are advised to submit the application well before the closing time to avoid last-minute problems.

Application Portal: IIT Madras Research Admission Portal