Admission to PhD Programmes in HSS

The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences offers a PhD programme in each of its five disciplines: English (Literature, Linguistics, and English Language Teaching), Fine Arts, Philosophy, Psychology, and Sociology. However, please note that some disciplines may not advertise for PhD applications in a given round of admissions. Please see the most current advertisement at  http://www.iitk.ac.in/doaa/pgadmission.htm to see if the discipline to which you would like to apply is accepting applications.

Eligibility criteria for PhD Admissions in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Applications to the PhD programme in HSS are screened based on a written exam. Candidates who pass the written exam will be called for an interview.

Candidates meeting all the following criteria will be invited to appear for the exam in the discipline to which they have applied.

• A master’s and a bachelor’s degree in any subject with minimum 55% marks, or a CPI of 5.5 on a 10-point scale, in both
  (or)
  A bachelor’s degree in engineering or science (4-year programme) with minimum 75 percent marks or a CPI of 7.5 on a 10-point scale
• One of the following, unless the applicant’s master’s degree is from an IIT with a CPI of at least 8*:
  • JRF/NET certification in a relevant discipline. The NET certificate should be valid for 1 year for PhD admissions at the time of application.
  • A valid GATE (Humanities and Social Sciences) score in the discipline

*NET or GATE certification is not required if the applicant’s master’s degree is from an IIT with a CPI of at least 8 on a 10-point scale.