PhD Programme Analysis At India’s Top Five NITs

PhD Programme Analysis At India’s Top Five NITs

Atul AdeUpdated on 23 Dec 2023, 09:19 AM IST

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.

PhD Programme Analysis At India’s Top Five NITs
PhD Programme Analysis At India’s Top Five NITs (Source: Shutterstock)

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

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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

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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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