IMSc offers PhD and integrated PhD programmes in Mathematics.Applicants for the PhD programme should have completed a Masters degree in Mathematics or Statistics by the time they actually join the programme.Applicants for the integrated PhD programme should have completed a Bachelors degree in Mathematics or Statistics by the time they actually join the programme.Exceptional candidates with a Bachelors or Masters degree in other fields will also be considered for admission to the integrated PhD programme.How to applyCandidates aspiring for admission to the IMSc Ph.D/Integ. Ph.D programmes in Mathematics must appear for the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM) Ph.D scholarships Screening Test.The IMSc academic year starts in the month of August. To apply for August of a given year, candidates must write the NBHM exam held in January of that year.Candidates must apply directly to the NBHM in order to write the screening test. They need not send a separate application to IMSc.IMSc (and HRI) will get the test scores and copies of the applications directly from the NBHM and will independently send interview call letters to candidates who have passed their screening criteria. Interviews are held in March/April. Final selection of candidates is based on their performance in the interview.
Information about the NBHM Ph.D scholarships testThis test is held around the third week of January each year, and is advertised in leading national newspapers the previous November. The announcement will also appear on the websites ofNBHM,IMSc,HRI among others. Sample exams from past years are available here and here.
Updated Nov 2014: This year's exam has been announced. It will be held on January 24, 2015. The announcement can be found here.
Exceptional cases:While the NBHM Ph.D. Scholarship examination is the advertised and accepted entrance examination for JRF (Mathematics) positions at IMSc, the Mathematics Faculty of IMSc may, in the case of exceptionally good candidates, under exceptional circumstances, waive the requirement of the entrance examination and directly call them for an interview. Such candidates are required to have passed the CSIR-UGC (JRF) or GATE examinations in that year, Please click here for more information on requesting this waiver.
NBHM Coursework at IMSc:Students who have been selected for the NBHM PhD scholarship can opt for an extra year of course work at an institution of repute before joining an institution for the doctoral programme. NBHM will pay this extra year's scholarship through the host institution. More information isavailable here.
Students selected for the NBHM PhD scholarship, but not selected at IMSc, may seek permission to do this first year course work at IMSc. For more details on how to apply for NBHM聽coursework at IMSc, please click here.
PhysicsIMSc offers PhD and integrated PhD programmes in Physics.
Applicants for the PhD programme should have completed a Masters degree in the Physics by the time they actually join the programme.
Applicants for the integrated PhD programme should have completed a Bachelors degree in Physics by the time they actually join the programme.
Exceptional candidates with a Bachelors or Masters degree in other areas will also be considered for admission to the integrated PhD programme.
A monthly stipend of Rs. 12,000 for the first two years and Rs. 14,000 in subsequent years (subject to satisfactory performance), together with an annual contingency grant of Rs. 10,000, housing and medical facilities will be provided.
Further details of our academic programme can be found here.
Admission to both of these programmes is based on the candidate's performance in Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST) and interview.
The advertisement of the JEST examination is expected to appear in national newspapers in the last quarter of each year.
Those who have qualified for聽 Junior Research Fellowship (JRF)聽 of UGC-CSIR NET examination or Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) may apply for direct interview. Further details of direct interview can be found here
Theoretical Computer ScienceThe normal route to the IMSc graduate research program is through an interview, and JEST (Joint Entrance Screening Test)聽 is one of the means by which we screen students and select them for interview. JEST is conducted for the PhD and Integrated PhD programmes for Theoretical Computer Science in IMSc.
What is JEST?
The 聽Joint Entrance Screening Test in Theoretical Computer Science is a test conducted across the country each year, usually on one day in the month of February. For JEST 2011 TCS on 20 February 2011 there were approximately聽 2000 applicants.
Who is eligible?
M.Sc./ M.E. / M.Tech. / M.C.A. in Computer Science and related disciplines, interested in the mathematical aspects of computer science, will be considered for the Ph.D. programme. Students who expect to complete their final examination by the following July are also eligible to apply.
Talented graduates with Bachelor's degree in science/ mathematics/ statistics/ computer science/ information technology/ Engineering will be considered for the Integrated M.Sc.-Ph.D. programme. This means that they pick up a Masters' degree and a PhD degree on completion of the integrated programme.
Where can I write the JEST exam?
JEST聽will be conducted at major cities across the country.聽 JEST 2010 was conducted at Ahmedabad, Aligarh, Allahabad, Bangalore, Bardhaman, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Madurai, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nainital, Patna, Pune, Raipur, Roorkee, Sambalpur, Silchar, Siliguri, Thiruvananthapuram, Udaipur and Visakhapatnam.
Can I do a PhD part-time with my job?
No, we only admit full-time students at IMSc. However, if you register for PhD with some university, there are possibilities of research collaboration with IMSc. Please see our page on the Graduate Visitor Programme.
Can I use a GATE score instead of writing JEST in Theoretical Computer Science?
No. We use the GATE score as additional information.
Are past JEST question papers for TCS available?
See JEST FAQ
Are sample JEST questions for TCS available?
See JEST FAQ.
What material is covered by the JEST questions for TCS?
See JEST FAQ.
What is the structure of the JEST examination for TCS?
It is a three-hour written test. The question paper consists of two parts:
Part A is multiple-choice to be marked on the answer card provided.Part B requires short answers to be written on the space provided in the paper.How is the evaluation done?
Part A is evaluated mechanically. Part A scores will be available at the JEST website. IMSc decides a first cutoff. Only for students who meet this first cutoff, Part B of the answerbook will be evaluated.The Part B scores are not declared. IMSc decides a second cutoff based on the performance in both parts.Students meeting this second cutoff are called for an interview to Chennai.Interview dates are usually during the last week of April and the first week of May.What should I do to increase my chances of getting selected?
Here are some criteria which were followed by the TCS JEST examiners in recent years.
The first cutoff selects the top students among the Part A scores. IMSc chooses the cutoff depending on the number of students taking the examination and the number of answerbooks for which Part B is to be evaluated (manually). In 2010 we chose this cutoff to get the top 250 in Part A.
Among the top students with Part A scores,聽 those who get low Part B scores are rejected.The top few among the Part B scores are selected. IMSc chooses this second cutoff depending on the number of students to be called to the interviews (to be done in a limited amount of time).Apart from this, we look at answers of candidates who top-score on individual questions in Part B (if very few candidates overall do well on a question they have an advantage), or if the answers are ingenious or meticulous enough to deserve extra credit. In 2010 we were able to call around 30 students for TCS interviews.Computational BiologyFor students interested in frontier research at the interface of biology, computation, physics and applied mathematics
IMSc is a leader in India in fundamental research in theoretical physics, mathematics and theoretical computer science, with several members actively pursuing research in interdisciplinary areas including computational biology. 聽 In 2013 IMSc started a unique Ph.D. programme in this subject, training students to apply cutting-edge computational and mathematical techniques to problems in modern biology, in collaboration with leading biology departments and institutions in India and abroad. 聽
IMSc 聽is an autonomous national research institute under the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, and a constituent institution of the Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai (a deemed university). 聽 Ph.D. degrees will be awarded by HBNI.
STRUCTURE OF PROGRAMME
Before embarking on their research, students have three semesters of coursework, which consists of seven core courses, to be carried out at IMSc; elective courses, which may be taken at IMSc or at other institutions by mutual consent; and lab rotations, at collaborating labs in other institutions. The core coursework covers essentials of modern biology, essential techniques from physics, mathematics, statistics and computer science, physics of proteins and biomolecules, biological sequence analysis and algorithms, and systems biology. Elective coursework covers various topics in greater depth. Following the coursework and a comprehensive examination, students will embark on research leading to a Ph.D. degree.
Selected candidates will be research fellows at IMSc and will receive fellowships, housing or house rent allowance, and contingency grants.
Click here for course syllabus.
Biology at IMScCurrent areas of interest include:
Biophysics and mechanobiologySystems and network biologyPattern formation and dynamicsBiomolecular modellingRegulatory genomicsEvolutionary biologyComputational neuroscienceInfectious disease modellingEcologyWe expect to expand into more areas in coming years. See here for more details.
EligibilityMasters degree in any branch of science or engineering
Valid test score from any national research entrance examination (UGC-CSIR NET, JEST, GATE, NBHM, DBT BINC, etc). 聽Test scores must be valid as of June 2015.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Application deadline: March 31, 2015
Interview dates: May/June, 2015 (to be announced)
Offers of admission: June/July, 2015
HOW TO APPLY:
Please send applications on plain paper to:
The RegistrarThe Institute of Mathematical SciencesCIT Campus, TaramaniChennai 600 113, India
Include with your application:
A covering letterA statement of interestA curriculum vitae including university grades/marksResults of relevant national test (JEST, NBHM, GATE, NET, BINC or other)Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Last date for applications March 31, 2015