GATE-less entry into IIT PG courses for NIT toppers

The premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are contemplating opening their doors to top ten per cent of students of state and private engineering colleges to pursue post-doctoral studies from their campuses, without having to clear GATE.

As per the proposals, such merit students need not write the Graduate Aptitude Test Examination (GATE) to apply for PhD programmes at the IITs  on the basis of those scores.

The scheme has been offered to students of National Institutes of Technology (NITs) from this year. The plan is to extend similar facility to students of other technical institutions which are not funded by the centre. No final decision has, however, been taken, highly placed sources in the Human Resource Development Ministry told Deccan Herald.

With the premier technical institutes facing shortage of “qualified” faculty, the Council of IITs in its recent meeting here decided to allow meritorious technocrats from NITs take up PhD programmes at their campus.

The scheme, however, will be applicable only to those engineering graduates from NITs who are among top 10 per cent of students of their respective batches in terms of academic performance. Such students may apply for admission to PhD programmes of their choice at the IITs in their seventh semester. They will have to complete their eighth (final) semester at the IITs to move on to pursue PhD programme at the premier technical institute without GATE scores.

“Though they will complete their final semester at the IITs, the B.Tech degree will be awarded to them by their respective NITs,” sources clarified. The IITs will only award them PhD,” sources clarified.

IITs have not made up their mind yet to allow engineering graduates from other technical institutes to pursue PhD programmes at their campus from this year as they want to see the “response” of the NIT students to the scheme as well as their performance, sources added.

The move has been prompted by a faculty crunch as most of the engineering graduates from IITs choose to take up a job in private and other sectors instead of pursuing post graduate and post doctoral programmes soon after completion of their courses. “This is the trend because they offered are handsome salary. But, the country is in dire need of qualified faculty. The IITs and the HRD Ministry hope that engineering students will show enthusiasm in pursing PhD.” sources said.