Ph. D. Advertisement Varsha 2023

Applications are invited from highly motivated students with a CSIR, UGC Fellowship for admission to the Ph. D. programs of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram (IISER TVM) in the Schools of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, and in the centres of Advanced Materials Research with International Engagement (CAMRIE) and High-Performance Computing (CHPC) for the session starting from August 2023, i.e., Varsha 2023 semester. Candidates are required to apply through the online portal only. The online application portal will be open from 28 March 2023 at ( (http://appserv.iisertvm.ac.in/phd/index.php/applicant/register/11) ).

General Eligibility Criteria

(For School- or Centre-specific eligibility criteria, see the tables below)

1. 6.5 CGPA on a 10-point scale (or first-class equivalent) or first class in Master’s program in a relevant discipline as declared by the respective University.
   (BE/BTech degree in relevant specialization is admissible for select areas of research in the School of Physics (see Research Areas))
2. The candidate must have qualified at least one of the following examinations: CSIR-UGC, UGC-NET JRF or GATE or other national-level examinations as mentioned below, with validity as on 01 August 2023.
3. BS-MS/MSc students from any of the IISERs/IITS/IISc with CGPA 8 or above on a 10-point scale are exempted from national level test eligibility related criteria.

Schoolwise Research Areas

Biological Sciences

• Behavioral ecology and Plant-animal interactions
• Structural Molecular Biology
• Genome Stability Evolutionary ecology
• Plant centromere biology
• Stem cells and development
• Chronobiology
• Molecular Virology
• Mutations and Antibiotic Resistance
• Mammalian cell division and signaling
• Neurodegenerative disease biology
• Host-parasite interactions
• Chromatin Biology
• Bioinformatics/computational Biology

Chemical Sciences

• Asymmetric Organic Synthesis: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/rajendar
• Bioinorganic and Coordination Chemistry:https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/skundu
• Biomaterials, Antifouling Coatings, Nano-Immune Interactions: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/rkurapati
• Bio-Molecular Electronics: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/jerryfereiro
• Catalysis for Sustainable Organic Synthesis: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/basudev
• Electrocatalysts for Electrochemical Conversion Systems: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/muthukrishnan
• Host-Guest Chemistry, Molecular Switches and Machines: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/soumende
• Inorganic Materials: Cluster, Cluster-assembly: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/sukhendu
• Macrocycles, Pi-Conjugated Cyclic Systems: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/gokul
• Main Group Chemistry: http://faculty.iisertvm.ac.in/venugopal/
• Materials Chemistry for Sustainable Energy: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/thiru
• Molecular Spectroscopy: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/mahesh
• New Catalytic Strategies in Organic Synthesis: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/reddy
• NMR spectroscopy: Biophysics, Protein chemistry: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/vinesh
• Organic Synthesis: Cross-Coupling Reaction: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/rr
• Organometallic Chemistry, Small Molecule Activation: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/ramarajayyappan
• Photochemistry and Photophysics, Chirality: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/kgt
• Supramolecular Chemistry: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/kms
• Supramolecular Chemistry, DNA Nanotechnology, Cancer Therapy: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/reji
• Synthetic Methods for Organic Synthesis, C–H Functionalization: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/alagiri
• Theoretical and Computational Chemical and Biological Physics: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/pushpita
• Theoretical Chemistry:http://faculty.iisertvm.ac.in/swathi/
• Theoretical and Computational Chemistry:https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/siva
• Ultrafast Spectroscopy: https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/adithya

Mathematical Sciences

• Analysis: Linear Algebra, Matrix Analysis, Complex Dynamics, Ergodic Theory, Harmonic Analysis.
• Applied Analysis: Partial Differential Equations, Stochastic Analysis, Numerical Functional Analysis, Mathematical Biology, Financial Engineering, Data Science
• Computational Mathematics: Numerical analysis, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Scientific Computing, Hyperbolic conservation laws, Conservation laws with discontinuous flux, High-order numerical schemes

Physical Sciences

• Experimental Physics
  • Quantum Magnetism and Superconductivity
  • (*) Development of Light Sheet Microscopy (LSM) or Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) imaging system; Development of photacoustic imaging (PAI) system - both microscopy and tomography
  • (*) Sodium Ion Batteries, Supercapacitors
  • Hardware-Based Energy-Efficient Neuromorphic Computing
  • High temperature superconductivity, quantum entanglement in solids, charge transport in nanoclusters
  • Infrared Plasmonics of Conducting Oxides, Excitons in 2D materials
  • (*) Semiconductor qubits, Quantum electrical sensing, Quantum-transport
  • Physics of semciconductor devices (solar cells, light emitting diodes, transistors, memory, bioelectronic) based on quantum/Organic/perovskite/2D materials using various optical and electrical spectroscopy techniques.
  • (*) 2D materials for thermoelectric transport studies and devices
  • (*) Quantum Materials, Energy-Efficient Spintonics
  • Advanced semiconductor devices for power / energy conversion
  • Nonlinear optics, frequency combs, microwave photonics
  • Ultrafast Optical Studies in 2D Nanostructures
• Theoretical Physics
  • Nonlinear Dynamics: Emerging Phenomena in Complex Networks, Swarmalators
  • Condensed Matter Theory: Strongly correlated electron systems, Application of Machine Learning (ML) techniques in understanding quantum many-body systems, Theory of novel electronic phases like superconductivity, topological insulator etc. 
  • High energy astrophysics, observations and physics of gamma ray bursts
  • Brewer Dobson Circulation, Sudden Stratospheric Warming, Cloud dynamics
  • Study of Complex Systems using dynamical models and Machine Learning Algorithms
  • Computational condensed matter physics: Magnetism, strongly correlated materials, Multi-Functional materials
  • (*) High resolution regional climate modelling and computational surface-subsurface hydrology

(*) BE/BTECH candidates are eligible for selected areas marked with asterisk

Centrewise Research Areas and Eligibility

CAMRIE

CHPC

School/Centre wise Selection Procedure

Biological Sciences

It is mandatory for all the candidates to submit a short “Statement of Purpose” of 300-400 words, based on a research area the candidate finds interesting. While applying online, please upload this proposal under the section “Statement of Purpose (SOP)”. Please note: the proposal does not need to be related to the research ongoing at the School of Biology, IISER TVM.

Short-listed candidates will have to appear for interviews conducted by IISER TVM in hybrid mode. There will be two rounds of interviews, conducted over a few days. In case of a high turnout of candidates, an entrance test may be conducted (based on Master’s level Biology questions for 70% marks and 12th level Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry questions-together 30%) on the first day of interviews. The final selection of candidates will solely be based on the performance during the interviews.

Chemical Sciences

Marks-based shortlisting and interview in person.

Mathematical Sciences

Candidates meeting all the eligibility criteria will be further shortlisted and be called for online interviews.

Physical Sciences

During the application process, the candidates will be asked to enter one of the choices among 1) Theoretical, 2) Experimental. The shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend interviews conducted in hybrid mode.

CAMRIE

During the application process, a candidate will be asked to select one or more choices of the research area for the centre based on her/his qualification. The shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend interviews which will be conducted in hybrid mode at IISER TVM.

CHPC

During the application process, a candidate will be asked to select one or more choices of the research area for the centre based on her/his qualification. The shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend interviews which will be conducted in hybrid mode at IISER TVM.

Important Dates

General Information and Application Procedure

1. Applicants should complete the online application form at the url: (http://appserv.iisertvm.ac.in/phd/index.php/applicant/register/11).
2. Only applications complete in all respects would be considered. Do not forget to click the “Submit” button after completing your application.
3. Applicants will also be prompted to upload all the supporting documents online.
4. Applicants should provide Name/Affiliation/Contact number and Email addresses of two referees in the application form.
5. Applicants belonging to GE/OBC and SC/ST/PH categories are required to make a payment of Rs. 500/- and Rs. 250/-, respectively, as a processing fee online at: (https://epayments.iisertvm.ac.in/index.php/paymentsforms/form/95314-95312).
6. On submission of the online application form, the applicants will receive an acknowledgement email with a unique application number.
7. Applicants are NOT required to post a hard copy of the application to IISER TVM.
8. In case of any application-related queries, please contact the Ph. D. coordinator by email at: phdprogramme@iisertvm.ac.in . Any other mode of communication will not be entertained.
9. Mere fulfilment of the eligibility criteria does not entitle a candidate to be called for the interview.
10. Relaxation for reserved categories to the eligibility criteria will be applicable as per Government of India rules.