Under the Ph.D. aspirants scheme, BITS offers a unique opportunity for experienced personnel and professionals employed in various fields to work towards the Ph.D. degree in the settings of their respective work environments. The topic of research can emanate from the inhouse R & D needs of the host organisation and a senior professional of high academic standing from the organisation can be proposed as the supervisor. Under the scheme, professionals can seek permission to take the Ph.D. qualifying examination even before formalities of admission are completed.

    As per the current rules, only those working professionals either possessing any BITS degree or working at a collaborating organization of BITS, Pilani are eligible to apply for off-campus PhD. Professionals eligible as per this rule, may apply as higher degree holder or through the M. Phil (Applied) route. Industries interested in the scheme for the development fo their manpower at doctoral level are invited to seek collaboration with BITS and sponsor their candidates along with their application in the prescribed format1.   Higher Degree Holders: Candidate holding a higher degree of the Institute or its equivalent, namely, M.E. / M.Phil. / M.S. / M.Pharm.

2.       M.Phil. (Applied) Route: Candidate of high academic standing and proven competence not holding a degree equivalent to a higher degree of BITS, provided he can submit technical and professional documents giving evidence indicating that he has acquired knowledge equivalent to one of the higher degrees of the Institute, and acceptance of the same by the Institute

1.    The Candidate has to apply in the prescribed application form available from  the Admissions Officer. BITS, Pilani.  For more details on, how to apply, please Click here! 

Following information and documents have to be enclosed with the application form:

i)   Candidates holding a formal higher degree of BITS or its equivalent (M.E./M.Pharm./M.Phil./M.S.) and opting to take Qualifying Examination on the course package of this degree should submit the following:

• Mark sheet, the list and syllabus of each course prescribed for the fulfillment of the higher degree.

• List of prescribed textbooks for each course.

• Final examination question paper for each course indicating the level of subject treatment

ii)  Professionals of high standing and proven competence holding only a first degree and not holding a higher degree(M. Phil. Apply Route).

• Should identify the Higher Degree of BITS and its prescribed course package in which Ph.D. qualifying examination is to be taken and to which the professional standing can be notionally equated. As per past experience it is observed that the M.Phil. (Applied) degree of BITS is most suited for many candidates in this category. A list of courses for this degree is given below : and a minimum number of  Nine courses are to be chosen from the list.

Read the course descriptions for above courses in Section VI of  BITS Bulletin to arrive at the correct course package.

• For each of the course identified in the above package, technical documents, published papers and reports prepared by the candidate in his professional capacity have to be compiled and submitted. The course-wise documents are examined and a pronouncement of suitability for the purpose of Ph.D. Qualifying examination is made. These documents together with some prescribed readings will broadly form the syllabus.

• Additional Information to be Submitted

  a) The proposed place of work and availability of facilities for research work along with organizational consent. Normally this has to be the place of work of the candidate.

  b) Summary of your high professional standing and research competence. List papers and books published.

  c) Tentative details of proposed topic of research and supervisor in the format given below:

  • Name of the candidate
  • Organization proposed as place of work
  • Proposed supervisor

  Name      :
  Qualification     :
  Designation      :
  Organization      :
  His affiliation with the candidate's organization :

  • Proposed topic of research
  • Objective of the proposed research
  • Background of proposed research
  • Methodology/work plan
  • Literature references
  • Major facilities needed for research work

  d) Bio-data of the proposed supervisor, his consent and no objection from his organization.

  2.    Normal last dates for submission of completed application forms are:

  For I  Semester admission   :     5.00 PM on 30^th May
  For II Semester admission   :     5.00 PM on 30^th November

  3.    If found suitable, the candidate may be asked to come for interaction before being permitted to appear in the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination consisting of written and / or viva.

  4.    If a candidate passes the qualifying examination , he has to immediately seek admission to the Ph.D. programme and register in each semester thereafter.

All candidates have to pass the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination, normally held at Pilani. The Ph. D. qualifying examination consists of three written papers (open book) , each normally of 3 hours duration, and viva. The examination will test the student's knowledge, grasp of fundamentals and his ability to use them in unknown situations. It is designed to be equivalent to the standard, content and intent of the comprehensive examination of the named higher degree courses.

Sample question papers of some courses may be seen to know the type of questions asked in the qualifying examination.

Dates of qualifying examination can be seen Here!!!

For On-campus students, the admission to the PhD programme shall be provisional in the first instance and will be confirmed only after passing the qualifying examination within the prescribed time. Whenever a candidate is unable to pass the qualifying examination within the prescribed time he will automatically be disqualified from the programme.

Topic of research can evolve from the nature of work involvement of the candidate in his own organization.

Supervisor is normally a person who is holding a Ph.D. degree from a reputed institution or who has research publications in reputed national and international journals to his credit. He has preferably supervised doctoral level research work. Proposed supervisor should to be a person from the candidate's own organization or an associated organization located in the same city. Only one supervisor is stipulated by the Academic Regulations and there is no provision for co-supervisor.

• Registration in Ph.D. Thesis is done only after the Topic of Research, locale of research work and Supervisor are approved by the Research Board. Registration in Thesis can be advanced/postponed depending on the approval by the Research Board. Registration has to be continued till the submission of thesis.

• Before submission, the exact title of the thesis has to be approved by DCC and subsequently by the Research Board.

A minimum of 60 units are to be completed to fulfill the eligibility requirements of a higher degree of BITS.

No minimum time limit is prescribed. Registration in prescribed minimum number of units and components normally requires 4-6 semesters depending on the time of approval of topic/supervisor and locale of research work by the Research Board.

An upper limit of ten semesters for submission of thesis starting from the semester subsequent to passing the Qualifying examination is normally considered.