Ph.D. Programme August 2024

Invitation to pursue Ph.D. programme in specialized areas of Physical Science, Life Science and Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) Science at Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore

Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore, was founded in 1984 by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) for pursuit of R&D in the areas of Accelerators, Lasers and related technologies. Since then, the Centre has set up two Synchrotron Radiation Sources: Indus-1 & Indus-2, which are now working as national research facilities. There are also other accelerators developed at RRCAT for radiation processing applications. The Centre has excellent cryogenic facilities as well as state-of-the-art equipment for low temperature physics measurements. A variety of laser systems, particularly high power lasers, have been built and are being used for a wide range of applications. These include gas lasers (like copper vapour lasers, CO2 lasers), solid state lasers (like - diode pumped solid state lasers,  semiconductor lasers, high power lasers) for the studies in the areas like –laser materials processing, and laser-plasma interaction. The Centre also has long-standing program in the areas of RF-superconductivity, low-temperature physics, material science, cold atom physics, non-linear optics, opto-electronics, nano-science, micro-electro-mechanical systems, additive manufacturing, etc.

At RRCAT, we are also actively pursuing R &D in BioPhotonics. Considerable expertise has been developed on use of photonics based approaches for biomedical diagnosis,phototherapy,optical tweezers and optical bioimaging. Some of our recent endeavors include Optogenetics, stem cell photobiomodulation,targeted antimicrobial/anticancer light therapy, nanobiophotonics, and development of novel photonic biomaterials etc.

RRCAT is a Constituent Institute of the "Homi Bhabha National Institute" (HBNI), a Deemed to be University with NAAC “A+” grade.  RRCAT invites students with appropriate qualifications to pursue Ph.D. program in various specialized areas of Physical Science, Life Science, and Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) Science as listed above. As per the rules of HBNI, the Ph.D. program consists of course work of one-year duration and research work leading to Ph.D. thesis. The Ph.D. 2024 program will commence classes on 1^st August 2024.

Eligibility:

Qualification :

• For Physical Sciences: The candidate must have passed M.Sc. degree in Physics with a minimum of 55 % overall marks. The candidates who have passed 4 years/ 8-semester bachelor’s degree programme ( B.S./B.Sc.) in Physics with a minimum of 75 % marks in aggregate or its equivalent grade are also eligible for admission to PhD programme. All the candidates must have qualified Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST-2022/2023/2024) or GATE (i.e.GATE-2022/GATE 2023/GATE 2024) or CSIR-UGC NET (held during 2022 -2024: JRF, not lectureship). The candidates must have valid JEST or GATE or JRF score at the time of application.


• For Life Sciences: The candidate must have passed M.Sc. degree in Life Sciences/ Biotechnology/Zoology/ Biochemistry/ Microbiology a minimum of 55 % overall marks. The candidates who have passed 4 years/ 8-semester bachelor’s degree programme (B.S./B.Sc.) in Biological Sciences/Life Sciences/ Biotechnology with a minimum of 75 % marks in aggregate or its equivalent grade are also eligible for admission to PhD programme. All the candidates must have qualified CSIR-UGC NET held during 2022 -2024: JRF, not lectureship) or BET (BET-2022-2023/2024 ) or ICMR-JRF (held during 2022-2024) or GATE (i.e.GATE-2022/GATE 2023/GATE 2024). The candidates must have valid GATE or BET or JRF score at the time of application.
  
  
• For Mechanical Engineering: The candidate must have passed  M.Tech/M.E. degree in Mechanical / Thermal/ Production / Design/ Mechatronics Engineering / Manufacturing/ Material Science, with a minimum of 60% overall marks, and must have qualified GATE (i.e.,GATE-2022/GATE 2023/GATE 2024). The candidates must have valid GATE score at the time of application.
  

Those applicants who are completing the qualifying degree in the year 2024 can also apply. If selected, the final degree mark sheet should be submitted by 31^st Oct 2024. Continuation in the Ph.D. programme will be subject to the candidate obtaining the minimum qualifying marks as mentioned in the eligibility criteria; 55 % for MSc/M.Tech or 75 % for B.S.(BSc). 5 year integrated M.S. (of IISERs) will be treated at par with 5 year integrated M.Sc.

Fellowship:

DAE Research Fellowships will be offered to those selected for the pursuit of Ph.D. The present fellowship amount is ₹ 37,000/- per month for the first two years (as Junior Research Fellow) and ₹ 42,000/- per month for the subsequent three years (as Senior Research Fellow), subject to satisfactory yearly progress. .Presently, there is no tuition fee for the PhD programme. Further, JRFs/ SRFs are provided Contingency Grant (up to ₹ 40,000 per annum), one time foreign travel assistance (up to ₹1,25,000), full medical facilities (@1% of fellowship) and mess & hostel accommodation at concessional rates.

Nationality: The applicant must be an Indian citizen.

Selection Process:

The selection of the students for the Ph.D. programme will be a two-step process:

1) Screening of the applications, followed by

2) an interview of the short-listed candidates.

The screening will be done on the basis of applicant's score/rank in qualifying examination, i.e., Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST) and/or CSIR-UGC NET and/or GATE and/or BET as per the discipline as indicated above.

The short-listed candidates in Mechanical Engineering, Physical Sciences and Life Sciences shall be called for online interview to be conducted tentatively during 19^th June 2024 - 21^st June 2024. For any queries kindly send e-mail to : rrcat_phd@rrcat.gov.in