IIT Guwahati Details Financial Assistance Options for PhD Students
Guwahati | January 1, 2026
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati offers multiple financial assistance options for PhD scholars, including government fellowships, institutional support, industry-backed funding, and project-based fellowships, as outlined in departmental resources and institute-wide guidelines.
MHRD Fellowships
Eligible PhD students can avail MHRD fellowships for a maximum duration of five years. The fellowship amount is:
- ₹37,000 per month for the first two years as Junior Research Fellow (JRF)
- ₹42,000 per month for the next three years as Senior Research Fellow (SRF)
Travel Fund Support
IIT Guwahati provides travel assistance to regular PhD scholars for presenting research papers at reputed conferences, preferably international. Each student is eligible for financial support up to ₹1,00,000 during the PhD tenure, subject to institute norms.
Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF)
The Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF), announced in the 2018–19 Union Budget, supports doctoral research in science and engineering disciplines at institutions including IIT Guwahati.
The fellowship provides:
- ₹70,000 per month for the first two years
- ₹75,000 per month for the third year
- ₹80,000 per month for the fourth and fifth years
PMRF scholars also receive an annual research grant of ₹2 lakh, amounting to ₹10 lakh over five years.
Selection is conducted through a rigorous national process with annual performance reviews. The scheme is coordinated by Indian Institute of Technology Madras as the National Coordinating Institute for 2022–2028, under the supervision of a National Coordination Committee.
IIT Guwahati hosts over 70 PMRF scholars across departments such as Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Biosciences and Bioengineering, and allied areas.
Visvesvaraya Fellowships
PhD students in Computer Science and Engineering and Electronics and Electrical Engineering departments may apply for the Visvesvaraya Fellowship, available under the Regular category.
Financial support includes:
- ₹38,750 per month for the first two years
- ₹43,750 per month for the next three years
- Annual contingency grant of ₹1,20,000
- Funding support for international conferences and overseas laboratory visits
The fellowship is valid until PhD completion or five years, whichever is earlier.
Industry-Sponsored Fellowships
Several industry partners, including TCS, Intel, Google, and Infosys, offer fellowships to full-time PhD scholars. Fellowship amounts vary by sponsor but generally align with MHRD fellowship levels. IIT Guwahati students have previously benefited from such industry-backed research support.
Project-Funded Fellowships
Faculty members at IIT Guwahati undertake sponsored research projects, under which PhD scholars may be appointed. These fellowships typically offer stipends at MHRD-equivalent rates, with students working on predefined research problems.
Project-mode PhD admissions follow Regular category eligibility norms. Funding is provided through sponsored projects, and supervision is carried out by the Principal Investigator (PI). Students admitted under this mode focus exclusively on research and are generally exempt from teaching responsibilities.
The Computer Science and Engineering department has hosted several sponsored projects funded by agencies such as SERB, DST, MHRD, NBHM, MeitY, and others, covering research areas including algorithms, educational technology, speech recognition, multimedia analytics, and network protocols.
Support for Doctoral Research
Collectively, these financial assistance mechanisms ensure sustained research support, enabling PhD scholars to focus on academic work, participate in international conferences, and engage in collaborative research, thereby strengthening the institute’s doctoral ecosystem.
📌Official Source
🔗 For complete details and official updates, visit the official website:
https://www.iitg.ac.in/
