PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

Rigorous coursework focused on research training

The program is designed to help students complete their dissertation within a period of five years. In the first eighteen months, students are required to complete a coursework which exposes them to general management subjects, fundamental courses to gain an appreciation of management research, advanced courses in their respective areas of specialization and courses in research methodologies. In total a student has to earn a minimum of 54 credits.

• Area specialization compulsory courses (Doctoral level) – 12 Credits.
• Area specialization elective courses (Doctoral level) – 9 credits.
• Research appreciation Courses (Doctoral level) – 6 credits.
• Methodology courses (Doctoral level) – 6 credits.
• General Management courses (PGPM level) – 15 credits.

In addition to the classroom courses, each student initiates a ‘Research Paper’ during the two-month summer break between Year 1 & Year 2 and continues to work on the paper during the second year for a total of 6 credits. Each student works with a designated research guide for this component of the coursework.

Note: A three credit course involves total classroom input of 30 hours. Each course involves assignments and submissions which students have to work upon beyond class hours.

Comprehensive Qualifying Examination: To proceed further on their research journeys, students are required to clear their CQEs conducted by their respective areas of specialization. The CQE has three components – a written exam, viva voce and examination of the status of the ‘Research Paper’.

Waiver

Students who hold a PGDM from any IIM or a PGPBM from IIMT will be exempt from the PGPM courses offered in year one, provided the student has a CGPA of 2.55/4.33 or equivalent and has obtained the diploma within 5 years from the year of admission to the DPM program.

Other students who have an MBA/equivalent from other institutes/universities may apply for course-wise waivers for PGPM Courses. They will be given waivers subject to successfully clearing an examination and viva to be conducted by the respective course instructor. Those who have got course waivers in basic courses may start with advanced courses.

All students have to undergo the DPM level courses that will be offered in Year 1.

ELIGIBLITY CRITERIA

Candidates must possess one of the following qualifications after completing higher secondary schooling (10+2) or equivalent to apply for IIMT’s Doctoral Program in Management (PhD):

1.     A Master’s Degree in any discipline securing at least 60 percent marks (or equivalent) or a two-year post-graduate diploma securing atleast 60 percent marks (or   equivalent), in addition to a Bachelors’ degree/equivalent with at least 60 percent marks (or equivalent) obtained after a minimum of three years of education.
2.    Five-year / four-year Integrated Master’s Degree Programme in any discipline, with at least 60% marks (or equivalent).
3.     A professional qualification like CA / ICWA / CS (with atleast 50 percent aggregate marks) alongwith  Bachelor’s degree (with atleast 60 percent marks).
4.     A 4-year / 8-semester Bachelor’s degree with at least 60 percent (or equivalent).

Note:

1. In addition to the above academic eligibility, minimum 60 percent marks in Secondary (Class X) and Senior Secondary (Class XII) is required.
2. Five percent Marks relaxation is given to SC, ST and PwD candidates
3. The percentage of marks obtained by the candidate would be calculated based on the practice followed by the respective University/Institution. In case of grades / CGPA, the conversion to percentage of marks would be based on the procedure certified by the respective University/ institution. If a University/institution confirms that there is no scheme for converting CGPA into equivalent marks, the equivalence would be established by dividing the candidate’s CGPA by the maximum possible CGPA, and multiplying the result by 100.
4. The Master’s degree or equivalent qualification/Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification should be: (a) from any of the Universities incorporated by an act of the central or state legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under section 3 of UGC Act, 1956; or (b) recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India or (c) possess an equivalent qualification from an institution approved by AICTE.

AND

Have a score of CAT or GMAT or GATE * or GRE or UGC-JRF or IIMB as applicable. Validity of score: Two years from the date of the test and valid as on date of submission of the DPM application. Note that the eligibility tests considered by the respective areas are given in the following table:

 Note: Candidates appearing for GATE 2023 can also apply. If the DPM admission interviews are held before the GATE results are declared, candidates should bring a copy of their admit card to the interview and the admission offer will be finalized only after receiving the GATE score from the candidate within the stipulated time. If GATE results are declared before the interviews, candidates should bring a copy of their score card to the interview. In the online admission form, such candidates can enter ‘NA’ in the ‘Score’ column of Section 4.

 Note: Candidates who have taken CLAT PG exam in the years 2020 and 2021 are eligible to apply to this programme with their marks sheet and the LLM course completion certificate. However, if the candidate is still pursuing the LLM degree, then they should be in a position to submit the course completion certificate before the registration date (tentatively around June / July 2023)”

IIM Bangalore(IIMB) Test:
IIMB Test is one of the valid tests being considered for admission to a PhD programme at IIMT. IIMB Test 2022 shall be conducted (ONLINE) thrice this year (2022). The first and second round of tests were already conducted on Sunday, November 20, 2022 and Sunday, December 18, 2022, respectively. The third round of the test will be conducted on Sunday, February 5, 2023. Those candidates, who are interested in taking the IIMB Test, are required to inform the DPR Office, IIM Tiruchirappalli (dproffice@iimtrichy.ac.in) through email by 2nd February 2023 (EoD) to enable IIM Bangalore to create login credentials to take the IIMB Test. Test scores for the IIMB Test conducted on (20/11/2022 or 18/12/2022 or 05/02/2023) will be accepted for shortlisting purposes.

Information on appearing for the IIMB test:
A.  Applicants can indicate the test round in the PhD online application before submission. Please refer to the notified admission process on our website.
B.  Applicants can choose to appear on any one of these two dates. If any applicant appears for the IIMB Test twice [refer point (D) below], the latest test score will be considered for further processing.
C. If the applicant opts for the First round test scheduled on November 20, 2022 and if for any reason is unable to attend the test, they shall seek approval from IIMB to appear for the next round with a valid reason for consideration by IIMB. The decision of IIMB shall be final. If permitted by IIMB, the applicant can appear for the Second Round test scheduled on December 18, 2022 by paying the test fee of Rs.1000/- as per the procedure given in the Instructions.
D.  If any applicant has already appeared for the First round test on November 20, 2022 but would like to reappear for the next round of test again, they can appear for the Second Round test scheduled on December 18, 2022 by paying the test fee of Rs.1000/- as per the procedure given in the Instructions on our website. [refer to point (b) above].
E. The test score evaluated will be used for the internal processing of the application, and as a practice, no scorecard shall be issued for the IIMB Test.
Applicants opting to take IIMB Test should choose this option in the application. IIMB Test (ONLINE) will be conducted by IIM Bangalore on December 18, 2022.
Please follow the link below for more information. Also, find the important dates for your reference.

https://www.iimb.ac.in/node/10699

Important Dates:

How to apply:

Candidates are required to apply online. They can apply to a maximum of two areas of specialization. An application fee of Rs.1000/- is required, which has to be remitted online(NEFT/UPI) through the procedure provided in the instructions. No application fee is applicable in the case of SC/ST/PwD candidates.  A separate fee of Rs. 1000/- is applicable for all candidates if they choose to report IIMB Test scores for the admission process. Scanned copies of all academic mark sheets, certificates, qualifying examination scorecards, category certificates and research proposals are to be uploaded along with the online application form.

•    Online application will open on – December 1st, 2022
•    The Last date for submission of Online Application is – February 07th, 2023 (23:59 Hours)
Note: –
•    IIMB Test fee of Rs. 1000/- shall be paid along with IIMT PhD application (Total Rs. 2,000/-) to IIM Tiruchirappalli.
•    IIMB Test (online) will be conducted by IIMB.

Condition

The Master’s degree or equivalent qualification/Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification should be: (a) from any of the Universities incorporated by an act of the central or state legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under section 3 of UGC Act, 1956; or (b) recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India.

Candidates who are in the final year of their qualifying degree programme that would make them eligible can also apply. Such candidates, if selected, will be allowed to join the programme provisionally only if they submit a certificate latest by June 30, 2023 from the Principal/Head of the Department/Registrar or Director of the university/institute (issued on or before June 15, 2023) stating that they have appeared for the examinations (including practical examinations) in all the subjects required for obtaining the Master’s/Bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification.

Their admission will be confirmed only when they submit the mark sheet and a certificate of having passed the Master’s / Bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification referred to in the certificate issued by Principal/Registrar of their college/institute. The deadline for submission of mark sheet and the certificate is September 30, 2023. Non fulfillment of these conditions will automatically result in the cancellation of the provisional admission.

Note: Candidates appearing for GATE 2023 can also apply. If the DPM admission interviews are held before the GATE results are declared, candidates should bring a copy of their admit card to the interview and the admission offer will be finalized only after receiving the GATE score from the candidate within the stipulated time. If GATE results are declared before the interviews, candidates should bring a copy of their score card to the interview. In the online admission form, such candidates can enter ‘NA’ in the ‘Score’ column of Section 4.

Reservation

IIM Tiruchirappalli will follow Government of India reservation policy for admission to Central Educational Institutions (CEIs).

Relaxation

Candidates with a PGDM (full-time 2-year MBA program) from any of the IIMs or a PGPBM from IIM Tiruchirappalli will be exempted from having to take the eligibility tests (CAT / GRE / GMAT/ GATE/ UGC -JRF/CLAT) provided the student has a CGPA greater than 2.6/4.33 or equivalent and has obtained the diploma within five years from the year of admission to the DPM program. The candidate will need to record the CGPA obtained in their coursework in the ‘Score’ column of section 4 of the online form to place their candidature. After submission of the application, the selection process for such a candidate will be identical to that being followed for other candidates.

APPLICATION & SELECTION PROCESS

The selection process at IIM Trichy is multi-staged. All stages of this process are equally important for a potential candidate seeking an admission into the program.

Stage 1: Submission of the application form Candidates interested in pursuing the Doctoral Programme in Management at IIM Tiruchirappalli (IIMT), begin their application process by submitting their application form and all associated submissions (academic record documents, certificates, qualifying examination scores, application fees etc.). It is at this stage, that candidates express their interest to pursue their DPM at IIMT by choosing to apply to one or two areas of interest (Click here). This is the first opportunity of communication that the candidate is provided to help members in the admission committee, understand their motivation to pursue research in a particular area and join IIMT. Candidates must ensure that they provide all necessary information requested in the form, as well as provide photocopies of any supporting documents that they wish to submit to strengthen their candidature. These application forms and supporting evidences will be scrutinized, based on which a shortlist will be released. Candidates who qualify to enter the next stage of the admission process will be intimated accordingly.

Stage 2 and Stage 3 of the admission process will require the shortlisted candidates to travel to IIMT. These stages are typically held in the month of March. These stages will be held on two consecutive days. IIM Tiruchirappalli will reimburse to and fro travel expenses between the railway station at the place of residence (as given in the application form) and Tiruchirappalli, limited to III AC train fare, to shortlisted candidates.

Stage 2: Research Aptitude Examination and Area Interview This stage of the admission process requires the candidates to participate in one or both of the following processes, as:

• Research Aptitude Examination: This will be a written examination, that is conducted by some of the areas. This examination is conducted to test the candidates research aptitude in a particular area of specialization. Thus, the content of the examination is very specific to the area. It may range from an examination of the candidates’ quantitative aptitude to their ability to understand and analyze/ synthesize research papers.
• Area Interview: All candidates shortlisted in Stage 1, will be required to attend the personal interview with members of/ experts in their chosen area of specialization.

At the end of the day the shortlists for the next stage will be announced.

Stage 3: Doctoral Program and Research Committee:
This is the final stage of the admission process. It will be held on the day after Stage 2. All candidates shortlisted after stage 2 across all areas will have a personal interview with the Doctoral Program and Research Committee.

Candidates who clear this stage of the process will be sent an offer of admission to the Doctoral Program at IIM Tiruchirappalli.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Students receive handsome financial support during the program in order to help them meet their personal expenses, regular research related expenses, their requirements of hardware and software to facilitate research work and expenses related to various forms of travel like field-work, conferences, trainings and workshops.

• A full tuition fee and hostel expenses waiver.
• Fellowship to meet regular expenses: monthly stipend of Rs.30,000 till passing their Comprehensive Qualifying Exams (CQE). After clearing the CQE, the monthly stipend will be revised to Rs.36,000 till the end of their fourth year in the programme. The monthly stipend support can be extended for six months for a maximum of two times thereafter with the concurrence of the DAC and the DPR Committee. If extended two times, stipend will be paid till May of the student’s fifth year.
• Start-up Grant: A start-up grant of Rs.50,000 (for purchase of computer hardware and software) is available when students join the programme.
• Conference Grant: The institute will support up to Rs.200,000/- per student during the stay as full-time students for attending national and international conferences.
• Contingency Grant: A contingency grant of Rs.30,000/- per year is allowed on a reimbursement basis for purchase of hardware, software, books, databases, data collection expenses, conference expenses and any other items directly related to the programme for a maximum of 4 years.
• Field-work Grant: Students undertaking field research will be eligible for the Field Research Grant up to a maximum limit of Rs.50,000/-.