This article was updated on April 30 – 2024, and till now, Candidates can pursue a PhD from both government and private universities without UGC NET qualification.
Recently, the UGC stated in the notification bulletin for UGC NET June 2024 that universities should conduct PhD admissions based on UGC NET scores. The notification also states that candidates with a four-year graduation Degree can do a PhD after qualifying for UGC NET.
However, it is not explicitly stated that UGC NET is mandatory for PhD admission. The situation may change in the future, and we will update all aspects in this blog post.
8 important Tips for New Ph.D. students
PhD Admission without UGC NET
According to the UGC PhD Regulations 2022, All Universities shall admit Ph.D. Scholars through a National Eligibility Test (NET) or National Entrance Test or an Entrance test conducted at the level of individual universities followed by an Interview. I know various universities in India that offer students PhD admissions through their entrance exams instead of the UGC NET. However, Candidates who have qualified for UGC NET are exempted from this entrance exam.
Candidates can download the UGC PhD Regulations 2022 PDF.
PhD stipend without NET-JRF
If a candidate qualifies for NET-JRF, he will be given a fellowship of 31k+ per month after enrolling in a Ph.D. Many universities (both government and private) provide stipends to their full-time Scholars even if they are not qualified for UGC NET.
List of Universities offering PhD without NET
Maximum Universities including the University of Jammu, and the Central University of Jammu offer PhD admissions through the departmental entrance exams. Candidates are advised to visit the university websites to enquire about PhD admission requirements.
Even maximum IITs and IIMs offer PhD admission without UGC NET. Here are notifications released by IIT Jammu and IIT Kanpur for the PhD admission (2024-25). Both of these top-class institutions are offering PhD admissions for the session 2024-25 without requiring UGC-NET.
- IIT Jammu: https://www.iitjammu.ac.in/Programme/phdadmissions/2024/Joint%20PhD%20Program-2024-2025.pdf
- IIT Kanpur: https://www.iitk.ac.in/doms/phd-admission-process
Similarly, hundreds of reputed Universities do not require UGC NET for PhD Admissions, a few are listed below:
- University of Jammu
- University of Kashmir
- IIT Delhi
- IIT Kanpur
- IIT Jammu
- Indian Institute of Science
- Indian Institute of Science (IISc Bangalore)
- Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
- Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)
- Chandigarh University
- Lovely Professional University (LPU)
These institutions have offered PhD programs through alternative methods (based on research proposals / departmental exams) in the past.
Note: These universities exempt candidates from entrance exams if they have qualified for UGC NET or GATE (in the case of IIT).
The Basic Eligibility for Assistant Professor is either UGC NET or PhD.