Graduate Programmes

Ordinances and regulations governing the MS programme are given in detail in the document “M.S. ordinances” at this link

Duration : Expected duration: Two to three years.

Research Guide/Advisor : The research guide is decided for each student based on the research area and the preferences of the student and the faculty. The student should ensure regular meetings with the guide.

General Test Committee (GTC) : The GTC for each student consists of the head of the department (HoD) or HoD’s nominee, research guide, one member from the department, and one member from outside the department.

    Academic Requirements :
  • Course work :   An M.S student must register and pass the Introduction to Research (ID 6020) course and  five courses recommended by the GTC.
  • Research  :    All students are expected to do high quality research resulting in publications in reputed international journals.

Timeline and Procedures :

RequirementsExpected time frameSection
0th GTC meeting$
(295th Senate Res. No 9/2022)		Start of programmeMS-R.11
Mid-term reviewWithin 18 months#
(295th Senate Res. No 9/2022)		MS-R1MS-R.11
Open seminarWithin 27 months
Thesis-Submission Approval Meeting
(295th Senate Res. No 9/2022)		Within 3 months of the open seminarMS-R1MS-R.13
M.S viva voce examination, if recommended by the reviewer(s)MS-R.14

$ The 0th GTC meeting can be by email circulation. 295th Senate Res. No 9/2022
# The 1st GTC meeting should be held within the first 18 months. The scholar is expected to propose and defend his/her research plan. HTRA will continue after 18 months (up to 30 months) only upon the recommendation of the GTC. 295th Senate Res. No 9/2022.

M.S. ordinances

Half-Time Research Assistantship (HTRA) : All students getting HTRA are expected to work as a research or teaching assistant. The faculty in-charge of the assistantship needs to certify this each month for the release of that month’s HTRA.

Funding for Conference Travel : Two national conferences per year and one international conference travel per student are supported by the institute. Other sources of funding include IIT Madras Alumni Association, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), etc.

Placement : The Placement office can help in finding jobs. Generally, M.S. students also apply for jobs outside of the placement interviews coordinated by the placement office.

Ordinances and regulations governing the PhD programme are given in detail in the document “Ph.D. ordinances” at this link

Duration : Expected duration: Five to six years.

Research Guide/Advisor : The research guide is decided for each student based on the research area and the preferences of the student and the faculty. The student should ensure regular meetings with the guide.

Doctoral Committee (DC) : The DC for each student consists of the head of the department (HoD) or HoD’s nominee, research guide, two members from the department, and two members from outside the department. The DC reviews the candidate’s progress at regular intervals.

Academic Requirements :

RequirementsExpected time frameSection
Course workWithin two semesters *PhD-R.11
Comprehensive examinationWithin three semesters *PhD-R.12
Research Proposal Seminar(Seminar 1)Within one year of passing the comprehensive examination #
Mid-term ReviewWithin 3.5 years of joining
Research Colloquium
(Seminar 2)		At least 6 months after the research proposal seminar and before the thesis approval meeting 295th Senate Res. No 09/2022 @
Thesis-Approval MeetingThis meeting should be scheduled within 6 months of the research colPhD-R.14, PhD-R.14
Ph.D viva-voce examinationPhD-R.14, PhD-R.15
* Time frames are shown for Regular Ph.D scholars, only for indicative purposes. The exact time frame for different categories can be found in the respective sections indicated in the third column
# The scholarship (HTRA) will continue beyond 30 months upon successful completion of Course work, Comprehensive Exam and Research Proposal Seminar.
@ Research colloquium within 24 months of Research Proposal Seminar

Half-Time Research Assistantship (HTRA) : All students getting HTRA are expected to work as a research or teaching assistant. The faculty in-charge of the assistantship needs to certify this each month for the release of that month’s HTRA.

Funding for Conference Travel : Two national conferences per year and one international conference travel per student are supported by the institute. Other sources of funding include IIT Madras Alumni Association, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), etc.

Placement : Generally, Ph.D. students apply for jobs outside of the placement interviews coordinated by the placement office. Placement office can also help in finding jobs.

Instruction for students: The comprehensive exam is divided into three sequential steps (Step-1, Step-2A and/or Step-2B and Step-3). None of the steps can be repeated i.e. all of the steps can be performed only once and in the order 1 to 3. Step-1, Step-2A/Step-2B and Step-3 are defined below.

Step-1 – Written Exam
  • All Ph.D. students (Full time, Part time and External) should enroll for Step-1 towards the end of the first semester. Students upgraded from M.S. or M.Tech. to Ph.D. should enroll for Step-1 towards the end of the first semester after the conversion. Direct Ph.D. students should enroll for Step-1 towards the end of the third semester.

  • Under Step-1, the student should pick 3 (only 3, no more, no less) out of 11 foundational topics after consulting their guides. The 3 topics are to be communicated to the comprehensive coordinator and the respective guides in a timely manner. The students will undergo a written test in each of these 3 topics. The list of 11 topics and the UG course equivalent of each is given below. Note that the syllabus for written exam for any topic is that of the UG course equivalent given in brackets.

The list of foundational topics is

  1. Electric Circuits & Networks (EE2015)
  2. Engineering Electromagnetics (EE2025)
  3. Analog Circuits (EE3002)
  4. Solid State Devices (EE3001)
  5. Signals & Systems (EE1101)
  6. Digital Signal Processing (EE2004)
  7. Probability Foundations (EE3110)
  8. Digital systems (EE2001)
  9. Electrical Machines (EE2005)
  10. Control Engineering (EE3004)
  11. Principles of Measurement (EE3006)

  • $ Each of the 3 tests will carry a maximum of 25 marks.

  • The students who secures 12.5 marks or higher in each of these tests and an overall of 45 marks are declared to have passed the written portion of the comprehensive examination and recommended to go to Step-3 directly with a positive recommendation.

  • The students who secure below 12.5 marks in any of the 3 tests or less than 45 marks overall will meet the Doctoral committee leading to Step-2.

Step-2 – Remedial treatment or Second attempt at the written exam

The Doctoral Committee meets the student, and after deliberation, directs the student to Step-2A or Step-2B. Note that it is Step 2A or Step 2B, but not both for the same topic.

Step-2A :   The Doctoral Committee recommends that the student sit in the course equivalent, attend the lectures, take the quizzes/final exam etc. The instructor will then award a letter grade to the student. Letter grades “S” or “A” or “B” will yield the student 15 marks for the topic. All other letter grades will yield 0 marks for the topic. The course equivalent is at the discretion of the DC and could be from UG or PG levels at any department of IIT-M. DC will inform the student the course number and title of the course which has to be taken as a comprehensive equivalent.

Step-2B :   The The Doctoral Committee recommends that the student prepare independently and write the written test again after one semester. The DC can recommend taking the written test on the same topic in which a student has secured less than 12.5 marks or recommend the student to take some other topics as seen fit. The student is expected to secure 12.5 marks or more in each of the tests and an overall of 45 marks that were recommended for Step-2B.

The students successfully securing the letter grades “S”, “A” or “B” in topics prescribed under Step-2A and successfully securing minimum of 12.5 marks in Step-2B in topics prescribed under Step-2B and an overall of 45 marks, are considered to have passed the written portion of the Comprehensive Examination and recommended to undergo Step-3 with a positive recommendation.

The students not securing the needed letter grades in Step-2A or not securing the minimum of 12.5 marks in Step-2B or an overall of 45 marks are considered failed in the written portion of the Comprehensive Examination. They will however be recommended to undergo Step-3 with a negative recommendation.

Step-3 – Oral Exam or Viva

This step consists of an Oral Exam for a maximum of 25 marks and can be taken only once after Step-1 (passing the written exam with positive recommendation) or Step-2 (passing or failing the written exam i.e. having a positive or negative recommendation).

For students who have passed the written examination with positive recommendation (Either directly from Step-1 or through Step-2), the Oral Examination is conducted by the DC.

The viva component will carry 25 marks. The student will be asked to prepare on a topic/set of papers (mutually agreed with the guide), and make a short presentation to DC followed by a Q&A session .

For students who have not passed the written examination and have a negative recommendation from Step-2, the Oral Examination is conducted by the DC along with the experts on the foundational topics that were chosen by the student. The final decision on the outcome as to whether the student passes/fails is made by the respective DC.

Students with positive recommendation from Step 1 or with positive or negative recommendation from Step 2, who secure 60 marks out of 100 marks in written and oral exam together, are declared to have completed the Comprehensive Exam requirements of the EE department.

S.No Subject
01 EE2015 – Electric Circuits & Networks
02 EE2025 – Engineering Electromagnetics
03 EE3002 – Analog Circuits
04 EE3001 – Solid State Devices
05 EE1101 – Signals & Systems
06 EE2004 – Digital Signal Processing
07 EE3110 – Probability Foundations (Syllabus)
08 EE2001 – Digital systems
09 EE2005 – Electrical Machines
10 EE3004 – Control Engineering
11 EE3006 – Principles of Measurement
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