The Pre-doctoral Program in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) aims to offer recent undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to advance their research skills and prepare for doctoral studies in the field of Computer Science and Engineering. This is a full-time, non-degree program of up to one year period.
Applicants must meet the following criteria:
Note: Pre-doc fellowship is not admission to PhD. Separate application to the PhD program will be needed subsequently.
The application process consists of a written test followed by an interview. The written test and interview for the pre-doctoral program will be conducted jointly with the Ph.D./MSR examination of the CSE department. The selection will be a three-stage process.
Stage 1: Fill in the online form by 5th December, 2024. Only those who fill the form by the deadline will be eligible for the written exam.
Stage 2: The shortlisted candidates are invited to appear for an in-person exam at IIT Delhi on 9th December. You should reach the venue no later than 3:00 PM and the exam will start at 3:30PM. You must carry a government-issued ID with you to take the exam.
The shortlisting exam will include three parts: objective, subjective, and programming. The questions will be on basic computer science topics, including:
For the programming part, you will need choose between C++ and Python as your programming language. (Note that it is possible to use C in the C++ version.)
Candidates who fail to clear minimum cutoffs in the objective and programming parts will not be shortlisted for the interview. A sample exam will be provided on this site on or before 5th December for you to self-assess your preparedness for the exam.
Stage 3: If you pass the exam, you will have an in-person interview on either 10th or 11th December. The shortlisted candidates for the interview and their interview dates will be announced on 9th December after the exam. (If your address is from outside NCR, your interview will be completed by 6:30pm on 10th December.)
The application deadline for January 2025 admissions is December 5, 2024. Interested students must submit the application form by December 05, 11pm.
Note: Students who have already applied to the CSE IITD PhD/MSR program need not apply again, as their applications are automatically considered for predoc program if they clear the written-test but are not admitted to the PhD program.
The fellowship will be comparable to the Ph.D. stipend (Rs. 38,000 - 40,000), with HRA support of Rs. 10,000 provided. The CSE department will also cover the cost of course registration.
In addition to research work, fellows will be required to formally register for at least one graduate-level course each semester in the CSE department. These courses may contribute toward meeting the requirements for the comprehensive exam if the fellow later joins the CSE Ph.D. program. The fellow's progress will be monitored by the Departmental Research Committee (DRC) once each semester, and unsatisfactory progress may result in termination from the program.