Eligibility Criteria

There are two PhD pathways to consider: i-students and a-students.
Indian nationals and international applicants (with citizenship other than Australia), will be considered for admission as i-students. i-students will spend their first year of study at IITD before completing one year (or more) at UQ. They would then complete the remainder of their studies at IITD.
Australian domestic students will be considered for admission as a-students. a-students will spend their first year of study at UQ before completing one year (or more) at IITD.
Applicants must meet the following requirements for consideration for entry into the joint PhD program.

Minimum qualifications for i-students

All i-student applicants must meet the following requirements for consideration for entry into the joint PhD programme, noting that since this is a competitive program the standards for admission may be higher than the minimum.

Qualifying Degree Minimum Marks/Grades for Eligibility (primary method of evaluation to be considered) Scores in public examinations*
Master’s Degree in Engineering/Technology • CGPA of 6.50 on a 10.00 point scale
• Aggregate percentage of 65%
• First Class (wherever awarded)		 No requirement.
However, a high score in GATE, UGC-NET, CSIR, ICAR, ICMR, DST-INSPIRE will be given due consideration.
Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology • CGPA of 8.00 on a 10.00 point scale
• Aggregate percentage of 80%
• First Class (wherever awarded)		 No requirement for candidates from CFTI’s.
For others a High score in GATE, UGC-NET, CSIR, ICAR, ICMR, DST-INSPIRE
Master’s Degree in Sciences • CGPA of 6.50 on a 10.00 point scale
• Aggregate percentage of 65%
• First Class (wherever awarded)		 High score in GATE, UGC-NET, CSIR, ICAR, ICMR, DST-INSPIRE
Master’s Degree in Arts or Humanities • CGPA of 6.50 on a 10.00 point scale
• Aggregate percentage of 65%
• First Class (wherever awarded)		 High score in UGC-NET

Additional notes:

  • While it is not a requirement that all candidates possess a valid GATE, GRE, NET, CSIR score (or scores of any competitive entrance test), it is expected that successful applicants will have a good score in any of these many exams in order to be competitive.
  • Candidates without a valid GATE score or CSIR/UGC/DBT award can be considered for admission to the joint-PhD program if they have a minimum of two years of professional work experience in lieu of GATE score and if they meet all other eligibility requirements.

A few points to note:

  • For purposes of comparison, it is understood that a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology is an 8-semester program with course components including basic sciences, engineering fundamentals, and specialization in a chosen discipline.
  • For purposes of comparison, it is understood that a Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology is a 4-semester program with specialization in a chosen discipline, and a significant research component.
  • A 4-year Bachelor’s degree in Sciences, Arts or Humanities will be considered at par with a four years Bachelor’s degree in Engineering / Technology, for purposes of comparison.
  • For Arts and Humanities disciplines, an M. Phil. degree will be considered to be on par with a Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology (and hence will have only a minimum marks/grades requirement with no additional requirement for public examinations.

International i-students:

  • For i-students applying from countries other than India, a high score in any national examination (in the candidate’s home country) or international examination (such as GRE) will be given due weightage, in lieu of the required public examinations listed in the Table above.
  • Candidates who have been awarded a CSIR/UGC/DBT Research fellowship (government fellowships) are encouraged to apply.

Minimum qualifications for a-students

  • A research master’s degree, or
  • A coursework master’s degree and an overall GPA (grade point average) equivalent to 5.65 on the 7-point UQ scale, which should include a relevant research component, or
  • A postgraduate degree of at least one year full-time equivalent with an overall GPA (grade point average) equivalent to 5.0 on the 7-point UQ scale, together with demonstrated research experience equivalent to honours IIA will be considered for PhD entry on a case by case basis.

English Language Proficiency Requirements

You may meet the Academy’s English language proficiency requirements if you have completed a bachelor or master’s degree program, or have evidence of at least two years of full time study from an institution that is recognised by the Academy where:

  • English was the medium of instruction; and
  • English was the medium of assessment; and
  • the final year of study has been undertaken within the last five years.

If an applicant’s qualifying degree was in a language other than English then the student needs to demonstrate English proficiency as follows:

  • IELTS: Overall Band Score of 6.5 AND a minimum score of 6 in each sub-band of Writing, Reading, Speaking and Listening; or
  • TOEFL (Internet-Based-iBT): Overall score 87 with a Writing score of 21 and Reading, Speaking and Listening scores of 19; or
  • TOEFL (Paper-based): Overall score of 570 and a minimum score of 5.0 in the Test of Written English (TWE) and 54 in Listening and Reading; or
  • PTE: Overall score of 64 with 60 in each communicative skills section; or
  • CAE/CPE: Overall Cambridge English Scale (CES) score of 176 with a minimum score of 169 in each skill; or
  • BEP: A minimum overall grade of 4 plus a minimum grade of C in all four macro skills.

Deeming of acceptable proficiency on the basis of previous work and study experience will be assessed as part of the application process.

* Higher Degrees by Research in the Health Sciences where research is undertaken in a clinical placement setting: IELTS only with overall band score of 7, with a score of 7 in each sub-band of listening, reading, writing and speaking.