Doing a PhD and getting a Dr (doctor) added to your name is a dream that many people aspire to have. The best part about getting a PhD is that it can be done at any age. Irrespective of your age you can do a doctorate. We will how discuss how to join a PhD program in India. We hope that this article will help you to full fill your dream of getting PhD degree.

Eligibility Criteria

The qualification requirement is definitely that you have to complete your 10+2 schooling. You will also have to ensure that your college is completed. You can then do your masters. These qualifications are essential to do a PhD. You must keep in mind that the subjects you specialize in graduation, masters and in PhD are the same. If you have done a graduation in maths you cannot expect to do a PhD is Geography. This is because PhD is a highly specialised degree. It is perhaps the highest qualification degree one can attain in a life time. This is exactly why you must have a deep knowledge about the subject. To have a deep knowledge you need years of school and college education that will give you a good base. Once you have got a good base you can do the PhD.

Age Bar

You can work for some years in your field and post that you can apply for your PhD. If you want to make a career change from a corporate to a professor even then you can take up PhD. There is no age bar to start doing the PhD. It takes a lot of time and deep study. This is exactly why you should get into it knowing that you will not have time for anything else. You will have to be mentally and physically strong in order to complete your PhD.

When you do the PhD you will be given a stipend. This will be given to you for the small jobs that you do in the university. The amount is less so many people may find it difficult to leave highly paid jobs and get into a PhD. We would advise that you complete your PhD soon after masters as later getting back to the life of a student is not easy.

In some universities in India PhD is being offered as a part time course too. We would not recommend these as they might not be as effective as a full time PhD. These part time courses are basically designed for professionals who want to do a PhD but they don’t have the time to quit their jobs and do these courses.

Now that you know about what PhD is and how you can go about the same in India. We must tell you about the eligibility. You must have immense passion for the subject that you select to do your PhD. You must also have a deep knowledge about the subject that you have selected to do the PhD. If you don’t have these two you will not be able to complete your PhD on time and successfully. The second point is that you must be a hardworking person. To do a PhD you have to study a lot so you must be academically oriented.

Which University?

Almost all the universities in India offer PhD courses. It depends on the field that you want to specialise in. For example if you want a PhD in statistics, ISI or the Indian Statistical Institute would be the best option for you. All these colleges mention in their website the exact details of when and how you can enrol for their PhD courses.

Some colleges will have entrance exams for the students so that they can enter these courses. These tests are followed by interview. After this the final decision is taken. If you qualify you will be joining the PhD courses. Some of the top PhD entrance exams are CSIR-UGC NET exam, NCBS exam and ICMR. You can apply for these and many more national level PhD entrance exams to get admission to your favourite colleges.

Financials

The fee that you need to pay depends on the college. Generally speaking, the better the college the higher will be the fees that you need to pay for the course. The course duration can be two to five years. It depends on you that how fast you pick up the subject and submit your thesis. You will have a professor assigned with whom you will have to work. It is this professor who decides if you should be given a PhD. Some professors are perhaps more lenient than the others.

However, as long as the professor is not satisfied completely with your thesis you will not get the PhD. The thesis has to be very impressive. Maybe you will have to submit quite a number of theses before you crack it and get your PhD. It can get a little frustrating too at times. We hope that this article on how to join a PhD program in India will guide you do a better PhD course.