Department of Physical Sciences (DPS)

Minimum Eligibility criteria:

 

Applications are invited from motivated candidates having Masters degree with at least 55% aggregate marks in any field of Physical Sciences for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program. Final year post-graduate students who are yet to obtain their degree may also apply; however, they must complete the MSc/MS degree at the time of admission with the requisite 55% aggregate marks.

 

Reservations for SC/ST/OBC candidates are applicable as per Government of India rules.

There are two channels of admission.

 

Channel 1: External funding

 

Apart from satisfying minimal eligibility criteria all candidates must have their own PhD fellowships, such as, UGC/CSIR-NET JRF, INSPIRE or any other equivalent fellowships. The list of openings for externally funded candidates is listed below:

 

Experimental:Following is the list of topics in experimental physics where department is willing to take PhD students:

1. Experimental condensed matter physics at extreme conditions of pressure
2. Nonlinear dynamics involving electronics experiments
3. Spectroscopy and transport in high magnetic fields
4. Microlithography using microbubbles in thermo-optical tweezers
5. Studies on spin orbit interaction of light in optical tweezers
6. Interface of condensed matter and optics, spin orbit interaction of light
7. Experimental condensed matter physics, Electron spectroscopy, Nanoscience
8. Time-resolved and steady-state optical spectroscopy
9. Nonlinear optical phenomena in semiconductors and other solid-state materials
10. Quantum Information Processing and Topological Insulators
11. Spintronics devices
12. Nonlinear microscopic time resolved ultrafast spectroscopy
13. Electron collisions with clusters

Theoretical/Computational: Following is the list of topics in theoretical and/or computational physics where department is willing to take PhD students:

1. Interplay of interactions and inhomogeneities in strongly correlated condensed phases of matter
2. Soft Condensed Matter Physics, Polymer Physics
3. High energy particle physics, collider phenomenology, effect of spin and polarizations, effective field theory, model building, computer algebra and automation, machine learning.

 

Channel 2: Institute funding

 

A limited number of Institute fellowships are available in the following areas, for students who do not have their own fellowship. For these fellowships the candidates must have qualified in one of the following examinations: GATE, JEST, NET-LS (apart from satisfying minimal eligibility criteria).

(Experimental)

1. Nonlinear dynamics involving electronics experiments
2. Microlithography using microbubbles in thermo-optical tweezers
3. Studies on spin orbit interaction of light in optical tweezers
4. Experimental condensed matter physics, Electron spectroscopy, Nanoscience
5. Time-resolved and steady-state optical spectroscopy
6. Nonlinear optical phenomena in semiconductors and other solid-state materials

(Theoretical/Computational)

1. Soft Condensed Matter Physics, Polymer Physics
2. High energy particle physics, collider phenomenology, effect of spin and polarizations, effective field theory, model building, computer algebra and automation, machine learning.

 

Interdisciplinary areas of research
Several inter-disciplinary areas of research are also available to the candidates with physics-related background, as given in the table below:

Interdisciplinary Research Area	Preferred background of the student from other areas
Theory and Computer simulations of biomolecular phenomena including folding, misfolding and self-assembly; solvent dynamical coupling; thermo-physical responses; energy transduction and dynamical heterogeneity	Basic Eligibility: M.Sc is Physics/Chemistry/Computer Science/Statistics, with a minimum of 55% marks. Qualification in GATE/NET/INSPIRE/other equivalent fellowship. Desired: Basic knowledge of biophysics and/or prior experience of computer programming.
Computational and Theoretical Chemistry	M.Sc. in Physics
Quantum chemistry, Electronic structure theory, Density functional theory	As given under Department of Chemical Sciences
Molecular dynamics simulation to understand structure and dynamics in nanoporous materials, Metal-Organic framework and other complex systems, Salvation dynamics, Ionic Liquids, etc.	M.Sc. in Physics

 

* Please note that fulfilling the minimum essential criteria does not ensure that a candidate will be called for the interview. Additional short listing criteria might be set by the department based on academic records, experience and the research interest of the candidates.

The profiles of the faculty members of the department can found in the following URL: http://www.iiserkol.ac.in/people/faculty/dps

Applicants are strongly encouraged to send their academic CV and Statement of Purpose to the faculties of their choice (by email).