Doctor of Philosophy Programme (DPS)

PhD Advertisement for Autumn Semester 2020 (DPS)

Department of Physical Sciences (DPS)

Minimum Eligibility criteria:

 

Applications are invited from motivated candidates having Masters degree with at least 60% 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 60% aggregate marks. Additional or desirable background is necessary for some topics, and it is mentioned in parenthesis wherever applicable. People from other departments and interdisciplinary area are also taking students from Physics background and those research areas are mentioned here. Students interested in applying in these areas are requested to apply in those departments directly (see the adjoining link). If by mistake they apply under the Dept. of Physical Sciences, then their applications will be cancelled.

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 broad research area along with the topics (wherever applicable) in experimental physics where department is willing to take PhD students:
    1. Experimental condensed matter physics at extreme conditions of pressure:
      Research topic:
      (i) Phase transition studies of novel strongly correlated systems at extreme conditions of pressure and temperature.
      (ii) Study of structural, electronic, magnetic, thermodynamic and elastic properties of Earth materials under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure using quantum mechanical first principles density functional theory and experimental methods.
    2. Phase Transitions, Spectroscopy and transport in high magnetic fields (pulsed field).
    3. Microlithography using microbubbles in thermo-optical tweezers.
      Research topic : (i) Microlithography using microbubbles in optical tweezers and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics employing microbubbles and
      (ii) Effects of spin-orbit interaction of light in optical tweezers.
    4. Experimental and theoretical investigations of weak measurements on Spin optical effects.
    5. Experimental condensed matter physics, Electron spectroscopy, Nanoscience.
    6. Quantum Information Processing using NV centres in diamond.
    7. Topological Insulators, Majorana Fermions and Weyl Semi-metals.
    8. Nonlinear optical phenomena in semiconductors and other solid-state materials.
      Research topic :
      Study of nonlinear optical properties of various organic and inorganic materials.
    9. Time resolved Nonlinear microscopy.
    10. Ultrafast and Terahertz Spectroscopy.
    11. Experimental Condensed Matter Physics, Spintronics, Magnetism in mesoscopic systems.
    12. Quantum dynamics.
    13. Molecular Physics.
      Research topics:
      (i) Molecular Dynamics in Electron Collisions with Isolated Molecules and
      (ii) Electron Collision Studies with Jet-cooled Molecules and Clusters.

    14. Interdisciplinary research area:

      Application Information
      Experimental Chemistry (Research Area: Biochemistry / Microbiology) Select "PhD in Chemical Sciences (Autumn 2020)" in the "Applying for" drop-down menu at the time of filling online application form
      Click Here

    15. Interdisciplinary research area:

      Application Information
      Experimental Biology (Research Area: Experimental Cell Biophysics using optical methods) Select "PhD in Biological Sciences (Autumn 2020)" in the "Applying for" drop-down menu at the time of filling online application form
      Click Here
  • Theoretical/Computational: : Following is the list of topics in theoretical and/or computational physics where department is willing to take PhD students:
    1. Non-linear dynamics (Background: MSc in Physics, Mathematics, Applied Physics, Applied Mathematics. Proficiency in programming is necessary.)
    2. Biological physics, Nonlinear dynamics, Statistical physics, soft condensed matter physics.
    3. Biological physics: Collective dynamics in active matter systems.
    4. Gravitational physics with quantum matter fields.
    5. Complex Adaptive Systems and Network dynamics.
    6. Analysis of biological and social systems using a variety of tools like non-linear dynamics, stochastic processes, networks etc.
    7. Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics: Current and fluctuations in nonequilibrium steady states; Hyperuniformity: a new state of matter.
    8. High energy particle physics, beyond standard model, collider phenomenology.
    9. Theoretical condensed matter physics. (Research topics: Inhomogeneous quantum matter in correlated electronic systems, Topological matter and Majorana fermions).
    10. Theoretical condensed matter physics. (Research topics: Ultracold Quantum Gases, Non-equilibrium quantum dynamics of Ultracold Quantum Gases, Quantum Chaos, Quantum Phase Transition, Trapped Bose-Einstein condensate, Random Matrix, Semiclassical physics).
    11. Interplay of interactions and inhomogeneities in strongly correlated condensed phases of matter.
    12. Quantum Information Processing and Quantum Speed Limit.

    13. Interdisciplinary research area:

      Application Information
      Theoretical and computational Chemistry (Research Area: Atomic and Molecular Physics, Quantum mechanics, Quantum Information theory, Density functional theory) Select "PhD in Chemical Sciences (Autumn 2020)" in the "Applying for" drop-down menu at the time of filling online application form
      Click Here

    14. Interdisciplinary research area:

      Application Information
      Theoretical and computational Chemistry (Research Area: Molecular dynamics simulation to understand structure and dynamics in nanoporous materials, Metal-Organic framework and other complex systems, Solvation dynamics in Ionic Liquids.) Select "PhD in Chemical Sciences (Autumn 2020)" in the "Applying for" drop-down menu at the time of filling online application form
      Click Here

    15. Interdisciplinary research area:

      Application Information
      Theoretical and computational Chemistry. Select "PhD in Chemical Sciences (Autumn 2020)" in the "Applying for" drop-down menu at the time of filling online application form
      Click Here

    16. Interdisciplinary research area:

      Application Information
      Computational Mineral Physics Select "PhD in Earth Sciences (Autumn 2020)" in the "Applying for" drop-down menu at the time of filling online application form
      Click Here

    •  

    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. Experimental condensed matter physics, Electron spectroscopy, Nanoscience.
    2. Time-resolved and steady-state optical spectroscopy (Research Topic: Study of carrier dynamics in various semiconducting materials through time- resolved optical spectroscopy).
    3. Quantum Information Processing using NV centres in diamond (Background, M.Sc. Physics, desirable/preferable with special paper in Electronics, M.Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering or Computer Science)
    (Theoretical/Computational)
    1. Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics: Current and fluctuations in nonequilibrium steady states; Hyperuniformity: a new state of matter.
    2. Complex Adaptive Systems and Network dynamics. Analysis of biological and social systems using a variety of tools like non-linear dynamics, stochastic processes, networks etc.
    3. Gravitational physics with quantum matter fields.
    4. High energy particle physics, beyond standard model.


    Interdisciplinary research area:

    Application Information
    Research Area: cryo-Electron Microscopy, image processing, structural biology, molecular biology and biophysics) (Background: MSc Chemistry (minimum marks 60%) or MSc Physics (minimum marks 60%) or MSc in Life Sciences (minimum marks 60%) having specialization in Biophysics/Biochemistry/Biotechnology/Microbiology/ and having Chemistry/ Physics/ Mathematics as one of the pass subjects in BSc. Candidates need to have strong background in chemistry or physics. ) Select "PhD in Biological Sciences (Autumn 2020)" in the "Applying for" drop-down menu at the time of filling online application form
    Click Here
    Earth Sciences
    Research Topic: Physics and Chemistry of Earth Materials using Quantum Mechanical Simulations    		 Select "PhD in Earth Sciences (Autumn 2020)" in the "Applying for" drop-down menu at the time of filling online application form
    Click Here
    Mathematical/theoretical biophysics.
    For students who are interested in theoretical modeling of biological phenomena in collaboration with experimentalists. In particular, the topics of research will include mathematical modeling of collective cell motion, stochastic gene expression, intercellular transport etc.) (Minimum Essential Qualification: MS/MSc/M.Tech degree in physics/applied mathematics/computer science with 60% marks or CGPA/CPI of 6.00/10. Experience of coding in C/C++/FORTRAN will be a plus point.)     		Select "PhD in Biological Sciences (Autumn2020)" in the "Applying for" drop-down menu at the time of filling online application form
    Click Here
    Theoretical and computational biophysics (Modeling of cell motion, biological random processes, intracellular transport etc.) Select "PhD in Biological Sciences (Autumn 2020)" in the "Applying for" drop-down menu at the time of filling online application form
    Click Here

     

     

    * 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).

    Apply Online Important Dates General Instructions Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)