The Dark Side of Doing a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering From India (IITs)3 min read

This post is for those students who are rushing towards IITs & NITs to do a Ph.D. in the hope of a bright future. This post will help you in taking the right decision about higher studies. Many Ph.D. aspirants come from the lower class in the hope of a better future. They should be mentally prepared that their decision may lead them to financial instability and career insecurities as well.

Facts not to be Ignored

• Many faculties take Ph.D. students in bulk beyond their capacity. They try to follow the trend of foreign universities which doesn’t work out in India. Later on, it becomes unmanageable for them to handle so many Ph.D. students.
• Many faculties do not care about his/her Ph.D. students at all. They only care about their increments and promotions.
• There are very few faculties that are dedicated to research. I was fortunate to have Dr. G Harikrisnan as my Ph.D. advisor, who is passionate about research only. His academic guidance and motivation have been invaluable throughout my research.
• More politics can be seen among faculties than a true political party.
• There is no scope of research in India.

After completing your Ph.D., you will be left with limited options such as teaching, R&D jobs, and Postdoc. Private colleges (except a few) offer only 30 to 35 k to Ph.D. students.

Scope of R&D jobs

• Jobs are limited. Your research area has to be more specialized as per their requirement.

Scope of Teaching jobs

• Jobs are limited in this branch. Because the chemical engineering branch is not offered by every college except IITs, NITs, and a few state colleges.
• Recruitment doesn’t happen frequently.
• Advantages are given to those who had done their Ph.D. in foreign.
• Apart from that, there is a lobbying system during recruitment.

NITs recruitment process

• There are 3 stages. 1. Written test 2. Departmental presentation 3. Final Interview
• There is no weightage for steps 1 & 2.
• The final step is the game-changer (only the godfather knows what happens behind the table).

So, it doesn’t matter how great you performed in steps 1 & 2. Your fate will be decided in 3rd step only.

IITs recruitment process

• There are 2 stages. 1. Departmental interview 2. Final interview
• Your chances are almost nil in old IITs unless there are godfathers behind you.
• New IITs are monitored by old IITs. So, the recruitment of new IITs is influenced by the people who are godfathers in old IITs.
• HOD of new IITs are from old IITs and they accommodate their student and known people.

For survival, either you will have to be lucky enough or you should be backed up by your godfather I hope this bitter truth will help many students in making the right decision about higher studies.