Doctoral Program - Application Process

Admission Policy for the Doctoral Programme (Batch 2027)

The Doctoral Programme of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta started in 1971. It is a full-time doctoral programme that offers students opportunities for advanced studies and research in different specialisations in Management. The Programme aims to prepare students for careers in teaching and research in management studies and in related disciplines, and for careers in the government, in industry, and in other organisations that require advanced analytical and research capabilities.

The Doctoral Programme includes specialisations in Economics, Finance & Control, Human Resource Management, Management Information Systems, Marketing, Operations Management, Organizational Behaviour, Public Policy and Management and Strategic Management. On successful completion of the Programme, a student is awarded the Ph.D. degree in Management.

Please visit: https://www.iimcal.ac.in/programs/doctoral/admissions for more information.

A.1. Minimum Academic Eligibility for Admission to Doctoral Programme

A candidate applying for the Doctoral Programme is required to have:

First Class Master's or Post graduate diploma (2 years) in any discipline and a three-year Bachelor's degree, with at least 50% marks in the aggregate;
OR
CA with minimum 50% marks or CS/CMA with minimum 55% marks, with B.com degree;
OR
B.Tech/B.E. 4 year’s degree with 6.5 CGPA on a 10-point scale or equivalent.

Non-engineering candidates who have undergone 10+2+5 years will be considered eligible to apply for the Doctoral Programme.

In addition, a candidate must have obtained a minimum of 50% marks in the aggregate in either the Secondary or the Higher Secondary Examination of a Board (or equivalent).

A final-year student appearing for the Bachelor's degree examination in Engineering or Master's degree examination in any discipline can also apply. Such a candidate, if selected, will be provisionally admitted provided (s)he completes all requirements for obtaining the degree before June 30th, 2027. Admission of the candidate will remain provisional until (s)he produces mark sheets proving that (s)he satisfies the eligibility criteria. The deadline for submitting the final year degree mark sheets is December 31st, 2027.

Besides the above minimum academic eligibility, candidates applying to the Doctoral Programme are required to take either the Common Admission Test (CAT) or an alternative Test in lieu of CAT e.g., GMAT, GRE, GATE, UGC-JRF, UGC-NET, depending upon candidates’ chosen specialisation(s), as explained later.

Candidates should get their GMAT scores officially reported to the Institute using the code: 9CP-HT-94 and their GRE scores officially reported to the Institute using the code: 7496.

Online GMAT/GRE (take home) examination scores are not valid, only Test Centre-based GMAT/GRE scores are valid.

A.2. Application Process

The application process shall require submission of Mark-sheets for 10th, 12th, Graduation and Post-Graduation, Work Experience.

Candidates can choose a maximum of two specialisations offered in the Doctoral Programme. Candidates must have taken a qualifying examination that is acceptable to the specialisation (in case the candidate is taking an examination that is in lieu of CAT). If the candidate has applied for two specialisations, s(he) needs to have given the relevant examination for both specialisations. If invited for interview, such candidates shall appear for interviews for both the specialisations.

If a candidate becomes eligible simultaneously for both the first and second specialisations, the candidate shall be given the option to select any one of the two specialisations within a specified deadline; and after the candidate selects his/her preference, the other option is forfeited automatically.

IIM Calcutta reserves its right to verify eligibility at various stages of the selection process. Applicants should note that mere fulfilment of minimum eligibility criteria will not ensure shortlisting by IIM Calcutta at the various stages of the admissions process.

A.3. Qualifying tests

Candidates applying to the Doctoral Programme are required to take either the Common Admission Test (CAT) or an alternative Test in lieu of CAT e.g., GMAT, GRE, GATE, UGC-JRF, UGC-NET, depending upon candidates’ chosen specialisation(s), as indicated in Table 1. As mentioned earlier, candidates applying for two specialisations must take a qualifying test that is acceptable to both the specialisations (in case the candidate is taking a test that is in lieu of CAT).

Table 1: Alternative Qualifying Test(s) in lieu of CAT

CAT score validity is for one year and scores in other examinations are valid for two years from the date of test. The score needs to be valid on the deadline of submission of the application form.

A.4. Exemption for Qualifying Test:

An MBA/PGDM (two-years full time) holder of any of the IIMs with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 6.00/9.00 and above (or equivalent) does not need to take any Qualifying Test. (S)he can apply directly using the Doctoral Programme Online Application Process. (S)he has to pay the application fee, and meet the application deadline. After submission of the application forms, the selection procedure followed for such a candidate will be identical to that of all other candidates.

A.5. Application Fee:

Application fee for candidates belonging to SC, ST, NC-OBC, EWS and PwBD categories - Rs. 1500/-, application fee for all others - Rs. 3000/-.

Criteria for selection for the Doctoral Programme

B. Personal Interview

Stage I:

Candidates shall be selected in Stage-I based on satisfying the minimum eligibility mentioned in A.1 and fulfilling the minimum requirements related to particular qualifying tests. Determining the minimum requirements related to qualifying tests as applicable for various social categories, is at the sole discretion of the Institute.

Stage II:

Candidates satisfying the criteria in Stage-I shall be called for Personal Interview (PI). The number of candidates to be invited for PI would be at the discretion of the Institute.

Personal Interview will be conducted by panels for each specialisation, and candidates shall be assigned to one or two panels based on their indicated preference(s).

C. Final Selection

Stage III: Criteria for Final Selection for the Doctoral Programme

For the candidates who will appear for the Personal Interview in Stage-II, specialisation-wise rank lists for general candidates and for candidates of various social categories will be generated based on the performance of the candidates in the personal interview.

Final selection of candidates and allotment to various specialisations shall be based on candidate’s rank in the respective rank list, his/her choice of specialisation and seat availability in the specialisation such that the reservation norms are satisfied to the extent possible.

Subsequent offers may be made to waitlisted candidates against any non-acceptances/ withdrawals.

Based on the academic calendar, the admissions in the Doctoral Programme shall be declared CLOSED on a particular date decided by the Institute, after which no offers shall be made.

Reservation Policy:

Government of India guidelines for reservation are followed during admissions.

Any dispute concerning Admissions for the Doctoral Programme (Batch 2027) would be subject to jurisdiction of the competent courts within the territorial jurisdiction of the city of Kolkata only.

Important

Any possible disruptions such as COVID-19 may impact the Doctoral Programme admission process of IIM Calcutta. The information as specified in the Admission Policy is subject to the advisories and guidelines of Central and State Governments during the admission process.

©This document was released by Chairperson, Admissions, IIM Calcutta, on behalf of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. This is applicable only to the Doctoral Programme selection process for 2027 batch. IIM Calcutta reserves the right to amend the Admission Policy at any point if it deems necessary.