AIIMS Invites Online Applications For PhD Program January 2024, Check schedule, eligibility criteria, all admission details here

Delhi: All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has invited online applications for PhD Program for the January 2024 session.

Detailed schedule -

1. Last date for Online Registration of Application on AIIMS website – 26.1.2024

2. Status of Registration for correction of rejected images / other deficiencies through the Registration Status Tab of their My Page after Login. Applicants are required to check status - 31.01.2024

3. Last date for correction in images/submission of required documents for Regularization of Rejected Application - 02.02.2024

4. Last date for Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India to forward an approval regarding “No Objection” to the Foreign National for appearing in the Ph.D. Entrance Examination for Jan 2024 session - 02.02.2024

5. Finalization of centres and allotment of Roll Nos./Admit Card on website - 05.02.2024

6. CBT Examination Test through (CBT) Online mode - 09.02.2024

7. Excepted date of declaration of Result (Stage-1) - 19.02.2024

8. Departmental Assessment - 01.03.2024

9. Final Result - 11.03.2024

10. Last date for joining the PhD Program - 30.03.2024

Application Fee –

1. General/OBC Category: Rs.2000/- +Transaction Charges as applicable

2. SC/ST/EWS Category: Rs.1600/- +Transaction Charges as applicable

3. PWBD Candidates is exempted from any Fee

Mode of payment: Through Debit/Credit Card/Net Banking

Documents to be attached with the registration form –

Sponsored Candidates and Foreign nationals -

1. Sponsorship Certificate (in the case of sponsored candidate) in the format prescribed in the Prospectus, duly completed and signed by the competent authority.

2. NOC from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in the case of Foreign Nationals.

Proof of award of eligible fellowship for non-medical candidates applying in the OF category

Candidates who qualify in Stages I and II and are called for Departmental Assessment must upload their self-attested/attested copies of certificates/documents in support of their educational qualifications, marks, date of birth, category, experience etc. as mentioned in the Stage I and II result on the website by logging in with their credentials. They must write their Candidate ID, Roll No. & concerned Department on the top of the first page of each certificate.

General Eligibility -

Eligibility for PhD course (Open candidates)

A candidate seeking admission to the course of study leading to the award of a Degree of Doctor of Philosophy must possess at least one of the following qualifications:

Medical qualification: MBBS/BDS with minimum 55% aggregate marks or MD/MS/MDS/DM/M.Ch. in the subject concerned or Diplomat of the National Board of Examination. Candidates who have obtained any of these degrees from medical colleges which are not recognized by the Medical Council of India shall not be eligible to apply.

Nursing Qualification: Candidates holding an M.Sc. degree with a minimum 55% aggregate marks in Nursing Speciality will also be eligible for Ph. D admission to the College of Nursing.

Non-Medical – For non-medical candidates eligibility shall be a Master’s Degree (two-year course) awarded by Indian Universities or equivalent in the subject as per requirement of the project.

Candidates holding M.Sc. (Other than M.Sc. Nursing) M.Tech. degree, BAMS & BHMS will be eligible for the Non-Medical Qualification Category. Candidates having eligibility under the non-medical category should have at least 60% marks in the last eligibility examination qualified.

Candidates possessing a Master’s Degree through distance learning courses shall not be eligible.

(a) Special weightage for non-medical candidates - 

Candidates who have qualified for the below listed National Entrance Tests leading to the award of a fellowship will be given special weightage in the entrance examination as detailed in the method of selection part of the guidelines. Such candidates should apply under the Own Fellowship (OF) category and upload proof of award of the qualifying fellowship in the online form.

1. Joint CSIR-UGC NET for JRF

2. ICMR – JRF

3. ICMR- SRF

4. DBT – JRF

5. NBHM screening test

6. INSPIRE fellowship

To be eligible for special weightage marks, ALL the following criteria must be fulfilled -

1. The result of the above-listed National Entrance Tests must have been declared between January 2022 and the last date of application i.e. 26.01.2024.

2. The award of the fellowship must be based on the result of the above-listed National Entrance Tests.

3. The fellowships should be tenable at AIIMS, New Delhi.

4. The letter of award of fellowship must be uploaded with the application form. Passing of the listed National Entrance Tests is not acceptable as proof of award of fellowship.

Eligibility for OF seats: To be eligible for OF seats, candidates must fulfil ANY of the following criteria - 

1. Candidates who have qualified for the National Entrance Tests leading to the award of a fellowship tenable at AIIMS AND are eligible for the award of special weightage marks as provided above.

2. In-service or sponsored candidates who will receive their salary/stipend from the sponsoring/parent organization.

Candidates working under Central Govt./Semi Govt./Autonomous organization should submit their applications through proper channel i.e. employer. They will be required to submit a ‘No Objection Certificate” from their employer before they are allowed to join the PhD Course.

Candidates who are likely to complete the requisite qualification and degree by 26.01.2024 may also apply. All such candidates must submit a certificate on the letterhead of the College/Universities, signed and stamped by the Registrar/Dean/Principal confirming that the candidate is likely to complete the eligibility qualification by 26.01.2024 (claiming Own Fellowship (OF), proof of which must be submitted before the last date of submission of the online application form).

Candidates who are completing their requisite qualification after 26.01.2024 are not eligible to take this examination. Completing the requisite qualification means that the final result of the qualifying exam must have been declared before the last date specified.

Applicants from AIIMS Faculty/Scientific Staff for PhD registration will be considered in-service candidates as per guidelines laid down by AIIMS in this regard. A candidate is allowed to submit an application for three specialities/departments only.

Eligibility –

Based on the information provided in the online application, candidates are provisionally allowed to appear in the Examination without any scrutiny of eligibility, subject to fulfilment of qualifying criteria and verification of eligibility at a later stage. If anyone is found not fulfilling the prescribed qualification/experience and any other eligibility criteria as mentioned in the Prospectus, at any stage of the process, his/her candidature will be treated as cancelled without any further notice and the seat will be forfeited

Duration of the course -

1. The duration of the course shall be the time period from registration to submission of the thesis. The minimum period of registration in respect of all the candidates who are registered for PhD shall be three years. The maximum period of registration shall not exceed five years. Extension beyond the period of 5 years can be given for a maximum period of 6 months on the recommendation of the Dean Committee and final approval by the Dean/Director.

2. Further extension beyond 5 years & 6 months can only be given by the Academic Committee for a maximum period of 6 months in highly exceptional circumstances (like medical exigencies, natural calamities etc.) and such extension may not be given retrospectively.

3. The Chief guide of the PhD Student shall give a clear reason for the delay to the Academic Committee and must present the case before the Academic Committee.

4. In case of extension beyond 6 years without justifiable reasons and circumstances as mentioned above, the PhD registration of the candidate shall be cancelled.

5. Failure to submit the thesis within the stipulated time period of maximum 5yrs. with extension after approval up to 5½ years (6 years in exceptional circumstances by prior approval of Academic Committee) shall lead to cancellation of PhD registration of the candidate.

Seats Vacant –

A total of 115 seats are vacant for the Program 2024.

Detailed seat matrix –

Special weightage -

Medical / Dental/ Nursing candidates

10 marks will be added to the total score of Stages I and II for candidates who fulfil both the following criteria:

1. they are eligible for stage III

2. they also hold a Medical Degree (MBBS/ BDS/ MDS/ DNB/ MD/ MS/ DM/ M.Ch.) or M.Sc. (Nursing) or equivalent.

Non-Medical candidates

10 marks will be added to the total score of Stages I and II for candidates who fulfil both the following criteria:

They are eligible for stage III

They also have qualified in any one of the following National Entrance Tests leading to the award of a fellowship tenable at AIIMS, New Delhi in the last 2 years (January 2022 to last date of application i.e. 26.01.2024) -

1. Joint CSIR-UGC NET for JRF

2. ICMR – JRF

3. ICMR- SRF

4. DBT – JRF

5. NBHM screening test

6. INSPIRE fellowship

Such candidates should apply under the Own Fellowship (OF) category and upload proof of award of the qualifying fellowship in the online form. The fellowships should be tenable at AIIMS, New Delhi

To be eligible for special weightage marks, ALL the following criteria must be fulfilled -

1. The result of the above-listed National Entrance Tests must have been declared between January 2022 and the last date of application i.e. 26.01.2024).

2. The award of the fellowship must be based on the result of the above-listed National Entrance Tests

3. The fellowships should be tenable at AIIMS, New Delhi

4. The letter of award of fellowship must be uploaded with the application form

STAGE III –

After combining the marks of Stages I, II and special weightage (detailed in points 1 and 2 above), three (03) times as many candidates as the number of seats advertised in a department will be called for departmental clinical/practical/lab based assessment (carrying 20 marks). These marks will be added to the marks of stages I + II + special weightage to determine the final total marks.

Final result –

Candidates who secure 50% marks in Stages-I, II (including special weightage) & III Combined (50/100) shall be eligible for admission and shall be included in the final merit list. If a candidate is awarded special weightage marks based on submitted documents that are subsequently found to be ineligible, the special weightage marks awarded will be withdrawn and the final result will be recalculated.

Process of seat allocation -

1. All seats in a department will be clubbed.

2. Candidates will be eligible ONLY for seats in the department that they have applied for.

3. Candidates will be allotted seats in order of their merit in the entrance examination.

4. Candidates WITH their Own Government Fellowship (OF) can select from both OF and Fellowship Available (FA) seats (where they fulfill the eligibility criteria for the seat)

5. Candidates WITHOUT their Own Government Fellowship can select only Fellowship Available (FA) seats (where they fulfill the eligibility criteria for the seat)

6. Candidates who are allotted a seat but do not join or resign after joining will not be eligible for any additional rounds of seat allocation.

Method of Resolving Ties –

The tie cases will be resolved according to age (Date of birth), the older candidate shall get preference over the younger one.

Joining –

Selected candidates are required to join as per the date given in his/her provisional offer letter. In case the candidate is not granted an extension for joining and fails to join by the date given to him/her in the provisional offer letter, it will be assumed that he/she does not intend to join the course and the seat will be offered to the next candidate on the waiting list. No further correspondence will be entertained in this regard.

Rules for admission for in-service candidates – (non-medical) applicable for AIIMS employees only -

1. The individual should be a regular employee of the Institute (AIIMS New Delhi) and should have rendered a minimum of five years of continuous service at the institute.

2. He/She should fulfil all the eligibility criteria for the PhD course, and will appear in the entrance examination and must score a minimum of 50% marks.

3. The individual should have 5 years of active service remaining in the institute.

4. The candidate should have a proven track record of active involvement in research / academic activities of the department. He/she should possess good written and verbal communication skills in the English language to be certified by the HOD/Chief of the Center.

5. The candidate should have at least 3 original research publications (not case reports) during the last three years immediately preceding the date of his/her application either as a first author or as a communicating author in a peer-reviewed journal.

6. The candidate will be considered as an in-service candidate provided that the Head of the Department should certify that the work of the department will not suffer and no additional staff will be asked for.

Fee –