Ph.D. Admissions
Overview
The Doctoral Programme in Management (leading to a Ph.D.) at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) welcomes candidates with a solid academic foundation, a high level of motivation, and the intellectual curiosity to conduct innovative research. IIMA’s curriculum prepares doctoral students for careers in academia and industrial research.
Candidates may submit applications for admission to the following doctoral specializations:
(1) Economics (2) Finance & Accounting (3) Food and Agribusiness (4) Human Resource Management (5) Information Systems (6) Innovation and Management in Education (7) Marketing (8) Operations & Decision Sciences (9) Organizational Behavior (10) Public Systems, and (11) Strategy.
Students spend an average of four to five years in the programme, which includes two years of intensive coursework. Beginning with the first term, students take advanced doctoral level courses as well as select courses from the Post Graduate Programme (PGP) that provide a comprehensive overview of management disciplines and help develop fundamental skills for analysing managerial issues. After completing the coursework, students are required to clear a Comprehensive Examination to demonstrate that they have attained a high level of expertise in their specialization. Students then work on their doctoral dissertations under the supervision of their Thesis Advisory Committees. IIMA’s doctoral dissertations make original contributions to management scholarship and practice.
Students admitted to IIMA’s Doctoral Programme in Management get comprehensive financial assistance that includes tuition expenses.
IIMA has excellent computing facilities, library, and faculty resources. IIMA faculty members actively publish in scholarly journals and advise businesses and governments in India and abroad. Case writing and related research are actively pursued by faculty members and students.
IIMA’s Doctoral Programme in Management places its graduates in teaching, research, and consulting roles with world class organizations. A total of 471 doctoral students have graduated from the doctoral programme so far.
Basic Eligibility Criteria
Candidates applying to the Doctoral Programme in Management at IIMA must possess:
A Master’s Degree or Two-year Post Graduate Diploma (obtained after completing a Bachelor’s degree with 55% marks or equivalent) or a 5-year Integrated Master's Degree (obtained after completing higher secondary school in the 10+2 pattern) in any field with 55% marks or equivalent.
(OR)
A professional qualification – CA, CS, CMA (with a minimum of 50% marks) in addition to a Bachelor’s degree (with at least 55% marks or equivalent).
(OR)
A four-year/eight-semester Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 65% marks or equivalent.
Note: In case a candidate is awarded grades/CGPA instead of marks, the equivalence would be based on the equivalence certified by the institution/university from where they have obtained the bachelor's degree. In case the institution/university does not have any scheme for converting the CGPA into equivalent marks (or percentages), the equivalence would be established by IIMA by dividing the obtained CGPA by the maximum possible CGPA and multiplying the result by 100.
If a candidate belongs to the following reserved categories – Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Persons with Disabilities (PwD)/Non-creamy Other Backward Classes (NC-OBC)/Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), the minimum degree marks requirement for eligibility as part of the basic eligibility criteria given above will be relaxed by 5 percentage points.
Note that the Bachelor's/Master's degree or equivalent qualification should be from any of the Universities incorporated by an act of the central or state legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under section 3 of UGC Act, 1956; or be recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India; or possess an equivalent qualification from an institution approved by AICTE.
Candidates in their last year of a Master's/Bachelor's programme that would qualify them to apply may also apply. Such candidates, if selected, will only be allowed to join the programme provisionally if they submit a certificate latest by May 31, 2025 from the Principal/Head of the Department/Registrar or Director of the university/institute (issued on or before May 31, 2025) stating that they have appeared for the examinations (including practical examinations) in all the subjects required for obtaining the Master's/Bachelor's degree/equivalent qualification. Their admission will be confirmed when they submit mark sheets and a certificate of having completed the Master's/Bachelor's degree/equivalent qualification referred in the certificate issued by the Principal/Registrar of their college/institution. The deadline for the submission of Marksheet and Certificate is December 31, 2025. Non-fulfillment of previously mentioned basic eligibility criteria at the end of their Master’s/Bachelor’s programme will automatically result in the cancellation of their provisional admission.
Selection Process
Candidates applying to the Doctoral Programme in Management are required to take the Common Admission Test (CAT) or a standard test in lieu of CAT (see table below).
For NRIs and foreign candidates, the standard test is the Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT).
Different doctoral specializations have different standard tests that candidates can take in lieu of the CAT. These standard tests are given in the following table. Candidates applying to one or more doctoral specializations should refer to the following table at the time of application.
| Doctoral specialization |
Area/Centre/Group housing the specialization |
Standard test in lieu of CAT |
| Economics | Economics | GRE/GMAT/GATE/UGC-NET JRF in Economics (and allied subjects under the same subject code) |
| Finance & Accounting | Finance & Accounting | GRE/GMAT |
| Food and Agribusiness | GRE/GMAT/UGC-NET JRF in Economics (and allied subjects under the same subject code)/ICAR-SRF (only from disciplines of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness Management, Agricultural Extension Education, Resource Management and Consumer Science) |
|
| Human Resource Management |
Human Resource Management |
GRE/GMAT/GATE |
| Information Systems | Information Systems | GRE/GMAT/GATE |
| Innovation and Management in Education |
Ravi J. Matthai Centre for Educational Innovation |
GRE/GMAT/GATE/UGC-NET JRF
|
| Marketing | Marketing | GRE/GMAT |
| Operations & Decision Sciences |
Operations & Decision Sciences |
GRE/GMAT/GATE/JRF in Mathematical Sciences from CSIR- UGC NET |
| Organizational Behaviour |
Organizational Behaviour |
GRE/GMAT/UGC-NET JRF in the following subjects:
|
| Public Systems | Public Systems Group | GRE/GMAT/GATE/UGC-NET JRF in the following subjects:
|
| Strategy | Strategy | GRE/GMAT |
The validity of the CAT and the other standard test scores are given in the following table. Note that the scores should be valid on the deadline for submission of the application form.
| Test | Validity |
|
CAT |
5 years |
|
GRE |
5 years |
|
GMAT |
5 years |
|
GATE |
3 years |
|
JRF |
3 years |
|
SRF |
1 year |
Note: Online GMAT/GRE (take home) exam scores are not valid. Only test center based GMAT/GRE scores are valid.
Candidates will be shortlisted on the basis of their performance in the CAT or the standard test in lieu of the CAT, academic background, experience, etc. IIMA may conduct online or face-to-face interviews depending upon the health advisory issued by the authorities at that time. The admission interviews are expected to be held during March-April 2025.
Government of India guidelines for reservation are followed during admissions.
Financial Assistance
IIMA provides comprehensive financial assistance that covers all academic expenses including tuition, computer, library, medical insurance, placement and alumni fees, and in addition includes a monthly subsistence allowance.
The details of monthly subsistence allowance are as follows:
|
Slab I: For first and second years |
Rs.42,000/- |
|
Slab II: After successful completion of Area Comprehensive Examination |
Rs.45,000/- |
|
Slab III: After submitting the TAC approved thesis proposal |
Rs.50,000/- |
Doctoral students are also eligible for the following research support (subject to IIMA’s policies):
- Contingency allowance of Rs. 35,000/- per year (for up to five years) to cover various expenses such as research fees, book costs, photocopying charges, etc.
- Reimbursement of qualifying expenses up to Rs. 4,00,000/- for presenting research papers at international or domestic conferences (or equivalent).
- Reimbursement of qualifying expenses related to fieldwork and other data collection up to Rs. 2,00,000/-.
- Start-up grant of Rs. 1,00,000/- for purchasing computing equipment.
- Financial awards for publishing papers in specified high-quality peer-reviewed journals.
The Doctoral Programme in Management is a full-time programme that requires significant on- campus/local living. On-campus accommodations for single students for the initial part of their tenure, and limited housing on campus for married students are available. House rent allowance of Rs. 15,000/- per month (Rs. 20,000/- per month for students with family) is paid to qualifying students who opt to stay off-campus in Ahmedabad. This option is available to students after passing their comprehensive examination and up to the end of their fifth year.
How to Apply
The Online Application Form and Brochure will be made available on the Institute website. Candidates may submit applications for a maximum of two doctoral specializations using the online application form.
An application fee of Rs. 500/- (Rs. 250/- for reserved category candidates) can be paid through IIMA’s payment gateway. The last date for submitting the application is January 31, 2025 till 5:00 pm (IST).
Please also refer to IIMA's Doctoral Programme in Management admission advertisement that appeared in leading newspapers during September-2024.
Important Dates to Note
| Link open for Online Application Form | September 19, 2024 |
| Last date for submitting the Online Application Form | January 31, 2025 till 5:00 pm (IST) |
| Interviews (Tentative) | March-April, 2025 |
For further information/clarifications, please contact:
Manager, Doctoral Programme in Management
Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
Vastrapur, Ahmedabad 380015
Phone: +91 (079) 7152 4640/41/39
