PhD in Biotechnology
Minimum Eligibility
12 years of schooling + a 3 or 4 year Bachelor’s degree + a 2 year post-graduate MSc, M.Pharm, M.V.Sc, M.E., or M.Tech degree in any branch of the Biological Sciences or an MD/MS/MSc from an institution recognized by the government of any of the SAARC countries, with a minimum of 55% marks or an equivalent grade.
Admission Procedure: Through an Entrance Test and an Interview. The Entrance Test will carry a weightage of 70 marks and the Interview will carry a weightage of 30 marks. A minimum of 50% marks will have to be secured separately in both, the Entrance Test and the Interview, in order to be eligible for admission.
Format of the Entrance Test Paper: The computer based entrance test will be of 2 hours duration. Questions will be asked at MSc level from all the areas of Biological Sciences including Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Cancer Biology, Molecular Biology, Immunology, Animal Sciences, Parasitology, Plant Biotechnology, Genetics, Microbiology, Virology, Neurosciences, Biochemical Engineering, Biophysics and Biostatistics.
Question paper will have multiple-choice questions in two parts.
Part A will have 70 multiple-choice questions out of which any 50 questions need to be answered. Each question carries one mark. If the candidate answered more than 50 questions, answeres from the first 50 questions will be considered for the evaluation.
Part B will consist of 40 questions out of which 20 questions need to be answered. Each question will carry one mark. If the candidate answered more than 20 questions, answeres from the first 20 questions will be considered for the evaluation.
Interview: Candidates will be short-listed for interview on the basis of their performance in the entrance test, subject to a minimum cut off. Shortlisted candidates must arrange to send two letters of recommendation from teachers who have taught and assessed them at the graduate/postgraduate level. Recommendation letters should testify to the intellectual acumen of the candidates, their knowledge of the subject and their ability to articulate ideas.
A final merit list will be drawn by adding together the marks of the Entrance Test and the Interview. Separate merit lists will be prepared for (a) candidates from all SAARC countries other than India, and (b) candidates from India. Selected candidates will be offered admission from these two lists, according to merit, depending on the number of seats available.
Research areas: Candidates are strongly encouraged to visit the webpage ,www.sau.int to know the research areas of individual research group. Selected candidates will be provided the opportunity to do their research from anyone of the following areas in biotechnology: Applied and Industrial Biotechnology, Cancer Biology, Chemical Biology, Immunology, Molecular Medicine, Neuroscience, Plant Molecular Biology, Protein Engineering, Structural Biology, and Virology.