Record PhD count at IIT Bombay

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay awarded 620 PhDs for the 2025-26 academic year at its 64th convocation, the highest-ever among all IITs across the country, as reported by Hindustan Times. The institute had never crossed 500 PhD degrees in a single year before this, according to director Shireesh Kedare, as reported by The Indian Express and India Today.

Of the 620 PhDs, 77 were in chemical engineering, 62 in electrical engineering, 49 in mechanical engineering and 40 in the humanities department, according to The Indian Express and India Today. Hindustan Times added that the humanities department's 40 PhDs were also the highest-ever in the institute's history.

The convocation, held across August 22 and 23, saw the institute award 3,763 degrees to 3,442 students, including 1,713 undergraduate, 1,430 postgraduate and 620 PhD degrees, as reported by Hindustan Times. The graduating batch comprised 791 women and 2,651 men. Among the undergraduate degrees, 28 students received a three-year Bachelor of Science (BS) degree, an early-exit option introduced for students enrolled in the four-year BTech programme. Students who complete the required credits can leave with a BS, and an institute official said the option could help students who want to pursue a start-up or those unable to finish the four-year programme, as reported by The Indian Express and India Today.

A medal distribution ceremony was held at the convocation hall on Saturday evening, with Umesh Waghmare, secretary in the Department of Science and Technology, as the chief guest, according to The Indian Express and India Today.

Tackling decade-long PhD delays

The record PhD count follows an internal review at IIT Bombay that found some doctorates had remained pending for more than a decade, as reported by India Today. The delays, according to Kedare, had several causes: supervisors occupied with other projects, candidates shifting to other work or jobs, and external candidates leaving their programmes. The Covid-19 pandemic added to the hold-ups, as reported by The Indian Express and India Today.

In response, the institute has capped the duration of PhD programmes at eight years for all new registrations, following the internal review, as reported by India Today. Hindustan Times, however, reported that the institute fixed a six-year limit for PhD completion, extendable to eight years in exceptional cases.

Kedare, as quoted by India Today, said: "We took a review of ongoing PhDs to try and understand the hold-ups. The idea was to work on solving those issues and encourage candidates to reduce the time spent on PhDs." He added that the review helped clear a backlog of pending doctorates, as per India Today.

A senior professor at IIT Bombay, as reported by Hindustan Times, said that earlier there was no deadline to complete a PhD programme, and that students who had been pursuing their PhDs for 12 years have been warned that their registration could be terminated. Kedare also said that reducing PhD completion time is one of the reasons the number of PhD students has risen, according to Hindustan Times.

New initiatives and views on Gen Z

Kedare outlined several new initiatives during the convocation, as reported by Hindustan Times. The institute is expanding its Frontier Research initiative, with faculty groups working on major national and global challenges. To attract BTech students to PhD programmes, IIT Bombay has started an internship for final-year students from several National Institutes of Technology, with 80-90 students currently enrolled and opportunities to move to Master's or PhD programmes. The institute has also approved an additional post for an associate dean for students' wellness.

On Gen Z, Kedare said, "Gen Z is very energetic, filled with positive energy, and I respect Gen Z and their new ways of doing things. However, there are also many distractions." He cited distractions including coaching classes, excessive expectations from parents and peers, and addictive social media, and said Gen Z will shape India's future as a high-potential force, as reported by Hindustan Times.