PhD in health sciences in Delhi

Which Delhi routes are open to you without a NET or JRF?

First check whether you have a NET or JRF. Without one, the routes open for you are AIIMS, GGSIPU’s PET, Jamia Hamdard and a few seats at ILBS. With NET or JRF in hand, DU and the ICMR institutes also become possible. A fellowship helps you in two more places. At AIIMS it gives extra weightage to non-medical candidates, and at ILBS it lets you skip the written test. How much money you will get is a different matter, and our PhD fellowships guide explains that part. Some scholars are coming to public health from the social-science side. For them, JNU’s social medicine centre and the other options on our social sciences in Delhi page may fit better.

How does the AIIMS New Delhi PhD entrance work?

AIIMS gives its own PhD degree under the AIIMS Act. Its examination section does the admission twice every year. The January 2025 call opened on 23 January 2025. For the July 2026 call, the window opened on 28 April 2026, the test was on 23 May and selected scholars had to join by 31 July. The computer-based test is held at centres in Delhi and the NCR only. After the test, selection goes in three stages, as given below.

1. 1

   Stage I: aptitude (30 marks)

   There are 30 questions in 40 minutes. They come from English, biostatistics, research methodology, cell biology and lab technology.

2. 2

   Stage II: subject (40 marks)

   You get 40 questions in 50 minutes, set at the level of an M.D., M.S., M.D.S. or M.Sc. entrance. One-third of a mark goes for each wrong answer.

3. 3

   Cut-off and special weightage

   To move ahead you must score 35 out of 70. After that, ten marks are added if you have a medical degree or M.Sc. Nursing. Non-medical candidates get these ten marks for a qualifying national fellowship.

4. 4

   Stage III: department assessment (20 marks)

   For each advertised seat, three candidates are called. For the July 2026 session, this assessment was done online on 10 and 11 June.

5. 5

   Final merit

   Overall you must get 50 out of 100. Seats are given after that in merit order, inside the department you applied for.

One thing many applicants miss is that any master’s degree will not do. Every seat is linked to a project, and each project gives its own list of degrees it accepts. The prospectus clearly says that no claim of equivalence will be entertained. In July 2026, for example, one Anaesthesiology seat asked for an M.A. in Psychology or Clinical Psychology, along with GATE or NET. Doctors can apply with an MBBS or BDS of 55%, or with an M.D., M.S., M.D.S., D.M. or M.Ch. in the concerned subject. For non-medical applicants the requirement is 60%. M.Sc. Nursing holders with 55% can apply for the College of Nursing. Master’s degrees done through distance learning are not accepted. At the most you can apply to three departments.

The application fee was ₹2,000. SC, ST and EWS candidates paid ₹1,600, and PwBD candidates paid nothing. The programme is full-time in the strict sense. Private practice is not allowed, leave is 30 days in a year, and the registration period is three to five years.

What is the difference between a funded seat and an own-fellowship seat at AIIMS?

Many AIIMS applicants are getting confused at this point. In July 2026 there were 73 seats. Out of these, 28 were “Funds Available” (FA) seats, where a project pays the scholar. The remaining 45 were “Own Fellowship” (OF) seats, and you could take one of them only if you brought your own funding. Biotechnology had the highest number of seats, but only 2 out of its 9 were funded. In microbiology, all 4 seats were OF seats.

• With your own government fellowship, you can pick from OF seats as well as FA seats. The fellowship can be a CSIR-UGC NET JRF, ICMR-JRF, DBT-JRF or NBHM award. The NET or JRF result must have come out between July 2024 and May 2026, otherwise they won’t count it. Upload the award letter with the form, because a pass certificate alone will not do.
• In-service or sponsored candidates can also go for OF seats, if the employer continues paying their salary. Those working for the government, a PSU or an autonomous body must upload an NOC from the employer. Without that NOC you cannot even appear for the test.
• Without either, only the FA seats are open for you.

Getting selected also does not close the matter. The Academic Section gives the selection letter only after your funding is confirmed through the head of department. If you are a non-medical postgraduate and you don’t have a JRF, go through the FA seats in your subject carefully before paying the fee.

Where are DU’s medical PhD seats, college by college?

DU’s Faculty of Medical Sciences has its PhD seats spread over the medical and dental colleges and institutes attached to the university. The 2025–26 Bulletin of Information gives the Phase I seats for each college. From that list you can see where you will actually be working.

• Dental science: 20 seats. The Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences has 18 and UCMS has 2.
• Microbiology: 13 seats. Of these, 9 are at the Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, and UCMS and MAMC have 2 each.
• Community medicine: 6 seats, 4 at MAMC and 2 at UCMS.
• Forensic medicine and radiology: 4 seats each, both at Lady Hardinge Medical College.
• Pathology, physiology and pharmacology: a small number of seats at VPCI. Surgery: 2 seats at G.B. Pant (GIPMER).

Admission is through DU’s NET-based process, in which the NET score carries 70% and the interview carries 30%. Most departments also ask for a research proposal at the time of registration. Eligibility is decided by the department itself. Like, community medicine accepts an M.Sc. in statistics or a master’s in health economics. But in that case you need a DU-recognised co-supervisor in biostatistics or health economics also. In pharmacology the committee felt not many medical graduates reach 75%, so for MBBS or BDS it kept the minimum at 55%. Doctors without NET should be careful here. The bulletin does not exempt M.D. or M.S. holders from the NET rule. If you are in this situation, discuss about it with the department before you apply. DU dates and phases we have put on our Delhi admission page.

Where can nurses and pharmacists do a PhD in Delhi?

Nurses have three routes that we could confirm. ILBS’s 2026 advertisement had a part-time PhD in Nursing with five seats and a five-year duration. For eligibility you needed an M.Sc. Nursing with 60% and three years’ work experience. The entrance was held on 23 June 2026 and the course started on 1 July. Among the routes on this page, only this one was advertised as part-time from the beginning itself. AIIMS also admits M.Sc. Nursing holders with 55% into its College of Nursing whenever a nursing seat is advertised, and they write the same entrance as the doctors. Then Jamia Hamdard’s Rufaida College of Nursing lists a PhD in Nursing, and there the admission is by the university’s own test.

Pharmacists get the most choice at Jamia Hamdard. Its School of Pharmaceutical Education and Research has PhDs in pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology (pharmacy practice included) and pharmacognosy. There is a PhD in pharmaceutical medicine as well, which is run along with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. In Cycle-II of 2025–26, pharmacy applicants having GPAT or NET did not need to write the test. GGSIPU’s Centre of Excellence in Pharmaceutical Sciences is the other choice. It takes M.Pharm. and allied M.Sc. holders who clear the PET or hold GATE, GPAT or NET.

Physiotherapists and occupational therapists can try GGSIPU’s medical school. Its 2026–27 brochure show PhDs in both these subjects, and also in sports medicine and clinical subjects from anatomy to neonatology. It also says M.D., M.S. and D.M. holders are eligible even if their pass certificates don’t mention any percentage. At Jamia Millia Islamia, the Centre for Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences conducted PhD interviews in July 2026, under Jamia’s own entrance.

How do ILBS in Vasant Kunj and NIMR in Dwarka pick PhD scholars?

For most seats at ILBS, at least a GATE, NET or GPAT is needed. In July 2026, the molecular and cellular medicine PhD had 10 seats for GATE, NET or GPAT candidates who had a JRF. There were 5 more seats for those without JRF (NET categories 2 and 3), and their fellowship is paid from project funds. Hepatology had one seat, and the epidemiology of viral hepatitis had one seat. Eligibility is 60% in a master’s in biological science, or in a professional degree like MBBS, M.Pharm. or M.V.Sc. The molecular medicine seats are only for GATE, NET or GPAT qualifiers, and these candidates are called straight for the interview. In the other two seats, JRF holders get a direct interview and the rest sit the written test. Applications closed on 26 May 2026, and the entrance was held on 7 and 8 June as per the result notice put up by ILBS.

At ICMR-NIMR, you must have a JRF. The malaria institute in Dwarka has put its rules on its research and training page. You need a master’s in life science and a NET JRF from CSIR-UGC, ICMR or DBT. The degree is awarded by AcSIR. NIMR takes applications throughout the year and has no course fee of its own. But AcSIR’s registration fee has to be paid, and the institute does not give any accommodation. AcSIR also has a national call through its ICMR Faculty of Medical Research. The August 2026 round was for 28 ICMR institutes, and it closed on 14 April 2026.

Any clinical or animal work waits for the ethics committee nod first. The committee will ask you for a sample size that you can justify. For that part, see our sample size guide.