PhD in social sciences in Delhi

Where in Delhi can you do a PhD in economics, sociology or politics?

The “degree from” column matters more than it looks. An ISID scholar graduates with a JNU degree and follows JNU’s PhD ordinance, while the Institute of Economic Growth on North Campus is not a route to admission at all (more on that below). Being based at a Delhi research institute and being registered there are not the same thing.

How do JNU’s social-science centres choose their PhD scholars?

Every JNU centre admits through the same national scores, set out in the 2026–27 e-prospectus, but each one publishes its own intake and its own expectations. For the NET route, the prospectus lists:

• Centre for Political Studies: 20 seats. You submit your proposal after qualifying NET and before the viva, in one of four areas: political philosophy, Indian government and policy, comparative politics and international relations, or methods.
• Centre for the Study of Regional Development: 15 seats in economics and 8 in geography.
• Centre for Economic Studies and Planning: 12 seats. The centre gives the normal PhD duration as six years (12 semesters), with core courses in the first year, and says it admits “a very limited number” of scholars.
• Centre for the Study of Social Systems (sociology): 11 seats.
• Centre for Historical Studies: 3 seats each in ancient and modern history and 6 in medieval. You choose one period only, and bring a 1,000-word synopsis in six copies; the viva covers your proposal, your sources and books from your M.A.
• Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health: 2 seats in social sciences in health and none in public health on the NET route. Clinical and laboratory routes are on our health sciences in Delhi page.

JRF holders apply separately, with their own smaller intake, and are judged on the viva alone. The School of International Studies is large in its own right: its section of the prospectus gives 725 PhD scholars enrolled across its centres as of January 2026. Its NET-route intake for 2026–27 included 11 seats in West Asian studies, 8 in comparative politics and political theory and 7 each in Chinese and Latin American studies, while the Centre for International Politics listed none. If your interest is international relations or a region, read these tables before choosing a centre.

What do the Delhi School of Economics and other DU departments expect?

The Delhi School of Economics, founded in 1949 on North Campus, is today the umbrella for DU’s Departments of Economics, Sociology and Geography. They admit through DU’s ordinary two-phase process, so a NET score is essential, and our Delhi admission page explains the phases. What differs is each department’s own requirements in the 2025–26 Bulletin of Information:

• Sociology accepted students from any discipline who had qualified NET or JRF in sociology with 50%, and said its 30 interview marks judge sociological understanding, the proposal’s viability, preparedness and fit with faculty.
• Geography split its 30 interview marks three ways: 10 for the proposal, 10 for subject questions and 10 for your presentation.
• Economics listed all areas of economics, with mathematics, statistics and business economics as allied subjects.
• Social Work (the Delhi School of Social Work) wanted an MSW or M.A. in social work and NET or JRF in social work itself.
• Political Science offered the most Phase I seats of the departments listed here (22 unreserved seats alone) and publishes indicative guidelines for proposals on its website.
• History accepted M.A. holders from other disciplines with 55%, subject to conditions, and held interviews in two rounds.

Every one of these departments made a research proposal mandatory at registration. Once you are in, DU’s thesis rules are set out in our Delhi University thesis format guide.

Can you do a PhD at an ICSSR institute in Delhi?

At one of them, yes. The Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, an ICSSR-sponsored institute in the Vasant Kunj Institutional Area, launched its PhD in economics and public policy in 2024–25. Its 2026–27 prospectus says:

• JNU recognises the programme and its faculty as supervisors, and JNU’s PhD ordinance applies.
• Up to 15 candidates were to be admitted. JRF holders are selected on interview alone; other NET candidates on NET score (70%) and interview (30%). NET results from June 2025, December 2025 and June 2026 counted.
• Coursework is two semesters and 17 credits, and admission is confirmed only when the institute’s research advisory committee approves your proposal, within a year of finishing coursework.
• Scholars without another fellowship receive an ISID fellowship of ₹10,000 a month (₹15,000 if you are from outside Delhi) for up to three years.
• Part-time places, capped at 12.5% of intake, are for people employed in government or UGC-recognised institutions in the Delhi–NCR region.

The deadline for 2026–27 was extended to 10 September 2026.

The Institute of Economic Growth, in the University Enclave on North Campus, works differently. Its fellowship page describes no PhD admission of its own. Instead it offers four ICSSR institutional doctoral fellowships each year in economics and sociology, for scholars already registered for a PhD at a university, and its 2024–25 call required the topic to have been approved before applying. So IEG is a place to hold a fellowship while registered elsewhere. The ICSSR’s national doctoral fellowships work on the same logic; see our PhD fellowships guide.

What do Jamia, Ambedkar University and IIT Delhi offer social scientists?

Jamia Millia Islamia is the main Delhi option for a social scientist without NET, because it still sets its own entrance. (GGSIPU’s entrance test also covers economics and history, though it had no sociology intake for 2026–27.) For 2026–27 its interview notices, issued in late July, covered economics, sociology, political science, social work, history and geography, and research centres such as the Dr. K.R. Narayanan Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies, the Sarojini Naidu Centre for Women’s Studies, the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution and the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research. Economics alone called more than 30 candidates to interview on 3 August 2026.

Ambedkar University Delhi offered social-science seats across several schools in its 2026 bulletin: 13 in history, 10 each in global studies, urban studies and public policy and governance, 7 in economics, 6 in development studies, 4 in women and gender studies and 2 in sociology. Selection weighs your NET or JRF score and an interview on the proposal you submit with the form.

IIT Delhi’s Humanities and Social Sciences department admits once a year, with applications in March and selection in May (17 and 18 May in 2026). According to its admission FAQ, a full-time scholar must have UGC-NET, JRF or GATE in any discipline, since there is no self-financed full-time PhD, and needs 60% in the M.A. Those who clear the written test are interviewed the next day. History was not taking applications in 2026. Part-time scholars need two years’ work experience and an employer NOC.

IIIT-Delhi also has a social sciences and humanities PhD; its recent interview lists covered urban sociology, development economics, applied econometrics and the philosophy of technology.

Which Delhi route suits which social-science scholar?

With a JRF in economics, apply to JNU’s CESP and CSRD, the Delhi School of Economics and ISID in the same year. Each of them admits on the same national score, so one good NET result serves several applications.

Without NET, your choices in the city are Jamia and GGSIPU, and IIT Delhi if you hold GATE. Sit the next NET regardless, because JNU, DU, Ambedkar University and ISID are all closed to you without it.

If you work in Delhi, check ISID’s part-time quota (for government and UGC-recognised employers in the NCR) and IIT Delhi’s part-time route, where classes may fall in working hours.

Whichever you choose, the proposal decides a large part of the result, and the length each place asks for is different:

• ISID: no more than 1,200 words, sent with the application; applications without one are not considered.
• IIT Delhi HSS: 800 words on objectives, existing research, novelty and method, with references allowed over and above.
• JNU Centre for Historical Studies: a 1,000-word synopsis, six copies, brought to the viva.
• DU Anthropology: about 2,000 words naming research questions, hypothesis, universe of study, method and framework.
• DU African Studies: six copies of the proposal handed in on the day of the interview.

Our research proposal guide helps you write one that fits these limits.