PhD Entrance Exams 2025: Dates, Eligibility, Application, Fee, Selection

PhD Entrance Exams 2025: Candidates who seek admission to PhD (Doctorate in Philosophy) in India can take exams like UGC NET (University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test), CSIR NET (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research National Eligibility Test), GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering), Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST), SET (State Eligibility Test) and University wise PhD entrance exams. Here we have discussed the upcoming PhD entrance exam of 2025, eligibility, fee structure, and selection process. Candidates who want to pursue a PhD degree can check the complete details of the PhD entrance exams 2025  in India

List of PhD Entrance Exams 2025

Candidates can check the list of exams conducted in India for enrollment in PhD courses below:

1. UGC NET: The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts the UGC NET 2025 exam twice a year to provide the eligibility to enroll in PhD programmes as well as become Assistant professors in the Universities of India. In every session, 83 subject exams are conducted for the candidates to become eligible for NET & JRF, NET, and PhD admission only.
2. CSIR NET: NTA conducts the CSIR NET exam twice a year in June & December to award students with Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), National Eligibility Test, and PhD admissions for five subjects- Chemical Science, Life Science, Earth Science, Physical Science and Mathematical Science.
3. GATE: The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering is jointly conducted by 7 IITs- IIT Bombay, IIT Roorkee, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISC Bangalore) on behalf of National Coordination Board (NCB - GATE), Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource & Development (MHRD), Government of India. The exam is conducted once a year to enroll students from Arts, Science, and Engineering backgrounds in M.Tech & PhD programs in IIT, IISC, and other Universities across India
4. JEST: The Joint Entrance Screening Test is conducted by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) to enroll students in PhD programs under Physics (Astronomy & Astrophysics, Atmospheric Sciences, Computational Biology, Condensed Matter, High Energy Physics, Neuroscience, Plasma Research, Quantum Optics & more)  and Theoretical Computer Science. The exam is conducted once a year.

UGC NET 2025 Exam

The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts the UGC NET 2025 exam for two sessions- June & December cycles for 83 subjects. The candidates who want to get admission through the UGC NET PhD Entrance Exam 2025 can check the dates for the upcoming exam in the table below:

Particulars	UGC NET Dates
UGC NET June Notification 2025	April 16, 025
UGC NET June Application 2025	April 16 - May 12, 2025
UGC NET June Exam 2025	June 25 to June 29, 2025
UGC NET June Result	July 21, 2025
UGC NET December Notification 2025	October 7, 2025
UGC NET December Application 2025	October 7 - November 7, 2025
UGC NET December Exam 2025	December 31, 2025, to January 7, 2026
UGC NET December Result 2025	January/February 2026

UGC NET 2025 Eligibility

Candidates must meet the eligibility criteria to appear for the UGC NET 2025 exam for PhD (Doctorate in Philosophy) courses. Check the UGC NET eligibility criteria in the article below.

Educational Eligibility for UGC NET 2025

Check the UGC NET educational eligibility criteria below:

• Candidates must possess a master's degree in the relevant subject they want to pursue their PhD with at least 55% marks

Or,

• Must be in the final year of their master's degree and the result must be published before the release of the UGC NET result.

Or,

• Candidates who are pursuing or have completed a 4-year graduation degree can appear for the UGC NET PhD entrance exam.

UGC NET Age Limit 2025

There is no age limit to appear for the UGC NET exam; however, candidates who are looking to get an award for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) must be equal to or less than 30 years old.

UGC NET Application 2025

The application for the UGC NET 2025 December session was released on October 7, 2025, and the window to submit the application form was closed on November 7, 2025. Additionally, the UGC NET registration for the June 2025 session was held from April 16 - May 12, 2025. Candidates who want to appear for the UGC NET exam must fill out the NTA NET application form. The steps to fill out the application form are given below:

• Go to the official website: ugcnet.nta.ac.in

• Click on the UGC NTA NET application link

• Register on the application portal

• Fill out the UGC NET application form

• Upload the documents

• Pay the application fee

• Save the application form

UGC NET Application Fee 2025

Check the category-wise application fees for the UGC NET 2025 exam in the table below:

Category of Applicant	Fee in INR
General/Unreserved Category	INR 1150
OBC	INR 600
SC/ST/PwD/Third Gender	INR 375

CSIR NET PhD Entrance Exam 2025

Candidates seeking admission to PhD programmes like oceanography, geophysics, chemistry, drugs, genomics, biotechnology, nanotechnology,  mining, aeronautics, instrumentation, environmental engineering, information technology, and more can take the CSIR NET exam 2025. Check the upcoming dates for the CSIR NET 2025 in the table below:

Particulars	CSIR NET Dates 2025
CSIR NET June Notification 2025	June 3, 2025
CSIR NET June Application 2025	June 3 - June 26, 2025
CSIR  NET June Exam 2025	July 28, 2025
CSIR NET June Result	August 25, 2025
CSIR NET December Notification 2025	September 25, 2025
CSIR NET December Application 2025	September 25 to October 27, 2025
CSIR NET December Exam 2025	December 18, 2025
CISR NET December Result 2025	December 2025/January 2026

CSIR NET Eligibility 2025

Candidates can check the eligibility criteria to appear for the CSIR NET 2025 exam below:

• Educational Eligibility for CSIR NET: Candidates must possess a degree in B.Tech/BE/BPharma/MBBS/BS (four years)/Integrated BS-MS/MSc with a minimum of 55 percent marks for General (UR)/General-EWS and OBC (50 percent for SC/ST, Third gender and PwD).
• Age Limit: There is no age limit to appear for the CSIR NET exam; however, the candidate must be less than or equal to 28 years. The relaxation in the age limit is given according to the norms of the Indian Government.

CSIR NET Application 2025

The application for the CSIR NET December exam began on September 25, 2025. The candidates could apply for the CSIR NET 2025 exam by following the steps given below:

• Go to the official website: csirnet.nta.ac.in
• Click on the CSRI UGCNET application link
• Register on the application portal
• Fill out the CSIR UGC NET application form
• Upload the documents
• Pay the application fee
• Save the application form

CSIR NET Application Fee 2025

Check the category-wise CSIR UGC NET application form in the table below:

Category	Application Fee (in INR)
General	1,150 INR
OBC – Non-creamy layer	600 INR
SC/ST/PwD	325 INR

Upcoming PhD Entrance Exams in 2026

Students willing to pursue a PhD course can also appear in the GATE or JEST examinations. The GATE and JEST admissions for the 2025-26 session are over as the GATE 2025 exam was held on February 1, 2, 15, and 16, 2025, and the JEST 2025 exam was held on June 22, 2025. Additionally, IIT Rourkela has already completed the registration process for the upcoming GATE 2026 session, and the exam is scheduled for February 2026. In the following section, we have provided the detail about the upcoming PhD entrance exams in 2026.

GATE PhD Entrance Exam 2026

Candidates who want to take admission to IIT, IISC, and other universities for PhD courses in Science can take the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE). It is an eligibility cum entrance test for PhD programmes in India. Check the tentative dates for the exam in the table below:

Particulars	GATE Dates
GATE Application Date 2025	August 28 to October 13, 2025
GATE Exam Date	February 07, 08, 14, and 15, 2026
GATE Result 2025	March 19, 2026

GATE Application 2026 for PhD Entrance

The application for the GATE 2026 were active on the official website from August 28, 2025, to October 07, 2025. However, the candidates could complete the GATE 2025 registration by paying the late fines till October 13, 2025.  The steps to apply for the GATE 2025 PhD entrance exam are given below:

• Go to the official website
• Register on GOAPs portal
• Fill out the GATE application form
• Upload the documents
• Pay the application fee
• Download the GATE 2025 application preview and save it for later use

GATE 2026 Application Fee

The candidates can check the category-wise application fee for the GATE 2025 exam in the table below:

Category	Regular Period	During the Extended Period
Female/SC/ST/PwD candidates (per test paper)	INR 1000	INR 1500
All other candidates, including foreign nationals (per test paper)	INR 2000	INR 2500

GATE Eligibility 2026

Candidates who want to appear for the GATE 2026 exam must fulfil the eligibility criteria. Check the eligibility criteria provided below:

Candidates who have completed their undergraduate and master's or are in the final year of their undergraduate/master's degree can apply for the GATE exam 2025. The list of subjects in master's have been completed or pursuing the master's degree is given below:

• BE/BTech

• BPharma

• BArch

• BSc (Research)/BS

• Professional Society Examination (equivalent to BE/BTech/BArch)

• MSc/MA/MCA or equivalent

• Integrated ME/MTech

• Integrated MSc/Integrated BS-MS

• Integrated ME/MTech or Dual Degree (after Diploma or 10+2)\

• MA

• MCom

Age Limit: There is no age limit to appear for the GATE 2025 exam

JEST 2026

The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) will conduct the JEST 2026 in the first week of March 2026. The candidates can check the expected dates for the JEST 2026 in the table below:

Particulars	CSIR NET Dates
JEST Notification 2026	January 2026
JEST Application 2026	January 2026
JEST Exam Date 2026	March 2026
JEST Result Date 2026	April 2026

JEST Application 2026 for PhD Entrance

The application for the JEST PhD entrance exam will tentatively begin in January 2026. The candidates will be able to apply for the JETS 2026 exam by following the steps below:

• Go to the official website
• Click on the JEST 2026 registration link
• Register for the JEST 2026 exam using your mobile number and date of birth
• Fill out the JEST application form
• Upload the documents
• Pay the application fee
• Save the application for later use

JEST Application Fee 2026

Candidates can check the JEST category-wise application fees in the table below:

Category	Application fee
General	Rs. 800/-
SC/ ST	Rs. 400/-

JEST Eligibility Criteria 2026

Candidates can check the eligibility criteria for the JEST 2026 exam for PhD entrance below:

JEST Educational Eligibility 2026

• M.Sc. in Physics: Candidates must have passed B.Tech/ M.Sc./ B.E/ M.Tech in applied physics and mathematics.

• Ph.D in Computational Biology at IMSc: Students must complete M.Sc./ M.E./ M.Tech/ MCA in any engineering or science discipline.

• Ph.D in Neuroscience: The institute will accept M.Sc. (Physics/ Mathematics), B.E/ B.Tech/ MCA in Computer Science.

• Theoretical Computer Science at IMSc: Applicants must pass M.Sc./ M.E/ M.Tech in Computer Science and related disciplines.

• Integrated Ph.D programmes in Theoretical Computer Science at IMCs: Students should have passed B.Sc./ B.E./ B.Tech./ MCA in Computer Science or related disciplines.

• Integrated M.Tech- Ph.D.  Programme at IIA: Candidates must have passed M.Sc. (Physics/ Applied Physics)/Post-B.Sc. (Hons) in Optics and Optoelectronics/ Radio Physics and Electronics.

State Eligibility Test (SET) 2026

State Eligibility Tests (SET) are conducted by several states in India to provide eligibility for PhD courses in specific states. Check the list of state-wise SSET exams in the table below:

SET Exams Name	Official Website	SET Exam Date
Kerala SET	lbsedp.lbscentre.in/setjan24	July 2026
CG SET	vyapam.cgstate.gov.in	July 2026
Andhra Pradesh SET (AP SET)	apset.net.in	April 2026
Tamilnadu SET (TN SET)	msutnset.com	June 2026
MH SET	setexam.unipune.ac.in	April 2026
KSET	kset.uni-mysore.ac.in	Jan 2026
HP SET	www.hppsc.hp.gov.in	April 2026
JK SET	www.jujkset.in	October 2026
Assam SLET	sletneonline.co.in	March 2026
USET	usetonline.co.in	January 2026
GSET	gujaratset.ac.in	November 2026
Rajasthan SET	rpsc.rajasthan.gov.in	To be announced
Haryana SET	www.highereduhry.ac.in	To be announced
MP SET	mppsc.mp.gov.in	To be announced
Telangana SET (TS SET)	www.telanganaset.org	To be announced
West Bengal SET (WB SET)	www.wbcsconline.in	To be announced

We hope that you have got the idea of the PHD entrance exam 2025  through this article. Students can choose the PhD entrance exam according to their subjects and eligibility provided in the article. We wish you all the success in your higher studies. Stay tuned with CollegeDekho for the latest updates regarding the PhD entrance exams 2025.