The Ashank Desai Centre for Policy Studies (ADCPS) at IIT Bombay was conceived as a centre for research, education, training, and practice. In order to meet a growing need and demand for policy professionals in India, it was thought necessary that ADCPS have a Master’s in Public Policy (MPP) programme as well as a PhD programme. ADCPS launched its PhD in Public Policy (MPP) programme from the Autumn semester of 2017.
ADCPS envisions myriad ways in which its PhD and MPP programmes and graduates from these programmes can contribute to IIT Bombay’s intellectual expansion as well as to India’s polity and society. The aim is to produce professionals or academics who seek to serve or lead in the interest of the public. These academic programmes will reflect the changing dynamics in today’s world and the need for policy to keep up with technological advancements, globalization, nuanced and complex public debates, and the growing trend of building rights based democracies. Policy can no longer be contained within the realm of government and bureaucracy; it has percolated into civil society, academic institutions, and the private sector. Through the programmes, ADCPS aims to give its students tools which are applicable in diverse situations and teach students how to adapt to various fields, contexts, or situations. Students of the programmes can then find themselves fitting into and contributing to the public or private sectors, working within the government, or in the not for profit/NGO sector. They may choose to work for large corporations as analysts or lobbyists, or may do policy research in IOs, think tanks, or universities. Finally, ADCPS in its academic programmes aims to capitalize on IIT Bombay’s existing institutional strengths and build a department that can be a hub for public policy research and expertise. ADCPS’s academic programmes integrates public policy, social sciences, and technology.
We encourage international students to apply for the IIT Bombay institute TA fellowships for our PhD programs. More details about this can be found here
During the first two semesters, the focus is on classroom courses. This includes compulsory core and electives courses. Details of the course structure can be found below. Additionally, PhD scholars are expected to complete an eight-week internship at a relevant organisation after Semester II. This field exposure is expected to help students refine their research approach and build networks for their projects. The rest of the PhD programme is dedicated to conducting research towards the PhD thesis.
The Ashank Desai Centre for Policy Studies (ADCPS) at IIT Bombay is inviting applications for its PhD programme in Public Policy for the Autumn semester of 2022.
Please visit the IIT Bombay website here for detailed advertisement, application form, information brochure. The application must be submitted online
The programme is structured to keep half of the credit load in the Policy area, and the other half is to be divided between (i) the courses in the sectoral area of interest e.g. water, energy, gender, communication etc. and (ii) Institute electives which would complement the policy courses and the domain courses, taking into account the student’s background. The credit load will be designed to suit this requirement.
Each student will have to indicate the domain area e.g. water, energy, gender, information economy and others, in which s/he wishes to carry out doctoral research on policy related aspects. Ideally the student will have a guide and a co-guide–one having expertise in the policy arena and the other in the concerned domain. Candidates are strongly encouraged to identify relevant faculty members in any research area that they are interested in.
A candidate must identify either one or two of the following areas of APCPS Policy research and indicate as such in the research proposal (please carefully read www.cps.iitb.ac.in/research for elaboration):
i. Digital Societies and Governance
ii. Social Policy (Education, Ageing, Identity)
iii. Technology and Policy
iv. Urban Policy
v. Water, Sanitation, Energy, Climate Change