The Ashank Desai Centre for Policy Studies (ADCPS) at IIT Bombay was conceived as a centre for research, education, training, and practice. To meet the growing need and demand for policy professionals in India, it was thought necessary that ADCPS should have a Master’s programme in Public Policy (MPP) as well as a PhD programme. ADCPS launched its PhD programme in Public Policy in the Autumn semester of 2017.

The Centre envisions a myriad ways in which its PhD and MPP programmes can contribute to IIT Bombay’s intellectual expansion and India’s polity and society. The aim is to produce professionals and academicians who seek to serve or lead in the public’s interest. The academic programmes will reflect the changing dynamics in today’s world and the need for policy to keep up with technological advancements, globalisation, 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, the Centre aims to impart to its students tools that apply to diverse situations and teach them how to adapt to various fields, contexts, or conditions. 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 work for large corporations as analysts or do policy research in international organisations, think tanks, or universities. Through its academic programmes, ADCPS aims to capitalise on IIT Bombay’s existing institutional strengths and build a Centre that can be a public policy research and expertise hub. The Centre’s academic programmes integrate public policy, social sciences, and technology.

The PhD programme, during the first two semesters, focuses on classroom courses. This includes the compulsory core and the elective courses. The programme is structured to keep a share of the credit load in core areas of Policy Studies, and the other share divided between (i) the courses in the sectoral areas of interest and (ii) institute electives which would complement the policy courses and the domain courses, taking into account the student’s background. The rest of the duration is dedicated to researching towards the final PhD thesis.

Please visit the IIT Bombay website for detailed admission advertisement, application form, and information brochure. Admission-related updates may also be available at: https://www.cps.iitb.ac.in/admissions/doctoral-programme

Applications must be submitted through IIT Bombay’s online portal.