Delhi University has announced the pattern and syllabus of the entrance test for direct PhD admissions after the four-year undergraduate programme, including eligibility criteria and the selection process.
Delhi University on 14 October 2026 released a notification announcing the pattern and syllabus of the entrance test for students who can apply for direct PhD admissions after completion of the four-year UG programme with research or entrepreneurship. These changes are applicable to all the students who have completed their four-year or eight-semester UG programme under the UGCF 2022, having a CGPA of at least 7.5 and a CGPA of 7 for SC/ST/PwBD students. Moreover, the students must not have cleared UGC-CSIR NET/GATE/CEED or any similar national-level examination. The notification highlights that only those students who have worked on a written dissertation, or done an academic project (not translation work), or entrepreneurship in their fourth year will be eligible to appear for the entrance test.
The entrance test for direct PhD admissions has been divided into two sections, namely Research Methodology and Subject-Specific sections. The entire test will be for 100 marks, and the duration will be two hours. While the research methodology section will be MCQ-based and comprise 50 marks, the subject-specific section will be descriptive on the research/entrepreneurship done by students in their fourth year, also consisting of 50 marks. In the MCQ-based section, each incorrect answer will have negative marking, i.e., 25 per cent of the marks for each correct answer.
In order to qualify for the interview round, students must score 50 per cent marks or more (45 per cent for SC/ST/PwBD students) in the entrance test. Students are also required to submit a copy of their dissertation/report of the academic project/entrepreneurship on the basis of which they were assessed in the fourth year, prior to the interview. 70 per cent weightage will be given to the marks obtained in the entrance test and 30 per cent to the interview for selection of candidates to the PhD programmes.
The syllabi of the Research Methodology paper for History, Philosophy, Music and Languages will be the respective syllabi of the Research Methodology course taught in the four-year UG programme of DU.
The syllabi for Commerce, Humanities, Social Sciences, Home Science, Psychology and Applied Psychology have been mentioned in Annexure A, while the syllabi for Physical/Natural/Applied Sciences, Electronics, IT, Mathematical Sciences as well as Computer Science are mentioned in Annexure B. The details of the entrance test will be notified separately.
Read also: Delhi University Allows 4-Year UG Graduates to Apply Directly for PhD
Image Credits: University of Delhi
Tiya Mittal
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