AICTE Doctoral Fellowship 2026: The AICTE doctoral fellowship is a research funding program which is conducted by All India Council for technical education. This AICTE Doctoral Fellowship 2026 programme offers financial support, monthly help, research grants and other benefits to all students who are doing full-time PhD research in Engineering, Management, Design, applied sciences and related fields in India.
Every year all India Council of technical education runs this Doctoral fellowship and for 2026 cycle the available official timeline will start from January 2026. The first session will be open from 5 January 2026 and the last day to submit the application will be 20th April 2026.
So all those candidates who are willing to apply for this AICTE Doctoral Fellowship 2026 it is necessary to know all the important details like: eligibility to apply, benefits the student gets from this Fellowship and How does AICTE Doctoral Fellowship 2026 work and process of application.
What is AICTE Doctoral Fellowship 2026?
The AICTE Doctoral Fellowship 2026 is a research Fellowship program run by the All India Council of technical education. It provides the fellowship to all those needy researchers who are willing to do the PHD research but unable to bear these expenses. It is necessary for all the applicants that they are doing this PhD full-time degree in an AICTE approved Institution. This Fellowship promotes high quality research Innovation and academic culture. The goal of this Fellowship is to build strong research ecosystem.
Schedule For AICTE Doctoral Fellowship Program 2026
- The application will start from early 2026
- The last date to apply for the 2025-26 cycle will be 20th April 2026.
- The Institute verification deadline will also be 20th April 2026.
- After this the evaluation of application will be done which typically will start from first May to 30th May 2026.
- The announcement of selected candidates will be done around 15 June 2026.
- and the date of starting this Fellowship will be 1st July 2026.
AICTE Doctoral Fellowship Eligibility
AICTE Doctoral Fellowship is a research fellowship program, so there must be a strong competition between applicants. Very few people get selected for this fellowship program, that’s why the eligibility criteria is very much important. Only deserving and prepared student receive this Fellowship. For this criteria will be as follows
- The applicant must be admitted to the full-time PhD program in an AICTE approved institution or university.
- The areas of study must be engineering and technology, management and design planning, computer application, applied arts and craft ,hotel management and Catering technology, applied science the education,
- Required Qualification will be the student must be Bachelor or Master degree holder or student must have 5 years integrated degree that leads to a post graduate degree.
- for hotel management research the students must have relevant undergraduate degrees plus masters degrees.
- The maximum age must be 30 years however the relaxation has been given to the reserve categories for 3 to 5 years.
Other than this the qualifying exam result are also the main criteria of this Fellowship like
- for engineering and Technology the student must have qualified GATE or SRF exam
- for management CAT MAT or GMAT must be qualified
- For design CEEF or NET should be qualified
- For planning GATE/NET
- For Applied arts and crafts NET /CEED
- For applied science GATE JRF SRF
- for hotel management research proposal evaluated
Benefit of the AICTE Doctoral Fellowship 2026
After getting selected in AICTE Dr Fellowship the fellows will get financial and academic support. Every fellow will get a monthly stipend, an annual contingency Grant, House rent allowance, leave and support and teaching assistantship work.
- In this Fellowship Junior research fellows will get 37,000 per month.
- Senior research Fellows will get 42,000 per month.
- Other than that each fellow will receive 15,000 per year for research expenses such as books, conference travel materials .
- And if the fellows do not live in Hostel and pay rent they will get HRA as per the central Norms of that City.
Document Required for AICTE Fellowship 2026
Before applying for this Fellowship the student must have collected all the required documents. These document list is as follow
- Admission or registration letter
- marksheet and degree
- National exam scorecard
- research proposal
- age proof of student
- class 10 certificate
- category certificate
- no objection certificate from the University
AICTE Doctoral Fellowship 2026 Registration Process
If you want to apply for AICTE Doctoral Fellowship you must follow these registration steps
First check the eligibility criteria. After checking the eligibility criteria visit the AICTE Doctoral Fellowship official website. Here the new user has to complete the registration. After registration is done you can get the login ID and password. With this login id login to the portal. After login to the portal the applicant will find ADF application form, click on this link. Now the applicant has to fill all the necessary information like personal details, academic details ,enter PhD details and upload all required documents.
One more time review the AICTE Doctoral Fellowship 2026 application carefully and click on the final submission. After submission, the Institute will verify your application. They may check your document and eligibility. Keep in contact with your research office. If the Institute approves the application the candidate will get selected and the institute will publish the selected candidate’s list. The selected students receive confirmation. The fellowship usually starts from the notified period. And if the Institute approval is not completed the application may get rejected.
Rule regulations and things you must know
AICTE Doctoral Fellowship 2026, Scholars cannot take part-time or full-time jobs while holding the fellowship. If the research progress is unsatisfactory the fellowship might get stopped. The AICTE Doctoral Fellowship 2026 cannot be transferred to another Institute; the fellows have to complete their Fellowship in allotted Institute only. Always follow the Institute guidelines the AICTE rules for reporting progress
The AICTE Doctoral Fellowship 2026 is the prestigious and valuable opportunity for full-time PhD scholars in India. It provides strong financial support ,research grants and allows a pathway from JRF to SRF. It also encouraged the quality research in Engineering Management design technology and science. So if you want to become researchers, scientist, Professor or innovator apply for this fellowship program which Ends by 20th April 2026