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All ways to do MSc/PhD Maths after B.Tech

Dushyanth Edadasula

Dushyanth Edadasula

I am from Srikakulam, a small town in Andhra Pradesh, and have done my MSc in Physics from Pune University, B.Tech from Andhra Univerity. I love Photography and I run this 'Citizens of Science' on the side. you can read our incredible journey from the 'Story so far' page in the top bar.

Contents

 “How to study Mathematics after engineering?”

“Can I do MSc in Mathematics after BTech?”
“How to do masters in Mathematics after mechanical engineering?”
“Can I do a Ph.D. in Mathematics after Engineering?”
“How to study Mathematics after engineering?”

To all those questions, the answer is,

“Yes!! you can study Mathematics after Engineering in India”

“and there are plenty of ways too!!” 

 

Hello, Math enthusiasts!!!

                   Hey fellow Engineer!!! I actually am an engineer turned Physicist, After the success of my blog ‘Physics after Engineering’ which is for engineers switching to physics, I thought of building one such for mathematics as well. So, I have checked all the institutes that take engineers into Physics to see if they take engineers into also into mathematics. I’ve listed out all such I found. I’ve tried my best to include as many as possible but I urge your help to complete the list and keep it updated as I am in the field of physics and not math. So, if you have any new information or correction in the blog, please comment below or in our WhatsApp group or mail me.

Here is The link to the “Maths after Engineering” WhatsApp group where all members are math enthusiastic engineers like you. I’d recommend joining the group because there are people who have joined IITs for MSc Math and some are about to join this year(2020), also you’ll be getting updates about notifications of any exams mentioned below and information on any new opportunities available.

Note: All that said, Reader discretion is advised on choosing a mathematics career cause one might not earn as much as one can with an engineering or MBA degree. It also takes a lot of time to settle in this field so be prepared to see all your crushes and Exes getting married and having a kid or two while you’re still studying. Also Cracking the competitive exams below and completing the degree require serious commitment and love for the subject.
Assuming you have it all in you, Let’s now enter into details already !!!!

I just need an MSc Math degree for promotion. I don’t care much about learning Maths for fun and all that.

If you belong to this category you may go for the online MSC Mathematics courses section offered by the universities such as LPU, where you can do your master’s sitting at home at a low cost (and equally low quality LOL).

Ways to study Mathematics after Engineering

These are the major ways for doing Msc or Integrated Ph.D.(or direct Ph.D. in some cases) in Mathematics after Engineering.

  • JAM
  • Indian Statistical Institute(ISI)
  • Other Entrance tests.
  • Opportunities abroad (Math GRE, General GRE, IELTS, and TOFEL, etc)
  • TIFR GS (Integrated Ph.D. paper)
  • NBHM
  • GATE Engineering score
  • Online & Distance programs (At the bottom of the page)
  • MS by research programs
  • Direct Ph.D.
  • GATE Mathematics
  • CSIR NET
The two exams GATE and NET have the syllabus of MSc+BSc. All the others mentioned above are conducted on the BSc level syllabus and are easier for us Engineers with less math background to crack.
 
I know these are a lot of exams. One has to zero onto one or two exams, or else one might end up wasting time in confusion or worse, prepare for the wrong exam. So, to clear up things a bit I’ve written the following post, “Which exam to prepare for? JAM, ISI, NBHM, TIFR, or NET?” where I’ve weighed the most important things to consider about each exam. It definitely will help give you a clear view of which exam to prepare for. I’d highly recommend going through the post. Especially if you find all the below info to be overwhelming.

JAM exam

         This is an exam conducted by IITs as an entrance test to MSc and an Integrated Ph.D. in IITs and IISC. Along with these, IISERs also take JAM rankers into Integrated Ph.D. and some have started MSc programs too. Actually, there is a small confusion about the eligibility of engineers into IITs through JAM. IITs require 4 semesters with at least one maths(or related) subject in your undergraduate(engineering) coursework. This is a vague statement but the IITs selection process and our (physics aspirants) experiences are even more confusing. So, do read this blog post about the experience of JAM physics rankers in the selection process of IITs to get some idea regarding this confusion (It is written from Physics aspirants’ experiences but is applicable to maths ones as well. Just read ‘maths’ wherever you find ‘physics’ in the post)

IIT Mandi, IISC, and IISERs have their own application portal, you have to apply to each of them individually through their websites and not through the JAM counseling portal( where you can apply for all IITs in a single place)
also, NITs take students through another counseling but none of them take Engineers in M.Sc Maths, NIT Arunachal Pradesh takes Engineers in mathematical physics course but it’s a pretty bad course and people recommend sitting for one more year and preparing for the exams again rather than taking admission there.

Read the excellent blog posts on JAM Prep. in our MAE blog

Indian Statistical Institute(ISI)

Engineers are eligible for lots of courses in ISI which has multiple campuses across the country and the main campus at Kolkata. We are eligible for PG courses M.Math, M.Stat, MS(QE-Quantitative Economics), etc, and also for diploma courses in statistics. Go through their official website for full details.

Universities and Other Entrance tests

I’ve searched the eligibility criteria of almost all major colleges and universities and of them all, These are the ones that I found to give admission to Engineering grads in M.Sc/MA in Mathematics or related fields like applied mathematics. Almost all of the Institutes below don’t have any eligibility criteria for coursework unlike IITs which is a kind of saving grace for those who don’t satisfy the criteria

  • Indian Statistical Institute (ISI)
  • Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI)
  • IISc, Bangalore (I Ph.D. program-Link)
  • CUET PG
    • This is a Common entrance test for some Central Univs. Central Govt. is trying to bring all the central Univs under this one common entrance exam. There are some really good Univs. like JNU, and HCU, but most others are not-so-good Central Universities. More and more Univs. are joining this. Anyway, us engineers, are eligible only for 5-6 of them you should check out the list from the website [Link]
  • IISER Pune [Link]
  • IISER, Kolkata [Link]
  • IISER, Bhopal [Link]
  • IISER Tiruvanamthapuram [Link]
  • LNMIIT, Jaipur [JAM qualified students can get in with an interview (without an entrance exam). They have excellent faculty and also give a monthly stipend of Rs.5000 to 10 out of the 15 students details here]
  • Shiv Nadar University, Noida [Link]
  • Hyderabad Central University -HCU [Link]
  • Delhi University (3 yrs or 6 sems of maths-related subjects required in bachelors-link)
  • Pune University (you’ll be eligible for MSc but not MA- link)
  • Somaiya University [Link]
  • South Asian University(SAU)-Delhi[Link]
  • Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore[link]
  • IIT Mandi (Himachal Pradesh)?
  • Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai (ICT, Mumbai)?
  • Christ University (Bangalore) [Link]
  •  Ramanujan Institute, Chennai [Link]
  • CHARUSAT, Gujarat?
  • Utkal University,Bhubaneswar(maths?,statistics) [Link]
  • LPU (Lovely Professional University) [LPUCET] [Link]

I’m not sure about how good the last few institutes on the list are, do your own research!

Opportunities Abroad

 (My knowledge is very limited about this, but here are my 2 cents)
I personally feel if one can fund themselves, then this is the best of all the options mentioned. Because switching careers is a relatively easy thing abroad, the opportunities you have there are numerous and the research happening even in the mediocre colleges there is comparable to good colleges here. The pay and social status for a professor or researcher will also be much better there.
        Applying abroad involves tons of things, unlike the Indian system. It’s impossible to convey all the essential info in a single post or two. But don’t worry, we, the PAE (Physics After Engineering) community have got your back. In a series of posts by multiple authors, we tried to cover as many things as we can. So, please go through all the posts in the ‘applying abroad‘ section on this contents page of the blog. Here I’m listing some of the most liked posts.
[NOTE: If you are a complete newbie, start from this post 7 Effective Steps To Apply To Universities Abroad by Supe Prathamesh which covers all the basics about how to apply abroad]

(A rant on the Indian govt) Our beloved Govt. of India has been reassuring us time and again how it’s going to underpay and undervalue the researchers and research institutes in the country. With acts like a minimal hike in Ph.D. stipend given after 4 years and intensive protests from scholars, time and again it proves that these conditions are going to prevail for a long time.

Anyway getting back to our topic, the General GRE with a combination of TOEFL or IELTS is necessary for the USA, and having a Maths GRE score is also recommended. As for the European countries, only IELTS is enough (Sending GRE scores might add to your profile but is not mandatory). The tuition fee is zero in some countries like Italy and Germany.

TIFR GS

           TIFR is one of the elite research institutes in India if not the best. It has campuses in Mumbai, Banglore, Hyderabad, and Pune. Of them, the ones in Mumbai and in Banglore(ICTS) have mathematics departments. Engineers have to opt for an Integrated Ph.D. paper, Your questions will be from the BSc syllabus but the no.of questions will be rather less, and look for your deep understanding of a concept. Very few people get selected this way. The interviews will also be very thought-provoking. You need to be very strong with your fundamentals.

The best part of this(or any other Ph.D. course) is the stipend. You’ll receive a monthly fellowship of Rs 16,000/- for the first year. At the end of the first year, upon satisfactory performance, the fellowship is enhanced to Rs 25,000/- per month (further raised to Rs 28,000/- after registration for PhD. and annual contingency of Rs. 20,000/-(First Year Int. PhD. students)-Book Grant Only / 32,000/- per year [Ph.D. students and Int. Ph.D. students (Second Year onwards)]

NBHM

It is mandatory to give the NBHM exam for applying to the following institutes and engineers are eligible for all of them.
  • IMSc, Chennai
  • HRI, Allahabad
  • IISER, Pune

Through GATE Engineering score (any stream)

     Yeah, you’ve read it right, There are a few institutes that accept students into mathematics stream with GATE score in any engineering stream. If you have already secured a good Gate score in your engineering stream then these will be a great option for you.
  • IIST – M.Tech in Machine Learning and Computing (Details)
  • IISc – Ph.D., and IPh.D
  • IISERs?
  • IMSc, Chennai Int Ph.D. (In exceptional cases)
  • IIT Madras – Ph.D. (not sure)

Direct Ph.D.

     [Apart from the institutes mentioned below, there are a few that offer Direct Ph.D. in the next section on GATE and NET]
 

         These are the institutes that offer direct Ph.D. to engineers. You need to have a good knowledge in some specific research field you are applying for, to crack the interviews

  • Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) [Although it’s mentioned as a direct Ph.D. those who don’t have math background have to attend a year and a half of coursework. So It’s basically an Integrated Ph.D. program again)
  • IISC Bangalore
  • Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore [Eligibility]
  • BITS (All campuses)
  • TCIS-TIFR Hyderabad
  • IISERs: Pune, Mohali, Thiruvananthapuram, and Tirupati
  • HRDD-BARC (Only M.E/M.Tech grads are eligible)

GATE and NET

          B.tech/B.E grads are eligible to write GATE and NET but I’d say they’re not quite relevant for engineers looking to do M.Sc. So, it’s better to focus on other more useful exams rather than these as very fewer institutes take through these exams, and most of those also take through JAM. Here’s the tentative and inexhaustive list of institutes that take engineers through these exams(A big thanks to my friends who made the list!!). Some of the programs are I-PhD and some are direct Ph.D.
 
GATE
  • ICTS, Bangalore
  • IISC, Banglore
  • TIFR, Hyderabad
  • IIST, Thiruvananthapuram
  • IIT, Bombay
  • IIT, Kanpur
  • IISER, Kolkata
CSIR-NET
  • IISC, Bangalore (Ph.D.)
  • IIT Bombay, Kanpur, Roorkee, Dharwad, Guwahati, Gandhinagar (Ph.D.)
  • IISER, Tirupati (Ph.D.)
  • IUCAA, Pune (Ph.D.)
  • IMSc, Chennai (I Ph.D.)
  • ICTS, Bangalore (I Ph.D.)
  • TIFR, Hyderabad (Ph.D. and I Ph.D.)
  • NIT Roorkee and some other NITs

Online & Distance programs

          My knowledge about this is also very limited, the below institutes I ‘believe’ offer MSc mathematics for engineers. Govt institutions can not discriminate between a regular and distance degree holder, however, I’m still a bit ambivalent about these courses because the Universities mentioned here are very poorly ranked (except maybe Madras & Osmania University) and you won’t get to learn much through their coursework. The degree you’ll get is mostly for the sake of getting it. If your idea is to go for research, I feel it’s better to self-learn math & go for I-Phd or a direct Ph.D. through the channels mentioned above.
Anyway, if you are just looking to get a Master’s degree just for the sake of it, say for promotion to PGT or something, then these kinds of degrees especially the online ones more than the distance ones.

Online Degrees

Distance Degrees

  • Madras University (Link)
  • Osmania University, Telangana (Link)
  • Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University (Link)
  • IGNOU [Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Statistics]
  • Tamilnadu Open University(Link)
  • Kuvempu University (Can’t find supporting links)
  • Karnataka State Open University (Link)
  • Jaipur National University (Link )
  • Vardhaman Mahaveer Open University (Link)
  • Lalit Narayan Mithila University(Link)
  • NIMS University (Link)
         Apparently, these distance degrees are valid, only if you give the exam in a study center that is located in the territorial jurisdiction of the university since the above three universities are State Universities, you should give exam only in the states in which the university is located for your degree to be recognized by UGC.
All the options that are struck off have been discontinued by UGC in the year 2018. Do check their websites to see (and update me) if the status has changed recently.
Also, do visit all other useful content of our blog 
Mathematics after Engineering.

Here is the link for our WhatsApp group of members all of whom are engineers who actively discuss and help each other out in entering mathematics stream after engineering. 

Mail me on Dushyanth.edadasula@gmail.com for suggestions/queries.

6 thoughts on “All ways to do MSc/PhD Maths after B.Tech”

  3. Soban

    Hi Dushyanth! Any ideas for a MSc. Math course through distance education in Tamil Nadu? I am pursuing my career as a Software Engineer, and would like to do an M.Sc. Math and B.Ed. through distance education for my interest in taking up a government teaching job in Mathematics.

    Reply
  4. Dushyanth Edadasula

    I've mentioned all the opportunities I've known brother, haven't found any such in tamilnadu. The list may still not be complete, you may try checking the websites are contacting the institutes to know if there are any. If you do find something kindly let me know, I'll put it up in the website.

    Reply
  5. Swamini

    Hi..I want to pursue MSc maths. I'm engineering student (ECE) and I had maths for 3 semesters and eligibility for IITs is 4 semesters. And for NITs eligibility is written as BSc. Are there any colleges which offer MSc course for ECE engineers?

    Reply

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