IIT Bombay awards 3,763 degrees; PhD numbers hit record, new initiatives unveiled

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) has awarded a total of 3,763 degrees to 3,442 students during the academic year 2025-26, including 620 PhD degrees. The institute conducted its 64th Convocation and Departmental Degree Award Functions (DDAFs) on August 22. Of the 3,763 degrees awarded during the academic year, 1,713 were undergraduate degrees, 1,430 were postgraduate degrees and 620 were PhD degrees. The figures include degrees awarded during both the spring and autumn sessions. PhD degrees awarded during the academic year marked its highest-ever number of PhD degrees. Of the total 620, 351 were awarded during the DDAF, while 269 were awarded during the Spring Session.

Convocation highlights

The 3,763 degrees were awarded to 3,442 students, comprising 791 female and 2,651 male students.

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IIT Bombay Convocation: 3,333 degrees awarded in autumn session

During the Departmental Degree Award Function in the autumn session, IIT Bombay awarded 3,333 degrees to 3,042 students. These included 1,663 undergraduate, 1,319 postgraduate and 351 PhD degrees.

The undergraduate degrees awarded during the DDAF included 1,010 BTech degrees, 466 Dual Degree (BTech+MTech) degrees, 34 Interdisciplinary Dual Degrees, 82 four-year BS degrees, 10 Dual Degree (BS+MSc) degrees, 23 BDes degrees, 16 Dual Degree (BDes+MDes) degrees and 22 three-year BS degrees.

In the postgraduate category, the institute awarded 684 MTech degrees, 40 MS by Research degrees, five MDes by Research degrees, 17 MTech degrees from Dual Degree (MTech+PhD) programmes, 64 MDes degrees, 312 two-year MSc degrees, 126 MBA degrees, 13 MPP degrees and 21 PGD degrees, among others.

The 351 PhD degrees awarded during the DDAF included 286 PhD degrees, 39 joint PhD degrees of IIT Bombay and Monash University, 17 PhD degrees from Dual Degree (MTech+PhD) programmes and nine from Dual Degree (MSc+PhD) programmes.

IIT Bombay PhD degrees

Across the full academic year, IIT Bombay awarded 620 PhD degrees. Of these, 351 were awarded during the DDAF, while 269 were awarded during the spring session.

The spring session also included 247 PhD degrees, 13 PhD degrees from dual degrees (MTech+PhD), eight from dual degrees (MSc+PhD) and one dual degree (MPhil+PhD).

IIT Bombay Director Shireesh Kedare said the institute has followed a decentralised convocation model for several years, with 28 departmental events. He said IIT Bombay is the only IIT to have crossed 600 PhDs in a year, awarding 620 in 2025-26. Chemistry awarded 77 PhDs, mechanical engineering 49 and humanities 40. The institute also held its first centralised medal ceremony. Kedare said IIT Bombay is working to reduce PhD completion time and strengthen faculty-student interaction while addressing academic pressure and distractions among students.

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Awards and recognition

The Medal Distribution Ceremony was held on August 22 as part of the 64th Convocation and DDAFs. It began with the felicitation of Professor Emeritus and former Deputy Director of IIT Bombay Prof. Juzer Vasi and Shashi Shekhar Vempati, who were conferred the Padma Shri Award 2026 in the fields of science and engineering and literature and education, respectively.

Prof. Umesh Waghmare, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, attended the ceremony as the Chief Guest.

The President of India Medal was awarded to Samar Perwez, a BTech student from the Department of Electrical Engineering, while the Institute Gold Medal went to Vighnesh J.R., a dual-degree student from the Department of Aerospace Engineering.

The Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal was awarded to Nimma Rambabu, a PhD student from the Department of Civil Engineering. The Sharad Maloo Gold Medal went to Nimay Upen Shah, a BTech student from the Department of Electrical Engineering, while the G H Raisoni Excellence Gold Medal was awarded to Niveditha V. Nair, a BTech student from the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

The institute also presented the Naik and Rastogi Excellence in PhD Research Awards 2024-2026 to 50 students. Another 44 students received Institute Silver Medals for outstanding academic performance.

IIT Bombay Director Prof. Shireesh Kedare congratulated the graduating students and medal recipients and acknowledged the support provided by their parents, families, teachers and mentors.

IIT Bombay clarifies VBSA stance

IIT Bombay officials said the institute does not see the VBSA framework as a threat to its autonomy and believes quality monitoring, ratings and a structured regulatory and accreditation system are necessary. The institute is also expanding its Frontier Research initiative, with faculty groups working on major national and global challenges. To attract BTech students to PhD programmes, IIT Bombay has started internships for final-year students from several NITs, with 80-90 students enrolled so far and opportunities to move to master’s or PhD programmes based on performance. It is also expanding its four-year BS engineering programmes, with the first batch set to graduate next year.

IIT Bombay expands research initiatives

IIT Bombay has approved new research centres and PhD programmes in areas including traditional Indian knowledge, medical technology, defence technology, semiconductors and quantitative finance and has introduced a conflict-of-interest policy for researchers. The institute is also strengthening student wellness by appointing an additional associate dean, expanding round-the-clock counselling capacity three- to four-fold, training wardens and hall managers, involving external psychologists and conducting workshops on different aspects of student life.