SPPU sees sharp drop in PhD admissions; 36 departments struggle with low enrolment

Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) saw a steady decline in PhD admissions over the past four years, impacting research publications and resulting in a drop in rankings. Responding to a query from senate member Shantanu Lamdhade, the university attributed the drop in enrollment to students opting for private and deemed universities in Pune.

Shantanu Lamdhade had asked for data on intake capacity, actual enrollment, vacant seats, post-doctoral fellowships, and whether the gap in admissions was affecting the university’s ranking. He also asked for details of departments with the lowest intake, and whether new post-doc programmes were planned.

In response, the university provided the official figures of last four year's PG and PhD enrollment data as well as the list of 36 departments with below par admissions.

SPPU: Sharp drop in PG, PhD enrolment

While the sanctioned PG intake rose from 7,504 seats in 2022–23 to 8,245 seats in 2024–25, the actual number of students who enrolled remained much lower – 5,290 students admitted in 2022–23, 5,334 in 2023–24 and 6,156 in 2024–25.

The data shows that the decline is even more steep for the PhD programme. Admissions have dropped from 235 candidates in 2021-22 to just 17 in 2024-25. In addition, only 14 students were awarded post-doctoral fellowships in 2024-25.

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36 departments with low enrollment

The university said that low PhD admissions have impacted research publications, resulting in a drop in rankings. Here’s the list of 36 departments with low enrollment.

• Department of Economics
• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Mathematics
• Department of Technology
• Department of History
• Department of Health Sciences
• Library and Information Science
• Department of Environmental Science
• Department of Psychology
• Department of Sanskrit and Prakrit Languages
• Department of Management Sciences
• Department of Geography
• Department of Physics
• Department of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Studies
• Department of Education and Extension
• Foreign Languages Department, SPPU
• Department of Anthropology
• Center for Performing Arts
• Department of Sociology
• University Sub-Centre Ahilyanagar
• Department of Sports and Physical Education
• Department of Defence and Strategic Studies
• School of Energy Studies
• Department of Atmospheric and Space Sciences
• Department of Hindi
• Interdisciplinary School (Science)
• Department of Commerce and Research Centre
• Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies
• Department of Electronic and Instrumentation Science
• Department of Lifelong Learning and Extension
• Department of Scientific Computing Modeling and Simulation
• Department of Women and Gender Studies
• Department of Geology
• Center for Advanced Stabilizers in Sanskrit.