Grass is just as green on our side!
TL; DR. I refused to enrol as a PhD student in India for many years because I was ill-informed, but I finally did in 2019 and had a great experience. This document intends to better inform the new generation of prospective PhDs about higher studies in India.
Table of Contents
Perks
I had a terrific PhD experience at IIT Bombay, reasons below. The following are also what I think I would have missed had I gone to the US.
PhD supervision
If you haven’t noticed, the PhD pool in India (at least in Computer Science) is small. Number of strong PhDs is even smaller. What this means is an awesome Supervisor-PhD ratio. I used to meet with my supervisors very often. They were just a door-knock away (leaving aside the crazy COVID times). I had the pleasure of learning directly from the masters of the art both about life and science. My decision to enrol as a PhD student in 2019 was mostly influenced by this. Where else would a PhD get such attention from well-accomplished researchers? That said, the attention and involvement of your supervisor are not always guaranteed. Please research well before you join, refer See and Tell section below.
Self-paced research.
The stress of publishing is relatively low. The pace of research is determined by the student most of the time. An advisor usually will not be breathing down your neck to publish because a PhD is not paid from their grants unlike in the US. PhDs are paid by MHRD (i.e. Indian government) directly. However, pace of research is also largely dependent on your supervisor, please see See and tell below, i.e. know before you join.
Resume.
If you’re one of those who fear PhD from India may not look so strongly on your profile the way I was, there are some workarounds. Thesis awards, top-tier publications, PhD fellowships and good recommendation letters can all help highlight you as a researcher. I believe it is easier to stand out among a relatively small pool of PhD students in India and compensate for any affiliation-related weakness in your profile.
See and Tell.
Unlike overseas PhD labs, one can easily visit, work, interact and explore what it is like joining a lab in India. I spent almost a year at IITB before deciding to join as a student; such a well-informed choice is unlikely to go south. I have seen instances where Indian students in the US find it hard because they do not like the research environment or because they are unable to find a suitable advisor.
Matters of money, culture and climate.
This is somewhat self-explanatory. I did not have to face any issues due to climate or cultural shifts or stress about financial matters so much (that is assuming you’re fine with around 35,000 Rs stipend) during my PhD. I had a wonderful time camping in the Sahyadri hills, eating good food (IITB canteens are the best I have seen), volunteering at Isha yoga events, celebrating every festival grandly, and never having to endure extreme weather. I was close to my family, friends and community, which helped me sail through my PhD without hurting my sanity. Needless to say, I didn’t have to worry about a VISA expiring or a mounting debt.
Clarification regarding debt: Because US PhD admission is highly competitive, some (including me) consider doing a masters in the US first and then transition to a PhD. Path to PhD admit through masters accrues debt. This is what I meant.
Moreover, there are many PhD fellowship opportunities available, some examples are Google PhD Fellowhip, TCS, Qualcomm, Cisco etc. I never had to bother much about funding my conference trips. If you have a paper at the conference, it is not hard to find funding through travel grants from generous companies like Microsoft/Google or through institute or department.
Ease of admission.
If you have a bachelor’s from one of the IITs like me, it is easy to enrol again into an IIT for a PhD.
Grounded perspective.
Campuses in India (like that of IITB) are secluded from the outside world. But once we step outside, the scale and intensity of Indian societal problems (such as poor standard of living) are right on face. The complex, chaotic, messy Mumbai always humbled and kept me grounded, and reminded me of the real complex problems that are far-fetched from mainstream AI research. The people of Mumbai, on the other hand, taught me to keep my spirits high even amidst all the troubles.
You may even get to make an impact on India-specific problems depending on your PI. Some such awesome current and past projects that I am aware of are Hindi Wordnet, BharatGPT, AI4Bharat, Water-resource management.
Housing, Security, Food and Medical.
Many decent Indian colleges provide a cocoon-like self-sufficient campus. Accommodation, security and medical cover are provided for every student. Moreover, quality food is catered at an unbelievably low subsidized price inside the campus. Needless to say, these facilities are in strong contrast to most other places overseas. The jubilant nightlife, compassionate hostel mates, devil-may-care campus, night views across the Powai Lake, and the sense of belonging kept me going during my PhD.
Small community.
Researchers in India tend to know each other well. So, I found it easier to get good internships or could just shoot a mail to any researcher in India and get a response.
Teaching duties
Comparatively, expected teaching duties (at IIT Bombay at least) are low. Only eight hours of teaching duties are expected per week, which in practice is even lower.
Drawbacks
You may have to watch out and proactively make up for the following drawbacks.
Communication & Presentation skills.
A researcher’s success hugely depends on how well they communicate. For various reasons, the PhD programs in India are not structured to test, push and hone the technical presentation skills of their students (at IITs and IISc as far as I know). The students must exercise special care to push themselves to attend and present talks, practice technical writing and seek feedback. Several universities overseas have facilities to help students with their writing and presentations such as through one-on-one sessions with language professionals.
Small cohort related
In direct relation to the merit pointed out above: PhD supervision, a small cohort of PhD students also means a narrower perspective and unhoned technical communication skills. Moreover, you may miss out on the joys of camaraderie with shared passion and interests. There isn’t much that can be done to offset this disadvantage. You gain some, you lose some.
Strong Conviction.
Owing to the self-paced attitude towards research, a PhD student in India must have a strong conviction towards their research. Your PhD cohort need not be as passionate thereby requiring special effort not to regress to the average.
Networking
I feel Indian academic organizations are not structured for serendipity. It is not easy to stumble into a researcher or faculty from other departments or even from the same department. Over all the years at IITB, I only ever met with very few. Unfortunately, there is no easy workaround for this.
Clear Future Goals.
Some career choices such as wanting to become a professor in the US or UK are eliminated or are made hard by a PhD from India. Having clear, albeit rough, career goals can help in this regard. Look closely at where all the alumni made it to.
Conclusion
I have hopefully communicated what one can achieve by staying back. I am not advocating in any way (for any moral, ethical or otherwise reason) to pursue a PhD in India. But before you sign up for a PhD position in the US, please consider carefully if you would do better by staying back. This dialogue from Shahrukh Khan from Dear Zindagi aptly puts it.
Kabhi kabhi hum mushkil rasta sirf is liye chunte hai, kyun ki humein lagta hai, important cheezein paane ke liye humein mushkil rasta apnana chahiye. Apne aap ko punish karna bahut zaroori samajhte hai. But why? Aasaan rasta kyun nahi chun sakte? Kya burai hai us mein? Khaas karke jab us mushkil ka saamna karne ke liye hum taiyaar hi nahi hai!
Translation: https://www.filmyquotes.com/movies/1663
Sometimes we choose a difficult path only because … we feel that to attain important things we need to choose a difficult path … we think that it’s important to punish ourselves … but why can’t we choose a simple path … what’s wrong with that … especially when we are not ready to face that difficult path
Limitations of this note
- Many of the above-stated pros do not apply or do not matter if you choose the wrong supervisor. Research well about the person before signing up.
- The pros and cons discussed may not directly apply to all the institutes in India, say for newer IITs. Exercise caution if you are considering institutions other than the five old IITs, ISI or IISc.
- Things are different in Sciences. I have written from the perspective of a Computer Science PhD student. I believe research facilities in sciences matter a lot, and not so much in computer science and engineering (GPUs can also be accessed remotely). If you are a Prospective Science PhD, please take these with a pinch of salt.
Acknowledgements
I sincerely thank the feedback and discussions with the current and past PhD students and faculty of IIT Bombay. The list of people who contributed by provided feedback includes Anjali Sairaman, Vaibhav Krishan, Sabyasachi Ghosh, Preethi Jyothi, Danish Pruthi, Ayush Maheshwari, Abhijeet Awasthi, Lokesh N, Bolanath, Shantanu Kulkarni, Settaluri Sravanthi, Rishabh Kumar.