BENGALURU: For decades, doctoral graduates from India’s elite engineering institutes largely followed an academic path. This year, a growing number are being drawn instead into corporate research laboratories, as companies quietly recalibrate how and where advanced engineering talent fits into their competitive strategies.
From Classrooms to Corporate Labs
PhD students at the Indian Institutes of Technology are increasingly finding themselves recruited not for lecture halls, but for corporate research and development units. Placement officials across campuses say companies are now hiring doctoral candidates primarily for academic-facing and high-end R&D roles, reflecting a shift from earlier years when most PhDs moved into teaching or postdoctoral research.
At IIT Roorkee, recruiters ranging from Atomberg Technologies and Intel to Quantiphi, TCS, and MaxVolt Energy have made offers to PhD students this year. Nine doctoral candidates at the institute have received offers so far, according to the placement and internship cell. Officials say the uptick is tied to companies seeking to build in-house research capacity rather than relying solely on external collaborations.
“This year we are seeing more companies lining up,” said Vivek Pancholi, professor-in-charge of placements at IIT Roorkee, adding that industries are increasingly focused on in-house R&D to improve competitiveness.
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Hiring Outside the Traditional Placement Route
Unlike undergraduate and postgraduate students, many PhD candidates are securing roles through less formal channels. Placement heads note that doctoral students often receive offers through their research supervisors or professional networks, particularly for specialised roles that do not fit into standard campus recruitment frameworks.
At IIT Guwahati, PhD students are largely being placed through lateral hiring for niche roles, according to John Jose, head of the Centre for Career Development. These positions typically involve highly specific expertise and longer-term research mandates, aligning more closely with the candidates’ doctoral work than with general campus placements.
Still, some institutes report that a number of PhD students are also being absorbed through the regular placement route. At one campus, nearly 20 to 25 students recently joined firms such as AMD, Google, Microsoft, Philips, Samsung, CDAC, Siemens, L&T and Qualcomm in specialised roles.
Corporate R&D Expands Its Footprint
Industry executives describe the hiring trend as part of a broader expansion of corporate research operations. Godrej Enterprises Group, for example, says it has R&D centres across its businesses and is actively augmenting research activity across verticals.
“R&D has always been a key priority from our inception as an organisation,” said Nyrika Holkar, executive director of the group. She noted that the company has long employed PhDs in research roles and continues to work closely with academic institutions. In aerospace, she added, the group is in the process of setting up a design centre in Bengaluru.
Other companies that have recently hired doctoral students from IITs include Denso, the Japan Meteorological Corporation, Caterpillar, Aditya Birla Science and Technology, Tata Steel, Siemens, and Qualcomm, according to officials at the institutes.
A Break From the Past Year’s Pattern
Faculty members say the current hiring cycle marks a departure from recent years. At IIT Kharagpur, six PhD students have received corporate offers this year, compared with none last year, according to a professor who asked not to be identified. Two doctoral candidates at the institute have also received overseas job offers, both from Japan, and one student secured an annual package exceeding ₹1 crore.
“This year, hiring of PhD students in corporate R&D is a new trend,” the professor said, describing it as an effort by companies to strengthen research in core engineering fields.
Across IITs including Kharagpur, Kanpur, Guwahati, Roorkee and BHU, faculty members attribute the shift to institutions and companies alike placing greater emphasis on in-house research to develop innovative and competitive products. For doctoral students, the change has quietly broadened the range of professional outcomes at the end of a long academic journey, without fundamentally altering the research-driven nature of their training.
