Located on the lap of the lower Himalayas, near the beautiful hill town of Nainital, Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) is an autonomous research institute funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST). ARIES extends the opportunity to all qualified students to pursue an exciting research career as a PhD student under ISRO-RESPOND Project titled “Development of an FPGA based CMOS Controller for real time autonomous Space Object Tracking Using Ground-Based Telescopes”.
This project invites applicants to pursue a PhD focused on the design and development of a FPGA based controller for CMOS based imaging system followed by thorough lab and on-sky testing and validation.

PhD Admission (ISRO-RESPOND Project) 2026 in ARIES, Nainital

Graduate/Postgraduate degree in Electronics Engineering, Instrumentation or related branches of Electronics are invited to apply for a Junior Research Fellowship under ISRO-RESPOND project, leading to a PhD at ARIES. The selected student will be initially offered a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF). After completing two years as a Junior Research Fellow, the student will be offered a Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) after an assessment. The total tenure of the fellowship will not exceed five years, including the coursework.

The details of the shortlisted candidates will be posted on the ARIES website. The interviews will be conducted Online/Offline at ARIES, Nainital. 

Fellowship: Rs 37000/- per month (JRF); Rs 42000/- per month (SRF).

Minimum Qualification for PhD interviews at ARIES

• Master’s degree in Engineering or Technology (after a four-year engineering/technology degree or with an integrated 5-year B.Tech./M.Tech. degree or equivalent) in Electronics Engineering, Instrumentation or related branches of Electronics with minimum 55% marks (without rounding off) or equivalent grade for General (UR)/General-EWS and minimum 50% marks (without rounding off) or equivalent grade for OBC (NCL)/SC/ST, Third gender and Persons with Disability (PwD).

OR

Bachelors in Engineering or Technology (B.E./B.Tech.)in Electronics Engineering, Instrumentation or related branches of Electronicswith minimum 75% marks (without rounding off) or equivalent grade for General (UR)/General-EWS and minimum 70% marks (without rounding off) or equivalent grade for OBC (NCL)/SC/ST, third gender and Persons with Disability (PwD) from the recognized University.

• The candidate should have passed Graduate/Postgraduate on or after June 1, 2023.
• Age limit: 28 years as of 31 Jan 2026.
• Applicants should have a valid GATE.
• All the applications will be further screened by taking into account marks/ranks in GATE and other guidelines decided by ARIES. Fulfilling the minimum qualifications does not guarantee a call for an interview.

Application Process

Online application is mandatory for the PhD applicants. Final selection will be made on the basis of an Online/Offline interview to be held at ARIES, Nainital. The preferred date of interview can be selected in the application form. For the candidates appearing in person, shared accommodation may be provided upon request (only to the shortlisted candidates) for one night prior to the day of the interview.

Apply Now

• Portal Open: 16th Dec 2025
• Deadline for online application submission: 23:59 Hrs, 02 Jan 2026
• Announcement of shortlisted candidates for Interview: 04 Jan 2026
• Date of Interview (Online/Offline): 13-15 Jan 2026
• Announcement of the selected candidates: 16th Jan 2026
• Consent for joining: 21 Jan 2026
• Expected date of joining ARIES: 02 Feb 2026

Contact

Dr. T.S.Kumar, PI - ISRO-RESPOND Project
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES)
Manora Peak, Tallital Sub PO,
Nainital -263001 Uttarakhand
E-mail: kumar [at] aries [dot] res [dot] in