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Ph.D. Admissions Test: Instructions and Information

Information for candidates shortlisted for written test and interview (July semester) 2015

  • IEOR Ph.D. written-test and interviews will be held  as per IITB schedule.

  • There will be a written test (~2.5 hours) followed by an interview of candidates that clear the written test. Please bring with you a pen, pencil, eraser etc. Calculators will be not be necessary.

  • Visit IITB's Admissions website for latest news about admission and other related information.

  • Visit the Research webpage to learn more about research activities and opportunities in the programme.

  • Visit FAQ pages for answers to common queries.

  • For any other questions and queries, please email Prof. Vishnu Narayanan at vishnu@iitb.ac.in or call at 022-25767878.

General Instructions

  • All candidates must bring the following documents:
    1. Curriculum vitae,
    2. Statement of Purpose,
    3. M.Tech./ M.Sc. thesis report (if any),
    4. Published papers (if any), and
    5. all other relevant certificates/ documents.

  • Candidates in the FA category must bring a valid, confirmed FA (CSIR /UGC / etc) fellowship, and required to bring the necessary documents during interview.

  • Candidates in the External (EX) category are required to bring original sponsorship letter from their employer and bio-data of supervisor from their parent organisation where they will be doing their research work.

  • Candidates (TA/RA) under category of ST/SC & OBC(Non Creamy Layer) are also required to bring original caste certificates at the time of interview.
     

Written Test

The written test will be based on the topics related to operations research, such as: optimization, applied probability, stochastic processes, statistics and algorithms.  It will be designed to test your basic understanding and aptitude for research.

A partial list of topics along with suggested references (The list is only illustrative and not exhaustive. There are several other books and references for these topics.)

  • Basic topics in engineering mathematics, calculus, linear algebra, probability & statistics, algorithms, logic, etc.
  • Operations Research (Linear programming, network flow models, queueing theory, simulation, etc.)
    • Taha, H.A., Operations Research, Prentice-Hall India, 2003.
    • Winston, Wayne L., Operations Research: Algorithms & Applications, Thomson Learning, 2004.
    • Wagner, H.M., Principles of Operations Research, Prentice-Hall India, 2007.
    • Hillier, F.S. and Lieberman, G.J., Introduction to Operations Research, McGraw Hill, 2006.
  • Applied probability, stochastic process and statistics
    • Ross, Sheldon M., Introduction to Probability Models, CBS Publishers, 2006.
    • Papoulis, A., and S. Unnikrishna Pillai, Probability, Random Variables, and Stochastic Processes, Tata-McGraw Hill, 2002.
    • Ross, Sheldon M., Introduction to Probability & Statistics for Engineers and Scientists, Academic Press Elsevier, 1999.
  • Optimization (linear & nonlinear programming, integer programming, network optimization, etc.)
    • Chong, E.K.P, and S.H. Zak, An Introduction to optimization, John Wiley & Sons, 2001
    • Rao, S.S., Engineering Optimization: Theory and Practice, New Age International, 2001
    • Bazaraa, M.S., J.S. Jarvis, and H.D. Sherali, Linear Programming and Network Flows, John Wiley & Sons, 2006

Click here to view some sample questions that have appeared in the past written-test papers.

Interview

Candidates who perform well in the written test will be shortlisted for an interview with the IEOR faculty. The interviews will take place on the day of the test itself. The questions in the interview are aimed at testing capabilities of the candidates with respect to understanding, reasoning and explaining technical concepts related to IEOR. The candidates may be asked about their future goals and past experiences related to IE and OR.