The National Institute of Design (NID) has released the application form for admission to its PhD in Design programme for the 2027 academic year. The application window opened on August 25, 2026, and eligible candidates can submit their applications online through the official NID admissions portal until October 1, 2026, at 11:59 pm.
NID's PhD programme focuses on advanced research in Design and allied creative fields. The institute says the doctoral programme is open to educators and professionals who want to pursue theoretical or practice-based research and contribute new knowledge to Design, Design education and practice.
Candidates with a Master's degree in Design or a qualifying NID Design diploma can apply
Those with a Master's degree in Architecture, Fine Arts or Applied Arts need at least 55% marks and a graduate or postgraduate degree in Design
Candidates with a B.Des from NID or its Graduate Diploma in Design can also apply if they have three years of professional or teaching experience
A Master's in Philosophy in Design with 55% marks and certain recognised Faculty Development Programme qualifications are also accepted.
Admission will be conducted through four stages: eligibility screening, research proposal assessment, Design Research Test (DRT) and interview. The research proposal must explain the proposed research, existing work, relevance to Design, expected outcomes and methodology, and should be within 2,000–3,000 words or 20,000 characters including spaces. Candidates with more than 15 years of work experience are exempt from the DRT.
The DRT is scheduled for October 22, 2026, followed by interviews on November 2, 3 and 4. NID plans to announce the final results and release admission offers on December 15, 2026.
There are 12 PhD seats for 2027. The prescribed application fee is Rs 5,000 for General, EWS and OBC-NCL candidates, and Rs 2,500 for SC and ST candidates.
Candidates should carefully check the handbook before submitting the form, particularly the research proposal and category-document requirements. NID has also provided an application editing window from October 2 to October 4, 2026, although key details such as the programme applied for, candidate's name, date of birth, registered mobile number and email ID cannot be changed.
