Faculty of Arts and Design (FAD) offers admission in PhD and Executive PhD programmes in the disciplines of arts, design, and media. Students can take up research in various aspects of performing arts including dance, music, theatre, and puppetry. The world of fine arts and visual arts including painting, sculpture, architecture, and photography is also open to them for research. Students can decide to do research in graphic design, motion graphics, industrial design, game design, product design, fashion design, production design, and other forms of design. The vast spectrum of media is also open to them for research. This includes communication, journalism, broadcast, podcast, TV, films, advertising, public relations, and video. production. Research ideas can also emerge from an amalgamation of arts, design, and media. Students who wish to take up research not only in inter-disciplinary, but also in multi- disciplinary areas are welcome. The connection can be between arts, design, and media on one hand, and economics, sociology, international relations, and legal studies on the other hand.

Candidates must have completed a minimum of 17 years of formal education, i.e. 12 years of schooling followed by either a 3-year Bachelor’s degree and a 2-year Master’s degree, or a 4-year Bachelor’s degree and a 1-year Master’s degree. The Master’s degree should be in Journalism/Mass Communication/Mass Media/Media Studies/ digital Media/Advertising/Public Relations/Film Studies/Film Production, Electronic Media/TV Production/Broadcast Journalism/Media Technology, or related disciplines such as Political Science, Economics, Sociology, History, Law, Development Studies, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Climate and Environment Studies/International Relations/Theatre/Music/Dance/Fine Arts/ Art Production/ Design/Fashion. The degrees must be obtained from an institution recognized by the government of any SAARC country, with a minimum aggregate of 50% marks or an equivalent grade.

Candidates with 4-year Bachelor degree in the subject are also eligible for admission to PhD programme provided they have secured a minimum of 75% marks or equivalent grade.

The number of seats through the Entrance Test mode is 4, while the number of seats through the Direct mode shall be based on availability.

• The duration of the Entrance Test will be 2 hours.
• The question paper will consist of 70 multiple choice questions.
• There will be no negative marking.

Multiple-choice questions will be asked to test the general knowledge of applicants about the following subjects. The objective of the test is to find out the basic understanding of applicants in regional and global perspective.

The question paper will have 4 parts.

PART 1 – SUBJECT SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE

Part 1 will have following 4 sections. Applicants need to choose any one of these 4 sections.

Section 1 - Performing Arts: Dance, music, theatre, puppetry, and contemporary trends in SAARC nations

Section 2 - Fine Arts and visual Arts: Painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, videography, and contemporary trends in SAARC nations

Section 3 - Design: Graphic design, motion graphics, industrial design, game design, product design, fashion design, production design, and contemporary trends in SAARC nations

Section 4 - Media: Communication, journalism, broadcast, podcast, TV, films, advertising, public relations, video production, and contemporary trends in SAARC nations

PART 2 – CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

Development, governance, policies, democratic values, geo-political issues, conflicts and peace, religion, caste and societal issues, constitutional and legal systems, South Asian heritage, and cross-cultural influences among SAARC nations

PART 3 – MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH

Applicants’ aptitude is to be tested towards inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary areas of knowledge. Applicants should be able to appreciate inter-connectivity among various aspects of arts, design, and media on one hand, and economics, sociology, international relations, legal studies, climate change and environment on the other hand.

PART 4 – FUNDAMENTALS OF RESEARCH

Applicants’ understanding about the fundamentals of social science research and communication research will be tested in this part. This will broadly include types of research, qualitative and quantitative research, primary and secondary data, sampling, data collection techniques, data analysis, and research report writing.