Come and join Amrita’s PhD Program in Sustainable Development that is tailored just for you!
Calling for applications from international and Indian candidates for full-time admission to pursue a Ph.D. in Sustainable Development.
APPLY NOW to avail the fully funded E4LIFE International Fellowship - Limited fellowships available!
"In our approach to sustainable development, we should not forget that it is by strengthening the people at the base of the pyramid that the entire edifice of society becomes healthy and strong."
- Dr. Sri. Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Chancellor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
India's socioeconomic growth and development depends upon the sustenance of its rural communities, as 70% of its population are still living in rural villages. These communities form the backbone of the country. Despite the country's overall progress, the rural population has been facing numerous pressing problems which need to be addressed. Some of the challenges they face include: extremely poor access to basic facilities and infrastructure, poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition, waste management, along with the unexpected impact of climate change and extreme weather conditions that result in devastating natural disasters.
At Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita), our faculty and students have a mission and a vision to work towards our country’s progress, thereby delivering a sustainable future and creating a global impact. Under the guidance of our Chancellor, Dr. Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (affectionately called as “AMMA”, meaning Mother), a world-renowned humanitarian and meliorist, we have pledged to the motto -“Education for living and Education for life”. Along with academic learning which is important to make a living, education must impart a culture of the heart—a culture based on enduring values, that is essential for life (E4LIFE). AMMA then suggested us to provide opportunities to students from all over the world to spend quality time in the villages that will help them experience, understand and solve the problems faced by the villagers.
To this end, Amrita adopted 100+ villages and got committed to use applied research as the foundation of socio economic progress and sustainability. Further, to make this accessible to the international academic community, the Live-in-Labs®, Amrita’s flagship program was launched in 2013. The Live-in-Labs® is a credit-based program which adopts a multidisciplinary theory–into–practice approach.
Related Links: Amrita Live-in-Labs®
Our Chancellor’s exemplary vision and untainted intent of care for people in real need, has laid the foundation for this PhD Program. This program is integrated with a comprehensive yet flexible curriculum called- the “Experiential Learning Curriculum” that aims to enroll and cater to candidates from various disciplines and work towards the sustainable development of the adopted villages.
We work on the following thematic areas to make these villages self-reliant:
A detailed study of each of these areas in every community gives rise to a combination of problem statements intertwined with dynamic challenges such as the psychosocial beliefs, language barriers, cognitive behaviour, social issues prevalent based on caste, gender, politics etc. that are very unique to every community. These problem statements and challenges are being analysed meticulously by interdisciplinary teams of students and expert researchers in order to address them.
Amrita’s PhD program in Sustainable Development provides an interdisciplinary grounding with its integrative courses. We offer this program in two modules:
The academic learning module will be designed and tailored to suit the need of implementing the proposed research and development. It will constitute a highly comprehensive, flexible yet customized set of Core courses and Elective courses. Wherever applicable, we will arrange:
List of our Partner Universities:
The course structure is designed to combine flexibility to pursue an individual field of study, with the development of broad-based skills and knowledge in relation to sustainable development. The students can decide on a list of core courses and electives after discussion with their allocated guides at Amrita. The students should maintain an overall B+ average with no lower than a B in any of the core classes.
Faculty at Amrita:
For a list of Faculty at Amrita, please visit
Amrita is currently offering 100 fully funded fellowships for international and Indian students who wish to join for a full-time PhD program under the various thematic areas of Sustainable Development. The fellowships will be awarded purely based on academic excellence. It is mandatory for the enrolled PhD students to spend quality time in the villages selected for their study program, ensuring timely and effective outcomes.
Funding for international candidates:
ALL international students who successfully enroll in the PhD program at Amrita will acquire the E4LIFE International Fellowship.
Each fully funded fellowship will include:
Features of the Fellowship | Cost/year | Amount for 4 years |
---|---|---|
Tuition fee (100% waived) | USD 1,500 | USD 6,000 |
A monthly stipend (USD 350* per month) | USD 4,200 | USD 16,800 |
International Research Travel Scholarship (one time travel)** | - | USD 2,800* |
University seed grant for implementation of sustainable solution in a village | - |
Upto USD 14,600 (Minimum funding starts at USD 2800) |
Village visits (Accomodation, Food and Travel) | - | USD 800 |
Total amount funded/Fellowship (for 4 years) | USD 41,000/- |
**Not exceeding a maximum of INR 25,000/month
**The selection of international partners, the period and duration of travel will be subject to approval by the Amrita Centre for International Programs (ACIP) office and your PhD guide.
Terms and Conditions:
All costs towards the implementation of the proposed solution in rural communities will be borne by the University, considering the following:
Funding for Indian candidates:
ALL Indian students who successfully enroll in the PhD program at Amrita will acquire the E4LIFE Fellowship.
Each fully funded fellowship will include:
Features | Cost/year | Minimum Funding | Maximum Funding |
Full tuition fee waiver | 100% waiver on tuition fees | ||
A monthly stipend | INR 1,80,000/year(INR 15,000 per month) | INR 5,40,000 for 3 years | INR 7,20,000 for 4 years |
Teaching Assistantship* | INR 1,20,000(INR 10,000 per month) | INR 3,60,000 for 3 years | INR 4,80,000 for 4 years |
International Research Travel Scholarship** | INR 200,000 | ||
Sustainable solution implementation cost in a village | INR 200,000 to INR 10,50,000 | ||
Village visits (Accomodation, Food and Travel) | INR 50,000 | ||
Total amount funded/Fellowship (for 4 years) | INR 25,00,000/- |
*Subject to availability
**The selection of international partners, the period and duration of travel will be subject to approval by the Amrita Centre for International Programs (ACIP) office and your PhD guide
Funded opportunities for Joint or Dual PhD in collaboration with highly reputed international universities are available for ALL candidates.
Terms and Conditions:
All costs towards the implementation of the proposed solution in rural communities will be borne by the University, considering the following:
Other funding available:
Amrita also offers a wide range of partially funded scholarships for ALL students who could not qualify for our E4LIFE international fellowships. They are open under:
Application Deadline: January 31, 2021
Amrita welcomes all interested international candidates to apply for this fully funded multidisciplinary and theory-into-practice PhD program from a wide range of academic disciplines, including:
Applicants must have:
Applicants must have:
Please note: This opportunity is not open to the existing PhD students.
Admission to our PhD program is now open.
Step 1: Register with us online
Step 2: Email us the following documents (as attachments)
Dr. Maneesha V. Ramesh,
Dean, International Programs
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
If you have any questions or queries, please contact:
Ms. Archana Venkatesh / Ms. Pooja Pushparaj
Email: internationalphd@am.amrita.edu or international@amrita.edu
Postal Address:
Center for International Programs,
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham,
Amritapuri, Clappana (P. O.),
Kollam - 690 525. Kerala, India
+91-476-280-4160
+91-476-280-4152
Office Hours: Monday - Saturday
(9:00 am to 5:30 pm)