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โThe degree is over.โ โSkills have taken the frontseat.โ Such statements now form part of a wider debate on the changing purpose of higher education.
At IIT Ropar, this change has entered doctoral education. Scholars no longer have to spend years writing lengthy theses; instead, they can focus on solving real-world industry problems and conducting research around them.
The institute has introduced a Product/Startup-Driven PhD pathway, under which doctoral research can lead to a product, technology translation, or startup.
The institute's programme document says the PhD will be awarded on the basis of research outcomes connected with the creation, development and scaling of products or startups.
The idea is not without precedent abroad.
China has recently introduced a route under which selected doctoral candidates may graduate on the strength of a practical achievement, such as an innovative product, technique or project.
In February 2026, Nature reported on China's first practical PhDs, including a civil-engineering scholar who defended a bridge-pylon product instead of a written thesis.
The distinction lies in what counts as the final outcome of research.
IIT Ropar Director Professor Rajeev Ahuja told India Today that a scholar under the new model โdoes not need to write any PhD thesisโ.
The institute says a scholar can undertake product development, create a startup or obtain a patent as the principal outcome of the doctoral work.
Sarang Gumfekar, Associate Dean of Post Graduate and Research at IIT Ropar, described the principle in simple terms: โYou have freedom. You have only one target. You sell the product, earn 10 lakh rupees, show it to me. You get PhD.โ
He said the model is also intended to reduce the pressure attached to conventional publication-driven research. According to Gumfekar, pressure to produce papers can, in some cases, encourage practices such as data manipulation and plagiarism, ultimately leading to retractions.
He also added: "If a student may be given a target to develop a product and earn 10 lakh from it. If the student achieves this, they can qualify for the PhD."
In India, as Professor Gumfekar highlighted, no other IIT is currently offering a similar programme, while the WHILSP programme at BITS Pilani offers a comparable pathway.
The institute's innovation ecosystem begins with ideas from bachelor's students, faculty members, or students working on faculty-led research.
Professor Gufekar says "For example, a student or faculty member may have an idea to build a drone that can fly without being detected. They can use the institute's facilities and support to develop the idea and build a prototype."
Once a prototype is developed, the incubation system provides equipment, technical assistance, mentors and access to investors. Gumfekar said, โTypically, incubation works for two years. A startup enters the incubation programme and, after two years, has to graduate, meaning it has to move out.โ
Investor meetings are held at least once every quarter, he said, giving startups repeated opportunities to present their work and seek funding. The institute may take about 2% to 4% equity in startups it supports.
Professor Gumfekar, in his concluding remarks, said that students can easily access the programme and, based on their interests and priorities, choose to pursue it.
He describes it as:
There are three main ways a student can take an innovation forward.
First, patent the invention. The student can file for a patent and work to get it granted.
Second, start a company. The student can create a startup, produce the product and earn from it.
Third, transfer the technology. The student can give the technology to an existing company, such as Tata, Reliance or Honda. The company can produce and sell the product, while the inventor can receive royalty payments.
All three options can qualify under the Innovation-Driven PhD model.
For the doctoral scholar, innovation can proceed through three routes: patenting the invention, building a startup or transferring the technology to an existing company.
IIT Ropar's model takes the idea further into the degree itself: the product, patent or startup becomes the central research outcome.
The question, then, is larger than one PhD programme.
India awarded 31,383 PhDs in 2022-23, according to the Ministry of Education's AISHE data. If thousands of researchers enter the system every year, how many of their ideas eventually reach a laboratory, a factory, a market or a community that needs them?
As Prof Gumfekar put it, the question is no longer merely whether research has produced another paper, but what that research can produce for industry or society.
If models such as IIT Ropar's encourage more institutions to ask the same question, India's research landscape may begin to measure doctoral success not only by the number of degrees awarded, but by the problems solved.
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