PhD Positions
We welcome motivated candidates as doctoral researchers. Applications go through the NIT Rourkela PhD admissions process; please write to Dr. Kendre in advance to discuss your research interests. Candidates holding or applying for DST-INSPIRE, CSIR, UGC or ICMR fellowships are particularly encouraged.
Apply by emailPostdoctoral Fellows
We are seeking postdoctoral fellows interested in cancer genomics, functional precision oncology and synthetic biology. Candidates with independent fellowship funding (SERB-NPDF, DBT, ICMR, DST-WISE) are especially welcome.
Apply by emailProject Students & Interns
Dissertation and internship opportunities are available for M.Sc., Integrated M.Sc. and B.Tech students at NIT Rourkela who want hands-on experience in molecular biology and cancer cell biology.
Apply by emailWhat makes a good enquiry
A short email that names the specific project you're interested in, and explains why, is far more useful than a generic one. Please attach a CV and mention any fellowship you hold or intend to apply for.
It helps to have read one of our papers first — tell us what you thought was unresolved.
What you would learn here
- Molecular cloning and recombinant DNA technique
- Mammalian and primary cell culture
- DNA and RNA isolation, PCR and qPCR
- CRISPR construct design and validation
- Protein work — immunoblotting and expression analysis
- Sequence analysis and interpreting your own data
Students who stay longer take on mouse models, organoid culture and genomic analysis.
What the interview covers
Published so that you can prepare, rather than guess. Look these up beforehand if you need to refresh them.
Molecular biology, thoroughly
- DNA replication, transcription, translation and their regulation
- Recombinant DNA: cloning strategy, vectors, restriction and ligation, PCR
- How CRISPR–Cas works, and how you would design and validate a knockout
- Standard techniques: qPCR, western blotting, cell culture — the principle, not just the steps
The molecular basis of disease
- Cell cycle control, apoptosis and the hallmarks of cancer
- Oncogenes and tumour suppressors; the idea of a driver versus a passenger mutation
- Why a targeted therapy works in one patient and not another
- Basic host–pathogen interaction, for the synthetic biology side of the lab
Enough quantitative footing
- Mean, standard deviation, standard error and what a confidence interval means
- What a p-value does and does not tell you
- Choosing a test: when a t-test is appropriate and when it is not
- Reading a plot: log scales, distributions, and whether an effect looks real
Your own work
- Your M.Sc. dissertation in depth — the question, the design, and why you did it that way
- Any instrument you used: the principle behind it and what it actually measured
- What you would do differently, and what you still find unresolved
- One topic of your choosing from your Master's, in detail
What is actually being assessed. Not whether you can recite an answer. We will ask some questions you are not expected to know — what we want to see is how you get to a sensible answer from what you do know. Think aloud. “I am not sure, but here is how I would work it out” is a strong answer; a confident wrong one is not.
If you are basing your application on a particular skill, expect to be questioned on it in depth. If your knowledge of it is thin, it is better not to lead with it.
Questions people ask
Do I need a fellowship to join?
For a PhD position, yes in practice — either a national fellowship (CSIR, UGC, DBT, ICMR or DST-INSPIRE) or a valid GATE score, which qualifies you for an Institute fellowship. Our current scholars are supported by all of these routes. Project funding occasionally supports a JRF position; those are advertised when they exist.
My Master’s is not in molecular biology. Is that a problem?
No. Members of this group have come from life science, biotechnology and botany backgrounds. What matters is that you can think about a problem carefully and are willing to learn techniques you have not met before.
I have never done any programming or statistics.
That is normal, and it is not a barrier to being interviewed. A biology education in India often leaves both out. But this lab works with genomic data, so you will have to pick them up here — expect to spend real time on R or Python and on statistics during your first year. Willingness matters more than prior exposure.
How do I actually apply?
Through the NIT Rourkela PhD admissions process, which opens twice a year. Write to Dr. Kendre beforehand so we can discuss whether your interests fit — an application that arrives with no prior conversation is a missed opportunity for both sides.
What should be in that first email?
Name the project you are interested in and say why. Attach a CV. Mention any fellowship you hold or are applying for. If you have read one of our papers, say what you thought was unresolved — that single sentence tells us more than a page of general enthusiasm.
How large is the group, and who would I work with day to day?
Five doctoral researchers at present, alongside project students. You would work directly with Dr. Kendre; the group is small enough that supervision is hands-on rather than delegated.
Do you take M.Sc. or B.Tech. project students?
Yes. Dissertation and internship projects are available for M.Sc., Integrated M.Sc. and B.Tech. students at NIT Rourkela. Several are now co-authors or have gone on to PhD positions.
Can I visit or do a short internship from another institute?
Write and ask. It depends on space, on what is running at the time, and on whether the project would be long enough to be worth your while.
Funded projects
The lab holds ₹133.80 lakh in external funding from ANRF, DBT and the Government of Odisha — PhD and project positions are supported by this work.