IIT Madras HSS Project Consultant Advt 222/2026

IIT Madras Project Consultant Recruitment 2026: Overview

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) wants a research-focused Project Consultant for its Department of Humanities and Social Sciences under advertisement Advt.222/2026, put out by the Office of Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (IC&SR). The work is part of the project “Social Media and Gen AI Safety in India: Youth and Parent Perspectives from Four States”, funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), New Delhi, and coordinated by Prof. Mathangi Krishnamurthy.

You will be the project’s research and writing lead for three areas: the proposal, the questionnaire design and the literature review on children and adolescents, followed by the analysis, reports and recommendations. The notice asks for a good publication track record and promises co-authorship on the reports, policy briefs and peer-reviewed papers the project produces.

IIT Madras issued two more Project Consultant notices for the same MeitY project at the same time: Advt.223/2026 is the overall project lead and Advt.224/2026 runs the survey operations. Select Advt.222/2026 on the portal if the research-and-writing role is the one you want.

Service Conditions and Caveats

• Contract only: The post is purely contractual. Completing the contract gives you no right to an extension, regularisation or a permanent job at the institute.
• Tenure: The engagement runs for one year at first and can be extended if your performance is good.
• Publications: Beyond the PhD and research experience, the notice specifically looks for a good publication track record.
• Citizenship: You must be an Indian citizen. Subjects of Nepal and people who migrated from Pakistan to settle permanently in India can also apply, but need an eligibility certificate from the Ministry of Home Affairs before appointment.
• Which experience counts: Only relevant experience gained after your minimum qualifying degree is considered. The institute may relax the qualification or experience for exceptionally outstanding candidates, and may relax experience for SC/ST candidates at its discretion.
• Current IIT Madras project staff: Apply through proper channel or bring a No-Objection Certificate — without it you cannot appear for the test or interview.
• Shortlisting: The institute may cap the number of people called for a test or interview and contacts only shortlisted applicants.
• Eligibility cut-off: Every condition is checked as on the closing date of the online application.

Application Submission Notes

Apply only on the IC&SR careers portal and pick Advt.222/2026 from the openings list. The portal allows one application per login email for each advertisement, so select every position you want under the same advert before you submit — you cannot edit or withdraw the form afterwards.

Do not send a hard copy. Print your submitted form and bring it when you are called for the test, interview or document check. The institute contacts you only by email, so use an address you check every day.

For technical problems with the form only, email icsrrecruitment@icsrpis.iitm.ac.in or icsrrecruitment6@icsrpis.iitm.ac.in, or call 044-2257 8843 from 9 AM to 5:30 PM, Monday to Friday.

• Lead three areas of the project: proposal writing, questionnaire design and the literature review on children and adolescents
• Draft and submit the original project pitch to IIT Madras together with the Principal Investigator
• Develop the survey instruments with the PI and Co-Investigators, from first drafts and user testing to rollout-ready versions
• Lead the part of the literature review that places youth media use against wellbeing, development and media design, and support the wider review
• Analyse project data with the team and prepare reports and recommendations for key stakeholders
• Co-lead key deliverables and publications while keeping the research rigorous
• Attend scheduled project meetings and take up new deliverables agreed with the team