IIT Madras JRF Chemistry Recruitment 2026

IIT Madras JRF Recruitment 2026: Overview

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), through its Office of Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (IC&SR), is hiring a Junior Research Fellow (JRF) for the Department of Chemistry in Chennai. The fellow joins an ISRO-funded project titled "A new experimental system to study the gas-grain interaction in the ISM", which uses laser spectroscopic methods to study how gas and dust grains interact in the interstellar medium.

The project is coordinated by Prof. Dr. Rajakumar Balla of the Department of Chemistry. This is a contractual project position, so it suits a fresh MSc Physical Chemistry graduate with a national-level test score who wants hands-on lab experience in experimental physical chemistry — candidates with up to two years of relevant experience can also apply.

Service Conditions and Caveats

• Tenure: The appointment is initially for one year and can be extended based on your performance.
• Contract only: Completing the contract gives no right to an extension, regularisation or a permanent job at the Institute.
• National test: You must have qualified GATE, JEST, NET or another recognised National Eligibility Test.
• Experience counted: Only experience gained after your qualifying degree is considered.
• Shortlisting: IIT Madras may limit the number of candidates called for a test or interview based on qualifications, experience and academic record. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
• Current IIT Madras project staff: Apply through proper channel or bring a No-Objection Certificate (NOC); without it you will not be allowed into the test or interview.
• Citizenship: You must be an Indian citizen; certain migrants from Pakistan and subjects of Nepal can apply with a Government of India eligibility certificate.
• Eligibility cut-off: All eligibility conditions are checked as on the closing date of the online application.

Application Submission Notes

Apply online only on the IC&SR careers portal and pick the advertisement marked Advt.210/2026. The portal accepts one application per registered email ID per advertisement, and you cannot edit it after submission.

Do not post a hard copy to the Institute. Keep a printout of the submitted form and bring it when you are called for the test, interview or document verification. For technical problems with the portal, write to icsrrecruitment@icsrpis.iitm.ac.in or call 044-2257 8843 on working days (Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5:30 PM).

Corrigenda and Notices

• Future updates: Any corrigendum or clarification for this advertisement will be posted only on the IC&SR website; no separate message will be sent to applicants.

• Set up the laser spectroscopy experimental system for the ISRO-funded gas-grain interaction project
• Run experiments under the guidance of the project coordinator
• Analyse the experimental results
• Document the experiments and findings for the project
• Assist the Department of Chemistry project team in day-to-day lab work