CHT Partners With 10 Institutes to Fund Industry-Led PhD Research

CHT signs 10 MoUs with IITs and national institutes to support industry-sponsored PhD research in energy technologies, offering funded fellowships and opportunities to commercialise research outcomes.

The Centre for High Technology (CHT), under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, has signed 10 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other leading national institutions to support industry-sponsored PhD research in energy technologies. The agreements were signed on October 27, 2026, during the 29th Energy Technology and Innovation Meet (ETM 2026) in Goa.

The initiative aims to connect academic research with practical challenges in the oil and gas industry, focusing on technologies that can be developed for commercial use. The programme will support doctoral research in refining, petrochemicals, critical minerals and emerging energy solutions, strengthening collaboration between industry and academia.

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The participating institutions include IIT Roorkee, IIT Kanpur, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, IIT Madras, IIT Guwahati, IIT Patna, the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai, the Indian Institute of Petroleum in Dehradun, the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology in Amethi and the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy in Anakapalli.

Under each MoU, up to five PhD scholars may be selected annually, with a maximum of 10 scholars supported at any given time. Across all 10 agreements, the programme could accommodate up to 50 new scholars each year and 100 scholars at full capacity.

Each scholar will receive joint supervision from a faculty member at the participating institution and a co-supervisor from CHT or an oil and gas company. Research projects will address practical challenges identified at operating refineries and industrial plants.

The programme will cover a broad range of energy technologies, including green hydrogen and fuel cells, sodium-ion and redox-flow batteries, carbon capture and conversion, crude-to-chemicals technologies, catalysts, polymers, biofuels, gasification, waste valorisation, digitalisation and cybersecurity.

CHT will fully fund the programme. Selected scholars will receive a fellowship set at 25% above the prevailing CSIR/UGC rates, along with house rent allowance, contingency funding, consumables support and a thesis grant. The fellowship will run for four years, with a possible extension of one year.

The initiative seeks to move research beyond academic study towards practical industrial applications. Intellectual property generated through the programme will be jointly owned by the participating institute, the scholar and the industry partner. Scholars will be recognised as inventors and may commercialise their technologies, including by establishing start-ups.

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Selected research projects may also receive support for incubation and commercialisation through the MC² pathway. The MoUs are intended to lay the groundwork for wider cooperation between the oil and gas sector and academic institutions, potentially including joint Centres of Excellence, testing facilities and training programmes.

The agreements align with the theme of ETM 2026, “Accelerating Energy Innovation: From Research to Commercialisation,” and reflect a broader effort to translate energy research into technologies that address industrial needs.