IIST Admission Through GATE: M.Tech in Machine Learning and Computing, CCMT and PhD

The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology was set up in 2007 as an autonomous institution under the Department of Space and is a Deemed to be University. Its address on the 2026 notices is Valiamala PO, Thiruvananthapuram 695547, and PhD screening tests and interviews are held on the Valiamala campus.

The 2026 PG brochure says IIST was conceived to build trained people for ISRO, and it offers four undergraduate and sixteen postgraduate programmes. The 2026-27 PG programmes come from six departments: Aerospace Engineering, Avionics, Chemistry, Earth and Space Sciences, Mathematics and Physics. PhD admissions add Humanities and Social Sciences.

The 2026-27 list has no M.Tech titled Computer Science and Engineering. The programme closest to a DA or CS background is the M.Tech in Machine Learning and Computing (code MMA01), run by the Department of Mathematics. A few space-science and physics programmes also accept DA or CS scores, and they are covered below.

The 2026-27 admission notification is direct about it: admission to PG programmes is "through 2 modes". MMA01 Machine Learning and Computing goes through IIST's own portal at admission.iist.ac.in. All other branches go through CCMT 2026.

The programmes whose 2026 eligibility named GATE DA or CS:

Code	Programme	Route	GATE DA	GATE CS
MMA01	M.Tech in Machine Learning and Computing	IIST portal, interview	Yes	Yes
MES02	M.Tech in Geoinformatics	CCMT	Yes	Yes
MPH02	M.Tech in Quantum Technology	CCMT	Yes	Yes
MES01	M.Tech in Earth System Science	CCMT	No	Yes
MPH01	M.Tech in Optical Engineering	CCMT	No	Yes

CCMT's 2026 seat mapping for IIST matches this. It lists DA and CS against Geoinformatics and Quantum Technology, and CS against Earth System Science and Optical Engineering. Every other IIST branch (the aerospace programmes, the Avionics programmes such as VLSI and Microsystems, Materials Science and Technology, and the Master of Science in Astronomy and Astrophysics) named neither paper.

All PG programmes ask for 60% or 6.50 CGPA for General, EWS and OBC, and 55% or 6.00 for SC, ST and PwD. Where both CGPA and a percentage appear on a mark sheet, IIST considers only the CGPA.

The brochure describes MMA01 as a two-year, four-semester programme that started in 2010, among IIST's first master's programmes. The curriculum combines the mathematical and computational foundations of machine learning with AI, ML and programming courses, and the second year is a research project ending in a master's thesis.

Eligibility is broad. In 2026 the degree could be:

• a B.E./B.Tech. in any discipline,
• an M.Sc., integrated M.Sc. or integrated BS-MS in any discipline,
• a four-year BS in Data Science and Application, or
• an MCA,

with a valid GATE score in one of a long list of papers. That list included Data Science & Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science & Information Technology, along with Mathematics, Statistics, Electronics and Communication, Electrical, Mechanical, Physics, Engineering Sciences and many more.

Shortlisting is on GATE score, then an interview by video conference that, in the notification's words, "will focus on basic topics in Mathematics and Computer Science". The provisional rank list combines the GATE score and the interview score. If you are a GATE DA taker, your linear algebra, probability and programming preparation is what the interview draws on.

The brochure also describes the Machine Learning Laboratory: workstations with Intel Xeon and AMD Threadripper PRO processors (up to 32 cores and 256 GB RAM), NVIDIA RTX A6000 and A5000 GPUs, and a 16-channel EEG brain-computer interface for neuroinformatics work.

Step	2026 date (tentative)
Applications open on admission.iist.ac.in	12 May 2026, 1700 hrs
Last date to apply and pay	4 June 2026, 2359 hrs
Shortlist for interview	11 June 2026
Interviews (video conference)	17 to 19 June 2026
Rank list	29 June 2026
First allotment fee payment	30 June 2026
Reporting and start of classes	7 August 2026
PG admission closes	14 August 2026

The May notification gave 3 August for reporting; the revised notification moved it to 7 August 2026. The application fee was ₹600 for General, OBC and EWS men and ₹300 for SC, ST, PwD and women candidates. Only Indian citizens could apply.

Confirming a seat meant paying a ₹14,200 seat acceptance fee online. After the first allotment, IIST updates allotment lists every Tuesday and Friday at 1700 hrs while vacancies exist. Candidates on the rank or wait list must choose "Revalidate and proceed" on the portal on the given dates, or they drop out of later rounds.

Semester fees in 2026-27 were ₹40,450 (tuition ₹35,000 plus other fees ₹5,450), with a first-semester total of ₹55,700 including hostel fee and one-time charges. The notification says M.Tech students with a valid GATE score receive a scholarship through AICTE. Final-year students had to submit degree certificates by 30 September 2026.

For Geoinformatics, Quantum Technology, Earth System Science and Optical Engineering, you do not apply to IIST at all; you choose them on CCMT. The 2026 conditions as IIST printed them:

1. Geoinformatics (MES02): a B.E./B.Tech. or M.Sc. in any discipline, with GATE in Geomatics, Civil, CS, DA or one of several other papers including Mathematics, Physics and Electronics.
2. Quantum Technology (MPH02): a B.E./B.Tech., an M.Sc. in any discipline or a four-year BS in Data Science and Application, with GATE in Physics, EC, EE, DA, CS or Mechanical.
3. Earth System Science (MES01): a B.E./B.Tech. in any discipline or a four-year BS in Data Science and Application, with GATE CS among a long list of accepted papers. M.Sc. holders had a narrower paper list without CS.
4. Optical Engineering (MPH01): a B.E./B.Tech., an M.Sc. in any discipline or a four-year BS in Data Science and Application, with GATE in Physics, EC, EE, Mechanical or CS.

These are space-science and physics programmes, so a DA or CS score gets you in the door, but the coursework is not computer science. Read the department pages before you add them to your CCMT choices.

CCMT's 2026 Maximum and Minimum GATE Score table includes these IIST programmes. Each covers a single group that mixes many GATE papers, and IIST has not published cut-offs of its own, so this page does not list scores. MMA01 is outside CCMT and no official cut-off for it was published.

IIST admits PhD scholars twice a year, for sessions starting in January and July. The July 2026 notification covered all seven departments. Topics close to DA and CS included Machine Learning Algorithms (PMA02) in Mathematics, open to an M.Sc. in Mathematics, Statistics or Computer Science or a B.Tech. in any discipline, and Agent-Based Modelling and Complex Systems (PAV09) in Avionics, which listed a B.Tech./B.E. in Computer Science among accepted degrees.

For a B.E./B.Tech. as the highest degree, IIST asks for 75% (70% for OBC/EWS/SC/ST/PwD) and a valid GATE score. B.E./B.Tech. graduates of IIST or an IIT with 7.50 CGPA (7.00 for reserved categories) are exempt from GATE but must clear IIST's screening test. Bachelor's-entry scholars do additional coursework. Applicants had to be below 35 on 25 May 2026, with relaxation as per government rules.

Applicants with a valid GATE (or CSIR/UGC-NET, NBHM, JEST) score are shortlisted for a direct interview; others take a one-hour objective screening test and then an interview. Selected scholars receive a JRF of ₹37,000 a month, raised to ₹42,000 (SRF) after a review at two years. The July 2026 timeline ran from 28 April to 25 May 2026 for applications, with the screening test on 29 June, interviews from 30 June to 3 July and reporting on 27 July 2026. The application fee was ₹700 (₹350 for SC/ST/PwD and women).

All IIST applications that are not through CCMT, MMA01 and PhD, are made on admission.iist.ac.in. The 2026 PG notification gives academics@iist.ac.in for withdrawal requests after paying fees, and IIST's PhD notification page links the current PhD notices.

For MMA01, prepare for both halves: a strong GATE score for the shortlist, and the mathematics and computer science basics the interview tests. The GATE DA 2027 guide and GATE CSE 2027 guide cover the papers, and previous year questions and practice help with timing. If you will write GATE in Kerala, see the Thiruvananthapuram exam city page. Other institutes in the region are on the institutes list, including NIT Calicut and IIT Palakkad.