IIT Hyderabad Admission Through GATE: M.Tech in AI, CSE and PhD Routes

IITH gives its address as Kandi, Sangareddy, Telangana 502284. The official contact page lists the campus under Kandi in Sangareddy, so plan travel and stay around that address. If you are writing GATE from the Hyderabad area, the Hyderabad exam city page covers the centre side of things.

For a DA or CSE aspirant, two departments run the programmes you care about:

• The Department of Artificial Intelligence, launched in 2019 according to its July 2026 brochure. It runs the M.Tech in Artificial Intelligence and takes its own queries at ai_grad_admissions@iith.ac.in.
• The Department of Computer Science and Engineering, which runs the M.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering and, per the institute's PG listing, the M.Tech in Network and Information Security.

The CSE brochure says plainly that AI is a separate department and that M.Tech in AI queries should go to the AI department.

The AI department's July 2026 brochure lists a 2-year M.Tech and a 3-year M.Tech. The 2-year programme has three options: TA (teaching assistantship with an MoE stipend), self-sponsored, and Govt lab or public sector sponsored.

Mode TA1, the COAP route

Mode TA1 needs a valid GATE score in CS, EC, EE, DA or MA. On the degree side, it accepts a full-time BE/B.Tech in any discipline, a part-time 4-year BS in Data Science, or an MSc in Maths, Statistics or Applied Maths. Final-year students can apply if they will finish before the M.Tech starts. The brochure says admission through TA1 is typically based on the GATE score, with a preliminary shortlist that may also use academic background. It states that M.Tech TA offers would be given through COAP 2026.

Other modes

Mode TA2 is for IIT graduates with a CGPA of at least 8, with no GATE needed. The self-sponsored M.Tech in AI and ML has no GATE requirement, needs a first class with CGPA 7.0 or above, and selects through a written test and interview on basic programming, data structures, linear algebra, probability and calculus. It carries no stipend, even for GATE-qualified students, and the brochure says you cannot convert from self-sponsored to TA or RA later.

TA students are expected to give about 8 hours of TA work a week, such as invigilation and lab supervision.

The CSE department's July 2026 brochure is stricter on papers. For the 2-year M.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering under MoE sponsorship, you need a 4-year B.Tech/B.E./BS in any engineering discipline or an MSc/MS/MCA in CS, IT or Maths, at least 6 CGPA (60%), and a valid GATE score in CS. The brochure does not list DA as an accepted paper for this mode, so a DA-only candidate should not count on it.

The brochure says MoE-sponsored admission is guided primarily by GATE score cut-offs, with follow-up interviews if required, and that offers are made through COAP. After COAP the department may hold written tests or interviews to fill unfilled seats. It also reserves the right to interview applicants even when they hold a valid GATE score.

IIT and IISc graduates with CGPA 8.0 or more get a GATE waiver but still face a written test or interview on programming and basic CS subjects. Govt lab/PSU-sponsored and self-sponsored seats use a written test, programming test or interview, and the brochure calls GATE scores highly recommended but not mandatory for these. The self-sponsored mode accepts a CS GATE score with any engineering degree, or a CS/IT/Maths degree without GATE.

The 2-year intake happens once a year, for the July session.

Both departments run a 3-year M.Tech that carries the same coursework as the 2-year one but spreads it out for research on sponsored projects. Students are paid from project funds as research assistants.

In AI, Mode RA1 needs a valid GATE score in CS, EC, EE, DA or MA plus the degree requirement. RA2 is for IIT graduates with CGPA 8 or above, and RA3 is for candidates with 6 months of project experience at IITH. Shortlisting uses academic background and/or GATE score, followed by a possible written test and interview.

In CSE, the Project Sponsored mode needs a valid GATE score in CS. A second mode skips GATE for people with 6 months at IITH under a CSE faculty member or 2 years in industry or an R&D lab. Selection is by an entrance exam and/or programming test, then interviews on data structures, programming, theory of computation, algorithms, networking, OS and DBMS. The CSE 3-year intake typically runs twice a year, in July and January.

The CSE department's PhD page lists a January 2027 round that opened on 21 October 2026, with applications closing at 5:00 PM on 10 November 2026.

A regular PhD applicant with an M.Tech/M.E./M.S. in CSE, IT, AI, Data Science, ECE or EE needs 6.0 CGPA and no GATE requirement is listed. A direct PhD applicant coming from a B.Tech, M.Sc. or MCA needs 6.0 CGPA and either a valid GATE score in a listed paper, which includes Data Science and AI as well as CSE, or a NET/JRF/INSPIRE-type qualification. IIT and CFTI graduates with 8.0 CGPA may apply without GATE.

The written test is roughly 60% data structures, algorithms and discrete mathematics, with the rest from the GATE CS syllabus. A GATE CS score of 800 or more out of 1000 within the last five years is one of the listed waiver criteria for that test. For the January round, the page says shortlisted candidates may go straight to online interviews.

IITH runs a centralised online application portal for M.Tech admission, linked from its post-graduate academics page. The AI brochure says applications are accepted through this portal only. That application is separate from COAP: you fill the IITH form, and if you are selected in a GATE-based mode the offer then reaches you on COAP.

The CSE department's July 2026 dates show how the cycle runs:

Step	Date (July 2026 cycle)
Last date of application	17 April 2026
Written test shortlist announced	25 April 2026
Written test	7 May 2026
Interview shortlist announced	12 May 2026

The AI department's notices for the same cycle put its written test on 7 May 2026 and online interviews from 11 to 13 May 2026. Expect the 2027 cycle to open around the same months, but check the department pages for the new notice before planning around these dates.

We did not find a GATE cut-off printed by IITH for the M.Tech in AI or the M.Tech in CSE. The CSE admissions page for July 2026 gives no cut-off numbers and links to no past cut-off lists, and the AI admissions page only states eligibility rules. Both brochures say the department reserves the right to set its own shortlisting cut-off above the eligibility criteria.

The one number IITH does print is the GATE CS score of 800 out of 1000 used as a waiver criterion for the CSE PhD written test, which is not an M.Tech cut-off. We will add M.Tech cut-offs here only if IITH or COAP publishes them officially.

If you are taking GATE DA, the AI department's TA1 and RA1 modes are the GATE-based routes that name DA. If you are taking GATE CS, both the AI and CSE departments accept your paper, which gives you two COAP-based options to apply for in the same cycle.

The written tests in non-GATE modes and the PhD test lean on programming, data structures, algorithms, linear algebra and probability, which overlap heavily with the GATE syllabus. Our GATE DA page and GATE CSE page set out the syllabus, and the GATE DA 2027 guide and GATE CSE 2027 guide cover planning. Past papers are on the PYQ page.