IIT Tirupati Admission Through GATE: M.Tech in DSAI and CSE, MS and PhD

IIT Tirupati began functioning in the 2015-16 academic year. Its permanent campus is on Yerpedu-Venkatagiri Road, Yerpedu Post, Tirupati District, Andhra Pradesh 517619.

For GATE DA and CS takers, everything runs through one department: Computer Science and Engineering. The department was founded in 2015 and offers B.Tech, M.Tech, MS (Research) and PhD. Its own site describes the M.Tech as focused on "Data Science and Systems", and lists research interests in algorithms, artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer networks, software engineering, computer architecture, parallel computing and theoretical computer science.

The practical consequence: at IIT Tirupati, DA and CS aspirants deal with the same department, because the Data Science & Artificial Intelligence M.Tech is a stream of Computer Science and Engineering. Both groups share the same faculty and research divisions.

Table A on the M.Tech admission page for 2026 lists these streams under Computer Science & Engineering:

M.Tech stream	Eligible degree	GATE paper
Data Science & Artificial Intelligence	B.E./B.Tech/M.Sc./MCA/MS in any discipline	DA, CS or ST
Computer Science & Engineering	B.E./B.Tech/M.Sc./MCA/MS in any discipline	CS or DA

This is unusually flexible. A GATE DA score qualifies you for both streams, and so does a GATE CS score. The Data Science & AI stream also accepts GATE Statistics (ST), which helps M.Sc. Statistics graduates. The degree can be in any discipline, so a mechanical or electronics graduate with a good DA score can apply.

The page accepted GATE 2026, 2025 or 2024 scores. IIT B.Tech graduates in a suitable discipline with CGPA of 8.0 or above (7.5 for SC/ST) could apply without GATE.

Other M.Tech streams, such as Signal Processing, Communication & Machine Learning in Electrical Engineering, take EC, EE or IN, not DA or CS.

The 2026 timeline from the M.Tech admission page:

Step	Date
Online application opened	20 March 2026, 10 AM
Online application closed	20 April 2026, 5 PM
COAP rounds	5 May to 10 July 2026
Reporting to campus	27 July 2026
Registration and document verification	29 July 2026 (forenoon)
Orientation	30 July 2026 (afternoon)
Classes began	3 August 2026

COAP registration was mandatory for anyone with a non-IIT bachelor's or master's degree, and for IIT B.Tech graduates below the CGPA threshold. Offers then came through COAP rounds.

One helpful rule: within a single application you can list more than one stream in order of preference, and that order is used for seat allotment. The fee is charged per stream: ₹400 for GEN/EWS/OBC-NCL male candidates, ₹200 for female candidates and for SC/ST/PwD candidates. Applying to both CSE streams therefore costs twice the per-stream fee, but stays in one form.

Students admitted with GATE under the HTTA category receive a Half-Time Teaching Assistantship of ₹12,400 per month for up to 24 months, with 8 hours a week of departmental work.

The M.Tech admission page has a Cutoffs tab, but it read "Will be updated soon" when this page was written. We have not found an official IIT Tirupati document with GATE cut-off scores for the CSE or Data Science & AI streams, so this page shows none. We will add them only once the institute publishes them.

For a sense of the GATE score you need, the more useful step is to check your own GATE DA or GATE CSE preparation against previous year questions, and watch the Cutoffs tab after the 2027 COAP rounds.

IIT Tirupati runs research admissions twice a year. For the January 2027 cycle, the MS (Research) admission page and the PhD admission page gave an application window of 21 September 2026 (11 AM) to 12 October 2026 (5 PM). Shortlists and a written test and interview syllabus have since been posted on the MS/PhD admissions page.

The CSE research divisions and areas listed for January 2027:

• Computer Systems: AI accelerator and semiconductor test, computer vision, quantum system architecture.
• Intelligent Systems: software engineering and AI, malware analysis and AI for cybersecurity, deep learning for medical imaging, ML for IoT.
• Algorithms and Theory: algorithms and complexity, quantum computing, secure data analytics, algorithms, data structures and parallel computing.

The eligibility rules for these programmes:

• MS (Research): a B.E./B.Tech/4-year BS, or a master's such as M.Sc. or MCA in the relevant discipline, with a valid GATE score. IIT B.Tech graduates with CGPA 8 (7.5 EWS/OBC-NCL, 7.0 SC/ST/PwD) do not need GATE.
• Direct MS(R)+PhD: a 4-year bachelor's from any recognised institution with CGPA 7.0 (6.5 EWS/OBC-NCL, 6.0 SC/ST/PwD) and GATE, or a CFTI bachelor's with CGPA 8 without GATE.
• PhD: M.E./M.Tech/MS(R) holders need no further test score.

The selection committee shortlists eligible candidates for a written test (if any) and interview. A statement of purpose is mandatory, and you can apply to at most three divisions across all departments. The pages do not name which GATE papers are accepted for the MS in Computer Science and Engineering. If you hold a DA score, confirm with admissions@iittp.ac.in before applying.

Separately from the GATE route, IIT Tirupati ran a self-sponsored M.Tech in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence in the CSE department for 2026-27. The self-sponsored admission page states that GATE is not required.

• Applications were open from 15 May to 8 June 2026. The written test was on 4 July 2026 and interviews on 5 July 2026, both in person.
• The written test and interview syllabus covered probability and statistics, linear algebra, and programming, data structures and algorithms in Python.
• Self-sponsored students receive no HTTA and are not eligible for upgradation to PhD.

That syllabus overlaps heavily with GATE DA. If you are preparing for DA anyway, you are also preparing for this test, though the GATE route with assistantship is the one most aspirants aim for first.

The admissions office takes queries at admissions@iittp.ac.in and 0877 250 3532 (9 AM to 5.30 PM on working days). The CSE department's site is cse.iittp.ac.in.

For 2027:

1. Choose DA or CS. Either opens both CSE-department M.Tech streams, so pick the paper you can score higher in. Our guides on preparing for GATE DA 2027 and preparing for GATE CSE 2027 set out the syllabus for each.
2. Register on COAP once it opens, then apply on the IIT Tirupati M.Tech page, listing both streams in your order of preference if you want both.
3. If research suits you more, watch the MS (Research) page around September for the January cycle.

For exam logistics see the GATE 2027 page. Other institute guides are on the institutes page, including IIT Madras and IIT Palakkad.