NIT Kurukshetra Admission Through GATE: M.Tech, Cyber Security and PhD

National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra gives its address as Kurukshetra, Haryana, PIN 136119. For an aspirant from the south that is a long way north, and every M.Tech route here ends with reporting on campus in person.

The computing M.Tech degrees sit in the Department of Computer Engineering. The department page says it began its B.Tech in Computer Engineering in 1987, added B.Tech Information Technology in 2006 and B.Tech AI & ML in 2023-24, and started its PhD programme in 2002. At M.Tech level it offers two programmes:

• M.Tech in Computer Engineering
• M.Tech in Computer Engineering (Cyber Security)

Faculty areas listed there include distributed computing, networks, data mining, NLP, cyber security and image processing.

CCMT decides eligibility through a mapping of programme against GATE paper and qualifying degree. The CCMT 2026 mapping for NIT Kurukshetra's Department of Computer Engineering reads like this, all in Group 1:

Programme	GATE papers mapped	Qualifying degrees
Computer Engineering (Cyber Security)	DA, CS, EC	DA: 8 degree names; CS: 21; EC: 9
Computer Engineering	CS	17 degree names

What this means for a DA candidate

The DA rows for Cyber Security cover eight degrees only: B.Tech in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, AI and Data Science, AI and Machine Learning, CSE (Artificial Intelligence), CSE (AI and Machine Learning), CSE (Data Science), Software Engineering, and Computer Engineering (Software Engineering). A plain B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering is not in the DA list for 2026, so a CSE graduate needs a GATE CS score (or EC, for Cyber Security). M.Tech in Computer Engineering had no DA mapping at all.

What this means for a CS candidate

GATE CS is mapped to both programmes for CSE, IT, Computer Engineering, the AI and data science B.Tech variants and ECE, among others. Outside this department, VLSI Design & Embedded Systems and Embedded System Design list DA and CS against any B.E./B.Tech. The mapping is revised every year, so check the 2027 one.

NIT Kurukshetra published its CCMT 2026 seat matrix, printed on 1 May 2026, with 258 M.Tech seats across the institute. The two Computer Engineering programmes held 56 of them:

Category	Computer Engineering	Cyber Security
OPEN	13	9
OPEN-PwD	0	1
EWS	3	3
SC	4	3
SC-PwD	1	0
ST	2	2
OBC	7	7
OBC-PwD	1	0
Total	31	25

Every row is all-India quota. Self-financed and sponsored seats are counted separately.

The CCMT 2026 schedule opened registration and choice filling on 15 May 2026 and closed registration on 5 June. Round 1 seats were announced on 12 June, Round 2 on 22 June and Round 3 on 27 June. Special Round 1 followed on 22 July, Special Round 2 on 27 July, and the National Spot Round allotment on 5 August 2026.

NIT Kurukshetra's reporting notice of 9 July 2026 set physical document verification for CCMT and CCMN admits from 11 to 14 August 2026 in the Senate Hall. Computer Engineering and Cyber Security candidates were slotted for 13 August, and classes began on 24 August 2026. The notice says the GATE scholarship is paid only after physical document verification at NIT Kurukshetra.

For queries the institute lists admission@nitkkr.ac.in and +91-1744-233227 / 223 / 226.

CCMT's Maximum and Minimum GATE Score report gives the highest and lowest GATE score among candidates allotted each programme in each round. These are GATE scores out of 1000, copied as printed. CCMT does not split them by paper.

M.Tech in Computer Engineering, Round 1 (group printed as G1)

Category	Max GATE score	Min GATE score
OPEN	644	625
EWS	621	621
OBC-NCL	621	602
SC	484	461
ST	373	346

M.Tech in Computer Engineering (Cyber Security), Round 1 (G1)

Category	Max GATE score	Min GATE score
OPEN	625	602
OPEN-PwD	237	237
EWS	601	598
OBC-NCL	594	585
SC	455	438
ST	346	339

National Spot Round (group printed as Group 1)

In Computer Engineering the National Spot Round printed OPEN 597 and 564, EWS 556 and 544, OBC-NCL 556 and 544, SC 415 and 415, and ST 316 and 316. In Cyber Security it printed OPEN 552 and 544, EWS 526 and 514, OBC-NCL 532 and 496, and SC 364 and 359, with no ST row.

Since Computer Engineering was mapped only to GATE CS, its numbers are CS scores in practice. Cyber Security mixes DA, CS and EC candidates in one list. These figures record who was allotted in 2026; they are not a promise for 2027.

NIT Kurukshetra runs its own admission alongside CCMT, under Advertisement No. 11/2026, with applications through a Google Form from 15 May to 13 July 2026. The 2026-27 seat matrix gave 15 self-financed seats in Computer Engineering and 10 in Cyber Security, plus 5 sponsored seats in each.

• Self-financed: GATE is not mandatory. Merit is made on qualifying-degree marks or CGPA, with a minimum of 6.5 CGPA or 60% (6.0 or 55% for SC/ST/PwD). These students get no financial support from the institute or government.
• Sponsored: the same academic minimum plus two years of experience after graduation, at least one of them as a regular employee of the sponsoring organisation.
• Left-over CCMT seats: seats still vacant after the National Spot Round were offered to candidates with a valid GATE 2024, 2025 or 2026 score, with the same eligibility as CCMT 2026.

The Round I self-finance allotment asked allotted candidates to pay by 23 July 2026, and Round II was set to start on 24 July against remaining seats. These admits reported in person on 22 August 2026, two days before classes.

The Ph.D. brochure for the odd semester of 2026-27 took applications from 15 April to 10 June 2026, held the written test on 23 June and DRC interviews on 23 and 24 June, and had selected scholars join between 1 and 15 July 2026.

Eligibility is a master's degree with 6.0 CGPA or 55% (and a bachelor's with 6.5 or 60%), or a B.E./B.Tech with 75% or 8.0 CGPA. The written test has two MCQ papers, aptitude (30 marks) and specialisation (40 marks), and the departmental committee adds up to 30 marks for presentation, interview and academic record.

A GATE-qualified candidate (any passing year) applying full-time with institute fellowship is exempt from the written test and is judged on presentation and interview. The brochure names no GATE paper for Computer Engineering, so confirm with the department whether a DA score is treated the same as CS. Later cycles appear on the Ph.D. admission page.

Start with the paper. If your B.Tech is CSE or IT, plan on GATE CS, because the 2026 mapping gave a DA score no route into either Computer Engineering programme for those degrees. If your B.Tech is in AI, data science or software engineering, GATE DA was accepted for Cyber Security in 2026, and CS was accepted for both. Recheck this against CCMT's 2027 mapping before you register.

Then think about travel: physical reporting in Kurukshetra was compulsory for every M.Tech route in 2026. If the same CCMT form also carries southern NITs, our pages on NIT Warangal and NIT Trichy cover their routes.

For preparation, the GATE DA 2027 guide and the GATE CSE 2027 guide set out a study plan, and the PYQ bank has past papers. Exam dates and rules for 2027 are on the GATE 2027 page and gate2027.iitm.ac.in.