PEC Chandigarh Admission Through GATE: M.Tech CSE, Information Security and PhD

Punjab Engineering College (Deemed to be University) gives its address as Sector 12, Chandigarh 160012. For a reader from the south it is a northern campus in the city itself, which keeps travel for reporting simple once you reach Chandigarh. Our Chandigarh page covers the city as a GATE exam centre.

Two M.Tech programmes on PEC's M.Tech admissions page are the ones a DA or CSE aspirant should look at:

• Computer Science & Engineering, run by the Department of Computer Science & Engineering.
• Computer Science & Information Security, run by the Cyber Security Research Centre and described in the 2026-27 brochure as a self-supporting programme.

PEC lists ten other M.Tech programmes, from Aerospace Engineering to Quantum Materials & Technology. The brochure also notes an optional one-year exchange, research internship or industry internship at IITs, IIITs, research centres or industry.

PEC's own brochure says its GATE-paper rules are the same as CCMT 2026, and the CCMT seat mapping shows the detail. Both computing programmes sit in Group 1, and each lists every qualifying degree twice, once against DA and once against CS. No other paper is mapped to them.

Programme	Qualifying degrees mapped	Papers
Computer Science & Engineering	39	DA, CS
Computer Science & Information Security	52	DA, CS

The lists differ in ways that matter. The Computer Science & Engineering list covers computer science, IT, computer engineering, software engineering, mathematics and computing, and CSE specialisations such as AI, data science and cyber security. It does not include a B.Tech in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, AI and Machine Learning, or Electronics and Communication. The Information Security list adds all of those, plus MCA and M.Sc. in Information Technology. So a DA taker with an AI and Data Science B.Tech, or an ECE graduate, had a mapped route into Information Security but not into the CSE programme in 2026.

Other PEC programmes also take these papers. Industrial Engineering & Management maps DA and CS against any B.E./B.Tech. Electronics (VLSI Design) and Quantum Materials & Technology map CS for a range of degrees.

PEC sends M.Tech applicants to CCMT and asks them to follow its site for counselling updates. The CCMT 2026 schedule set the last date for choice locking at 8 June 2026, then announced allotments as follows:

Round	Allotment announced
Round 1	12 June 2026
Round 2	22 June 2026
Round 3	27 June 2026
Special Round 1	22 July 2026
Special Round 2	27 July 2026

A National Spot Round followed in August. CCMT says physical reporting at the finally allotted institute starts after it.

CCMT's Maximum and Minimum GATE Score report gives the highest and lowest GATE score among candidates allotted in each round. Below are Round 1 and the last round in which each category appears, out of 1000 and copied as printed. The report prints the group as "G1" in Round 1 and "Group 1" afterwards.

Computer Science & Engineering

Category	Round 1 max	Round 1 min	Last round present	Max	Min
OPEN	643	529	National Spot Round	472	457
OPEN-PwD	289	289	Round 1 only	-	-
EWS	496	495	National Spot Round	392	392
OBC-NCL	510	510	National Spot Round	438	438
SC	400	388	National Spot Round	354	354
ST	320	320	Round 3	286	286

Computer Science & Information Security

Category	Round 1 max	Round 1 min	Last round present	Max	Min
OPEN	540	500	National Spot Round	446	430
EWS	496	492	National Spot Round	391	391
OBC-NCL	499	499	National Spot Round	419	419
SC	385	383	Special Round 2	354	354
ST	301	301	Round 2	282	282

Because DA and CS share one group, these lists mix both papers. The figures record who was allotted in 2026; they are not a promise for 2027.

After CCMT, PEC fills vacant seats and full-time sponsored seats itself. The 2026-27 brochure and important dates page set out the 2026 round:

Step	Date
Online registration (Rs 1,000, non-refundable)	31 July to 10 August 2026, 5 pm
Tentative vacancy displayed	7 August 2026
Document verification, Institute Auditorium	12 August 2026, 9 am to 12 noon
Merit list	12 August 2026, 1 pm
Counselling and fee by demand draft	12 August 2026, 2 to 5 pm
Orientation	18 August 2026

GATE-qualified candidates are ranked on GATE score and get preference over non-GATE candidates, who are ranked on B.E./B.Tech CGPA and receive no GATE scholarship. The minimum is a relevant B.E./B.Tech with 65% or 6.5 CGPA, relaxed for SC, ST and PwD. Every programme also has three supernumerary seats for sponsored candidates with two years of full-time work experience in a government body, public limited company or AICTE-approved institute.

The admissions help desk is 0172-2753813 or 0172-2753814 (Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm), email admissions@pec.edu.in.

PEC's PhD page says admission is by interview, written test on the GATE or NET syllabus, or both, as the department decides. The most recent full brochure on the site is for the January 2026 intake. It interviewed GATE-qualified and UGC-NET candidates directly and set a written test plus interview for others, with registration from 7 to 25 November 2025 and the test on 7 December 2025.

CSE research areas in that brochure include artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, deep learning, data analytics, cryptography and networks and security. Eligible degrees run from M.E./M.Tech in computer fields to B.E./B.Tech in CSE and its AI, data science and cyber security branches.

The 2026-27 PhD call under the Visvesvaraya scheme has one seat, in Electronics & Communication Engineering, not CSE. A joint PhD with IIT Mandi took applications until 10 July 2026.

Check your degree against the CCMT mapping before you pick a paper. In 2026 both computing programmes took DA and CS equally, but the degree lists were not the same. If your B.Tech is in AI and Data Science or ECE, Information Security was the mapped option. The GATE DA and GATE CSE pages cover each syllabus, and the DA 2027 guide and CSE 2027 guide set out a plan.

The same CCMT form can include NITs; our pages on NIT Kurukshetra and NIT Warangal set out their routes. For exam dates and rules, see the GATE 2027 page and gate2027.iitm.ac.in.