The KIIT PhD Programme places a strong emphasis on foundational knowledge, academic research, and hands-on experience in tackling real-world challenges. KIIT envisions a future where researchers blend intellectual curiosity with a deep commitment to addressing complex societal issues.

In a research institution, while everyone is engaged in tasks centered around research, the university functions as an ecosystem that nurtures opportunities tailored to students’ individual interests. The mission of a liberal arts and sciences research university should be attuned to this need, fostering an environment where individuals with diverse interests and expertise can come together to conduct focused research.

The Department recognizes the rich tradition and evolving nature of sociology as it has developed and flourished in India. We emphasize critical empiricism, theoretical engagement, and a comparative approach that are central to our esteemed disciplinary traditions. Our faculty members are deeply involved in long-term fieldwork and ethnographic research across various regions of South Asia and the Himalayan area.

Our department’s strengths encompass a broad array of subjects, including language, law, religion, violence, nature, agrarian change, state and sovereignty, borderlands, infrastructures, markets, political economy, mobility, informality, popular culture, and mental health. We foster interdisciplinary explorations with related fields of social thought and inquiry, such as history, economics, political science, psychology, philosophy, linguistics, environmental studies, computer science, planning and design, natural sciences, arts and aesthetics, law, and media.