IIT Kanpur Design Courses 2026: M.Des & PhD Admission, Fees & Eligibility

IIT Kanpur Design Courses 2026: M.Des & PhD Admission, Fees & Eligibility

Ongoing Event

CEED Application Date:01 Oct' 25 - 31 Oct' 25

Sumeet SudarshanUpdated on 19 Sep 2025, 04:27 PM IST

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, also offers design courses in addition to its engineering programmes . IIT Kanpur is among the top design colleges in India, offering the M.Des programme through the Common Entrance Exam for Design. Candidates with a valid score in CEED 2026 or GATE will be able to apply for IIT Kanpur design courses. IIT Kanpur also offers a PhD design programme. In this article, get complete details of the IIT Kanpur design courses and fee structure.

This Story also Contains

  1. IIT Kanpur Design Courses Eligibility Criteria
  2. IIT Kanpur M.Des Courses
  3. IIT Kanpur PhD
  4. IIT Kanpur Design Courses Fees
IIT Kanpur Design Courses 2026: M.Des & PhD Admission, Fees & Eligibility
IIT Kanpur Design Courses & Fee Structure

IIT Kanpur M.Des design is offered under three streams, namely, Design Entrepreneurship, Design Research, and Design Practice.

IIT Kanpur Design Courses Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility criteria for IIT Kanpur M.Des and PhD are given in the table below -

IIT Kanpur Design Courses and Eligibility Criteria

Courses

Duration

Eligibility criteria

M.Des
2 years
  • 4 years B.Des, B.Tech in any discipline of engineering, B.Arch, B.Plan, BFA, BVA or equivalent with the 6.5 CGPA
  • 5 years (3+2) MA/MSc in all disciplines of Sciences, Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
  • Must qualify CEED or GATE
Ph.D
6 years
The candidate must have a Master’s degree in engineering, technology, and design.

Also Read:

IIT Kanpur M.Des Courses

There M.Des programme at IIT Kanpur is offered under three streams -

  • Design Entrepreneurship: This M.Des course prepares students to become entrepreneurs who can run design-driven ventures successfully by combining entrepreneurial thinking with design principles.
  • Design Research Programme: This programme is designed for students interested in research and development of innovative ideas and methodologies through critical inquiry and analysis.
  • Design Practice Programme: Focuses on hands-on experience, where students can learn to harness their creative skills and design thinking principles to drive innovation, enhance user experiences, and create value.

IIT Kanpur PhD

The PhD programme at IIT Kanpur is offered in the following areas

  • Product/Industrial Design
  • Communication Design
  • Interaction Design
  • User Experience Design
  • Human-Machine Interaction
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • AI Experiences in Design
  • Design for Sustainability
  • Design and materials
  • Visual Culture
  • Crafts
  • Design for extended reality (XR)
  • Human Robot Interaction
  • Sound Design/ Music Technology
  • Design for New Media
  • System and Service Design

    Strategic Design and Design Policy

  • Speculative Design/Design Futures/ Design Fictions
  • Design informatics
  • Design of multi-robot systems
  • Design of complex engineered systems
  • Design for Industry 4.0/5.0
  • Design of IoT systems
  • Design for smart manufacturing
  • Bio Design
  • Bio Mimetics
  • Human Factors and Ergonomics
CEED 2026 High Weightage and Most Scoring Topics
CEED 2026 aspirants can access the free PDF on High-Weightage Topics from here. Covering these topics will help enhance preparation and improve exam readiness.
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IIT Kanpur Design Courses Fees

Selected candidates will be required to pay the fees as per the fee structure of IIT Kanpur at the time of admission. The IIT Kanpur design fee structure includes different components such as tuition fees, mess charges, caution deposits, etc. The fees can be paid online by candidates using a Credit/ Debit card, Internet Banking, and E-challan as well. Below is the previous year fee structure of IIT Kanpur. The IIT Kanpur Design fee structure 2026 is yet to be released. However, candidates can check the tentative IIT Kanpur design fee as per last year.

Detailed breakup of IIT Kanpur Design Courses Fee Structure (1st Semester Fees)

S No.

Fee Head(s)

IIT kanpur M.Des course Fees

A

One-time payment at the time of admission

Hosteler

Day Scholar

1.

Admission fees (Grade card, provisional certificate, student welfare fund, alumni subscription, publication, etc)

5200

4200

2.

Security deposit (one-time refundable)

26000

16000

3.

Semester fee (examination, registration, students amenities subscription, seat rent, SBF, student's health insurance etc)

10960

10960

4.

Hostel charges (MEC)

15630

0

Total5779031160

IIT Kanpur Tuition Fee for Design

ParticularsFee - RegularFee- Sponsored
M.Des500025000
PhD250025000

Note: SC/ST students are given a 100% waiver of the tuition fee

Browse Top Fashion Design Colleges by Location

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: How long is the IIT Kanpur MDes Course?
A:

IIT Kanpur MDes course is 2 years in duration. 

Q: What is the MDes eligibility for IIT Kanpur?
A:

The candidate should hold a Bachelor’s degree in engineering, design, or architecture from a recognized university with not less than 55% marks and a valid CEED/ GATE score

Q: What are the IIT Kanpur design courses?
A:

IIT Kanpur offers MDes and PhD courses in Design. 

Q: How to join IIT Kanpur for design?
A:

The students need to appear for the CEED exam to join IIT Kanpur. 

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Questions related to CEED

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to CEED ?

NIFT M.Des / NID / CEED – Careers360 Study Material

  1. Careers360 NIFT Study Material → Guides + 10 free mock tests → Careers360 NIFT Material

  2. E-books & Sample Papers → Practice questions & previous papers → Careers360 NIFT E-books

Focus Areas: Creative Aptitude, General Ability, Situation Test.

Hii

Common Entrance Examination for Design is a test includes design aptitude, your creativity, visualisation, problem-solving, and also analytical ability.

CEED exam structure is divided in 2 parts (PART A & PART B) and you can check what to study and syllabus of CEED on career360 https://design.careers360.com/articles/ceed-syllabus-2025


CEED syllabus includes:

Visualization and spatial ability

Design thinking and problem solving

Drawing skills

Creativity

Communication skills

Analytical and logical reasoning

Environmental and social awareness

Observation and design sensitivity Also includes topics on form, function, aesthetics, and technical drawing.


Hello Anushka,

Thanks for reaching out!

You can definitely prepare for CEED to pursue UI/UX design.since you're not from design background you'll need 4-6 months of focused prepration.

Focus on:

Sketching

Visual communication

Design concepts

User experience basics

Problem - solving skills

Past CEED papers.

Practice drawings, story boarding, Idea generation daily.

You can also take online courses to learn design fundamentals and tools.

Consistency and practice matter most!

get all the detailed info here:

https://design.careers360.com/articles/ceed-syllabus

All the best!


Hello sir,

Thanks for reaching out!

Yes, you still have a good chance even with a mid CEED score, if the rest of your profile is strong. While the CEED score is important, most of the institutes use full selection process that includes your CEED score(Part A and B), Portfolio and often an interview or studio tests.Your 6 years of experience, strong portfolio and relevant coursera certificates can add significant value during admission in IITDM, Srishti etc which consider the overall profile not just the rank.