IIT Hyderabad Summer Internship (SURE) 2026 – Eligibility, Stipend, Dates, How to Apply

Introduction

IIT Hyderabad's rapid ascent in national rankings is heavily attributed to its cutting-edge research infrastructure. The IIT Hyderabad Summer Undergraduate Research Exposure (SURE) 2026 scheme is a prestigious national initiative designed to invite exceptionally talented non-IITH students to experience rigorous academic research.

The SURE program operates as a centralized portal-based application specifically targeting 2 months of summer vacation. Selected interns receive a highly competitive stipend of ₹15,000, subsidized accommodation on IIT Hyderabad's stunning Kandi campus, and the opportunity to co-author papers with some of the finest academic minds in fields like autonomous navigation, 5G networks, artificial intelligence, and materials science.

About the Program

Unlike informal cold outreach frameworks common at older institutes, SURE is highly formalized. Faculty members float specific project requirements on the SURE portal, and students apply directly against those distinct nodes.

• Conducting Authority: Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH).
• Participating Departments: Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil, Biotech, Biomedical, Chemical, Chemistry, Physics, and Liberal Arts.
• Core Philosophy: Providing tier-2 and tier-3 college students unrestricted access to multi-crore research equipment and fostering a national R&D pipeline.

Program Highlights

Eligibility Criteria

The SURE program is intensely competitive. Over 10,000 students typically apply for roughly 200 slots. IIT Hyderabad filters initially via academic percentages before evaluating research potential.

• Year of Study: Must completing the 3rd year (6th semester) of B.Tech/B.E., or the 1st year (2nd semester) of an M.Sc/M.Tech program.
• Academic Cut-off: A minimum CGPA of 8.0 or 80% aggregate across all previous semesters. Students with active backlogs face absolute rejection.
• Domain Validity: Non-IIT students are exclusively eligible. IITH students have a separate internal protocol.

Eligibility may vary depending on department and project. For cutting-edge AI labs, professors may unofficially bypass the 8.0 CGPA rule if the candidate holds an exceptional GitHub portfolio or published paper.

Duration of Internship / Job Contract

The fellowship operates heavily enforcing physical presence at Kandi.

• Total Duration: Exactly 8 weeks. Extension requests are generally accommodated if they evolve into joint thesis programs, but the official SURE stipend stops at 8 weeks.
• Expected Schedule: Labs function around the clock. Depending on the guide, you might work standard 9-5 hours, or utilize deep-night hours for heavy computational clustering tasks.
• Final Deliverable: An official presentation before the departmental committee outlining research progress, followed by a final bound report.

Stipend / Salary

For a summer academic fellowship, the SURE scheme is notably generous.

• Core Stipend: A consolidated sum of ₹15,000 for the entire two months (paid monthly or at the end based on host professor accounts).
• Accommodation: Shared hostel accommodation is provided to all outstation SURE interns. While the room constitutes a benefit, students must pay standard mess charges (approx. ₹150-₹200 per day) out of pocket or from their stipend.

Important Dates

Keep a close watch on the official IITH website starting late January.

• Application Start: Historically mid-February.
• Application Deadline: Mid-March. There are zero extensions on IIT portals.
• Selection Announcement: End of April. Emailed directly or listed on the portal via roll numbers.
• Internship Start Date: Second or third week of May.

If exact dates are unknown, tracking this generalized trajectory is mathematically safest.

Step-by-Step Application Process

1. Registration: Create an account on the official IITH SURE recruitment portal.
2. Project Selection: Browse the exhaustive list of projects floated by the faculty. Read the abstract and mandatory prerequisites. You can generally select 1 or 2 project preferences.
3. Drafting the Statement of Purpose: This is the ultimate deciding factor. Do not write a generic SOP. Tie your exact technical skills to the specific problem statement the professor's project addresses.
4. Upload Documents: Ensure the NOC, mark sheets, and resume are compressed correctly (typically under 1MB).
5. Submission: Lock the application. Some departments may subsequently email candidates for a secondary telephonic interview if they find the SOP highly compelling.
6. Final Acceptance: Check the portal periodically in April. If selected, you must formally 'accept' the offer within 48 hours to confirm hostel booking.

Required Documents

• Institution No Objection Certificate adhering explicitly to IITH's template.
• Digital academic transcripts up to the latest completed semester.
• Research-oriented resume featuring projects rather than extracurricular hobbies.
• A tightly written Statement of Purpose matching the floated project.

Selection Process

The portal application goes directly to the faculty member who floated the specific project.

• Hard Filter: Applications below 8.0 CGPA or missing NOCs are deleted automatically.
• Faculty Triage: Professors read the SOPs. An SOP that says "I want to learn AI" is eliminated. An SOP that says "I applied PyTorch Transformers for 6 months and can directly solve your project bottlenecks" is shortlisted.
• Verification: Selected candidates are finalized by the Dean's office and published centrally.

Common Mistakes Applicants Make

• Re-using Old SOPs: Using the exact same SOP from your IIT Bombay application here. Professors instantly notice the lack of project alignment.
• Applying to Mismatched Domains: A civil engineering students applying for an advanced quantum computing module will be rejected regardless of a 9.9 CGPA.
• Lack of Real Skills: Listing "Basic C++" when the project explicitly demands "Expert CUDA Optimization".

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Advice

Securing a SURE induction is a game-changer for your research trajectory. Optimize your portal strategy by choosing projects that align mathematically with your past work. The goal isn't learning from scratch at an IIT; it is assisting an IIT professor solve a current problem using your pre-existing skills.

Expand your horizons and build parallel contingencies by browsing elite campus programs actively via InternshipsHub.