National Institute of Immunology

The National Institute of Immunology (NII) is an autonomous institution supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India. The Institute is committed to advanced research addressing the basic mechanisms involved in body defence, host-pathogen interactions and related areas with a view to contribute to the creation of an internationally competitive intellectual knowledge base as a sustainable source of innovative futuristic modalities of potential use in health care. To this end, the Institute follows a two-pronged strategy of linking excellence in rigorous fundamental research with the pragmatic pursuit of emerging application possibilities in entrepreneurial partnerships.

Over thirty independent research groups work in a broad range of modern biological disciplines at NII in dissecting the molecular mechanisms of interaction between the biological systems and their environment. The research interests of the current groups coalesce in four major areas; Gene Regulation, Immunity & Infection, Molecular Design, and Reproduction & Development. The Institute also attempts to contribute to the enhancement of national research competence in the life sciences by providing advanced interdisciplinary teaching and training, including a doctoral programme in academic affiliation with the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

The National Institute of Immunology (NII) has the mandate to undertake, aid, promote, guide and coordinate research of high calibre in basic and applied immunology. The institute continues to create a scientific base and focusses its activities in the pursuit of fundamental research, and solutions derived for tangible public utility with pragmatic  entrepreneurial partnership.


 * To undertake, aid, promote, guide and coordinate research of high calibre in basic and applied immunology.
 * To carry out reserearch for development of new vaccines and immunological reagents for communicable diseases.
 * To develop immunological approaches for regulation of male and female fertility.
 * To interact with industry for manufacture of vaccines and immunological reagents
 * To organize postgraduate courses, workshops, seminars, symposia and training programmes of a specialized nature in the field of immunology, vaccine development and related areas
 * To organize training programmes for technicians in immunological methods and related techniques
 * To establish affiliation with recognized universities and instituteions of higher learning for the purpose of enabling research scholars to register for postgraduate degrees
 * To serve as a National Reference Centre for immunology and to provide consultancy services to medical and veterinary institutions, publich health agencies and industries in the country
 * To provide and promote effective linkages on a continuing basis between various scientific and research agencies/laboratories and toehr organizations working in the country in the field of immunology, vaccine development and related areas
 * To collaborate with foreign research institutions, laboratories and other international organizations in fields relevant to the objectives mentioned above

Doctoral programme

The Institute imparts long term research training leading to a PhD degree of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Applications for the PhD programme are invited from candidates interested in pursuing scientific career in biological and related sciences. A detailed announcement describing the selection procedure for admission to the PhD programme is displayed on the Institute’s website and advertised in all national newspapers & Employment News in the month of October/November every year for the academic session that begins in July. Around thirty to thirty five scholars are admitted to the programme each year, selected on the basis of a national competitive written examination for short-listing the applicants & followed by interviews of these short-listed candidates held at the Institute sometime in June. Minimal academic qualifications required are: M. Sc. or equivalent in any branch of science, or M. Tech. or MBBS or M. V. Sc. or M. Pharm. or equivalent qualification recognized by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, along with first division or an equivalent grade or at least 60% of aggregate scores in all major examinations from Senior Secondary Certificate (10+2) onwards.

The Bioinformatics Center (BIC) at NII has been set up by the Department of Biotechnology as one of the ten Distributed Information Centres under the Biotechnology Information System (BTIS) program. Apart from carrying out research in computational and structural biology, the Center also serves as an information source in the field of molecular biology and immunology for researchers all over the country. BIC, NII has acquired a number of computerized databases and software to cater to the requirements in the field of molecular biology and immunology.