Admission Criteria for Foreign Nationals
Fall Admission 2025
The Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE) PhD application for foreign nationals caters to applicants who currently reside outside Pakistan and have a foreign nationality.
All other applicants (i.e., those who have dual nationality, are Pakistani nationals, or are overseas Pakistanis) are required to apply through the regular admission application.
Applicants must meet the minimum eligibility criteria in order to be considered for admission to the Ph.D. programme.
Admission is purely merit-based and rests on the following criteria:
- Academic Record;
- Research Background;
- Letter of Recommendation;
- Application Review;
- Online Test and Interview Performance (if shortlisted); and
- Submission of Complete Online Application and Supporting Documents by the stipulated deadline.
Note: This is the minimum criteria that applicants need to fulfill in order to be eligible to apply. Fulfillment of this criteria does not guarantee admission to LUMS
Academic Background
A minimum of 18 years of education is required for applying to the PhD Programme in Computer Science. (In Pakistan, this would mean an MS or MPhil degree but we understand nomenclature may vary for our international applicants.)
Applicants applying for the PhD programme in Computer Science must have at least eighteen years of education in any one of the following areas:
- Computer Science
- Software Engineering
- Information Technology
- Electrical Engineering
- Computer Engineering
- Other closely related disciplines
The incoming departments at SBASSE may decide a minimum academic performance criteria over and above the criteria set by the Higher Education Commission.
Note:
Applicants completing their last degree by April 30, 2025, are eligible to apply to the PhD programme if they meet the minimum admission requirements at the time of submission of application.
Applicants’ degrees may be checked for recognition by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan.
Submission
The admission application will be considered for evaluation after the successful completion of the following Three (3) steps by the applicants on or before the stipulated deadlines:
- Online Admission Application submission;
- Online submission of scanned copies of required supporting documents;
- Online submission of the Letter of recommendation by the referees.
Note:
- Applicants must complete and submit their online Admission application on or before March 11, 2025 (11:59 pm - PKT).
- Applicants are required to submit the scanned copies of all supporting documents online, on or before March 12, 2025.
- Referees must submit completely filled Letters of Recommendation by the given deadline.
Completion of all steps is mandatory. Applications and documents after the stipulated deadline will not be processed.
Research Background
All applications will be reviewed by the relevant committee to shortlist students for the interview. Applicants are encouraged to provide complete information regarding their academic achievement, research reports, letters of recommendation, attended workshops, extracurricular activities, and must tell LUMS about their success stories in order to substantiate their applications.
Online Test and Interview Performance
Only shortlisted applicants will be called for an interview and for the admission test. Shortlisted applicants must appear for the online test and interview. There will be no exemptions.
Foreign applicants to the PhD Programme in Computer Science are required to appear in an online test for general aptitude and subject evaluation.
The interview will also ask for a brief research presentation. Applicants, if they wish, may like to report GRE (general or subject specific) or TOEFL/IELTS scores if they have taken these exams. However, it is not a requirement for application.
Application Review
All applications will be reviewed by the relevant committee to shortlist students for the interview. Applicants are encouraged to provide complete information regarding their academic achievement, research reports, letters of recommendation, attended workshops, extracurricular activities, and must tell LUMS about their success stories in order to substantiate their applications. Applicants must mention all their academic and test attempts & must not hide any information. Application will be evaluated on the basis of information provided at the time of application submission.