The Institute may provide to postgraduate students financial support in the form of teaching or research assistantships (referred to as Institute Assistantship). Assistantships are awarded on a semester to semester basis for a period of up to 22 months for MTech/MDes/MS (By Research) students and up to five years for PhD students. The stipend for the assistantship is paid at the approved rates. A student is expected to devote up to eight hours per week towards job(s) assigned to him/her. The renewal of assistantship is contingent on the student's satisfactory performance in the academic programme and in the discharge of assistantship duties.

Financial Assistance for MTech/MDes/MS (by Research) Programmes: A valid GATE score or JRF is required for awarding Institute Assistantship to MTech/MDes/MS (By Research) students. This requirement is waived for those with MBBS. degree and for those who are B Tech /BS (Four Year) graduates from IITs with a minimum CPI of 8.0.

Financial Assistance for PhD (Engg.) Programmes: A valid GATE score is required for the candidates with bachelor’s degree in engineering/design/architecture. The requirement of GATE is waived for candidates with a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the centrally funded technical institutes (CFTIs) with a percentage of 75% or more or a CPI of 7.5 or more. The candidates with master's degree in science must either have a valid GATE score or must have qualified for/in JRF/NET.

Financial Assistance for PhD (Sciences) Programmes: The candidate either must have a valid GATE score or must have qualified for JRF. The requirement of GATE/JRF is waived for candidates having a master's degree in science from IITs with a minimum CPI of 8.0. In addition to GATE/JRF, a valid JEST score is also an eligibility criterion for financial assistantship in Physics.

Financial Assistance for PhD (HSS) Programmes: The candidate either must have a valid GATE score or must have qualified for/in JRF/NET. The requirement of GATE/JRF/NET is waived for candidates having a master's degree in science/arts from IITs with a minimum CPI of 8.0.

For M.S. by Research students who are project employees of IIT Kanpur, there is a minimum commitment of support from the project for one year. On the completion of one year, it is expected that such candidates will continue to be supported by PI (possibly through other projects, if the current project is over), or by the department (through DPA or other such projects). In case, there is no support available from PI/Department, no financial support will/can be provided to the student, from the Institute funds at the level of M.Tech. assistantship even if s/he has a valid GATE score, as the students are admitted under sponsored category.

Some financial support in the form of research assistantships may also be available from sponsored research projects. Additional assistantships in the form of scholarships, fellowships, etc. may be available through other organizations such as the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), etc.

In addition to the students admitted with financial assistantship, students may also be admitted to the MTech/MDes/MS by Research/PhD programmes on a self-financing basis.