New PhD Regulations by UGC

University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced new regulations for PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) degrees, introducing changes in eligibility criteria, admissions and evaluation methods for doctoral programs.

The requirement of publishing research papers in refereed journals or presenting them at conferences has been scrapped. For the first time ever, UGC has introduced Part-time PhDs! Expanding access to those already part of the workforce or those who are encumbered with responsibilities such as working mothers.  They have also relaxed marks eligibility for admissions by 5% across the board including the new EWS category.

Impact on those pursuing doctorates:

Anyone who has completed a four-year, eight-semester Bachelor’s degree program with a minimum of 75% overall marks or its equivalent grade is qualified to apply for a Ph.D.

Those who have completed a four-year UG program can join after completing an additional one-year Master’s degree, but those who have only done a three-year UG will require to complete a  two-year Master’s degrees.

Before these changes came into effect, aspirants required 55% average marks, and many universities insisted on the prerequisite of an M. Phil degree as well, but the new rules have scraped the M. Phil program altogether.  But do not worry, if you already have an M. Phil degree it will still stand and will be taken under consideration while applying for doctorate.

Other than applicants from the reserved category, all who fall under EWS will also be given 5% relaxations in marks requirement.

Changes in the procedure of admission:

The process for admissions has not undergone any significant alterations. Universities and colleges will be free to enroll students via the NET/JRF qualification route as well as admission tests at the level of the institutions, as has been the standard up until now. According to the Regulations, 50% of the entry syllabus must cover research methodology and 50% must be subject-specific.

The UGC has for the time being abandoned its idea to mandate that 60 percent of the annual admission of PhD applicants in each institution be reserved for people with NET/JRF qualifications.

According to the new rules, when a university takes an entrance test 70% of weightage would be given to the written test and 30% to the interview. The intended common entrance exam for PhDs has been removed from the revised regulations as a result of stakeholder feedback.

Alterations to how research supervisors carry out their duties:

As before, eligible professors, associate professors, and assistant professors are still permitted to supervise a maximum of eight, six, and four PhD applicants at any same time.

However, in the past, in addition to their PhD applicants, professors, associate professors, and assistant professors might also mentor three, two, and one M. Phil scholars, respectively. The 2020 National Education Policy has eliminated the MPhil program.

The new Rules also prohibit faculty members from supervising new research scholars if they have less than three years of service remaining before retiring.

In addition to the maximum number of domestic PhD students, each supervisor may additionally supervise up to two foreign research scholars. Colleges and universities are free to create their own policies regarding the admission of international PhD candidates.

UGC raises the standard of doctoral instruction and research:

It has established a new requirement that all PhD candidates, regardless of discipline, complete training in writing, teaching, and other skills associated with their chosen field of study while pursuing their degree. Additionally, they can be given a four to six-hour-per-week teaching or research assistantship to help with lab or tutorial work and assessments.

Previously, research scholars were required to appear before a Research Advisory Committee once every six months and present the progress of their work for evaluation and further advice in order to assure the quality of their output. Now, they must complete this task each semester.

The need that institutions create a process utilizing “well-developed software applications to detect plagiarism in research work” is still there in the revised Regulations.

Impact of eliminating the prerequisite of publishing research papers in scholarly publications before submitting a PhD thesis:

Since the emergence of so-called “predatory journals,” where many doctoral scholars were discovered publishing their research in exchange for a fee, the UGC has been battling this problem. The publication of research in certain journals or the delivery of presentations at conferences sponsored by their publishers should not be taken into consideration for academic credit in any way, according to a UGC panel’s 2019 recommendation.

The UGC requested public opinion on the draft guidelines it circulated in March of this year, proposing that institutions be permitted to create their own rules in this area and changing the word “required” to “desirable.” However, that requirement has been completely dropped from the final regulations.

The UGC chairperson, Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar, stated that by eliminating the required condition, the commission is attempting to lessen the pressure on academics so that they can concentrate more on producing high-quality research. That will inevitably result in their findings getting published in prestigious publications, he claimed.

The UGC discovered that between 2017 and 2019, research comprising one central university and an IIT indicated that up to 75% of submissions were sent to journals that were not Scopus-indexed. In the IIT, where such submissions are not required, 79% of scholars were published in journals with a Scopus index. This also seems to have influenced the UGC’s choice.

Provision for part-time PhDs:

The regulations have created a new category with part-time PHDs. Although already present in the IITs, this will be a novel concept for the majority of universities and colleges. Both applicants applying full-time and applying part-time must meet the same qualifying requirements. Their PhD work will be evaluated in the same way that full-time PhD students’ work is evaluated.

However, part-time PhD candidates must also present a No-Objection Certificate, or NOC, from their employment in addition to satisfying the standard requirements. The NOC will have to specify that the potential part-time PhD candidate employee will be allowed enough time for research work in addition to indicating that they are permitted to pursue studies on a part-time basis.

Shreekant Srivastava

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