Regulations for the Registration and Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Of Adamas University (Effective from July, 2017)
The Adamas University
Established by The Adamas University Act, 2014
(West Bengal Act No. IV of 2014)
Approved by the Governing Board vide meeting dated 01.07.2017 (Agenda No. 10.4)
Ph.D. REGULATIONS
(Effective from Academic Session 2015-2016)
1. GENERAL
1.1 Adamas University (AU) awards the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and other researches leading to research degree to a candidate who has successfully completed the stipulated Programme of Research at AU and adopt the UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Awards of M.Phil. / Ph.D. Degree) Regulations, 2009 with such amendments as made by the UGC from time to time. (Annexure – I, UGC Regulation 2009)
1.2 The Programme of Research with the governing rules and regulations are formulated by the Governing Board of the University. The Board can modify or change the structure, the governing rules and regulations from time to time.
1.3 A candidate to be awarded the Ph.D. degree has to submit a thesis embodying the findings of his research carried out in this programme. The thesis should make an original contribution of high quality to the advancement of knowledge as judged by experts in the relevant area.
1.4 A candidate becomes eligible for the award of the Ph.D. degree after fulfilling all the academic requirements prescribed by the Academic Council (AC) of the University.
1.5 The award shall be made upon the recommendation of the Vice Chancellor of the University and after approval by the Chancellor of the University.
1.6 The number of seats for Ph.D. in each discipline shall be decided well in advance and notified by the University in the University website or advertisement.
2. CATEGORIES OF Ph.D. SCHOLARS:
A. AU admits Ph.D. students under the following categories:
I) REGULAR SCHOLARS
These are students who work full time for their Ph.D. and may receive fellowship from CSIR/UGC or any other recognized funding agency or may be self-financed.
II) SPONSORED SCHOLARS
A candidate in this category is sponsored by a recognized R&D organization, national institute, govt. organization or industry for doing research in AU on a full time basis. He / She will not receive any financial support from AU or any other recognized funding agencies. Sponsorship letter (Format-I) should be attached with the application.
III) RESEARCH FELLOWS
This category refers to the candidates who will be admitted in Ph.D. Programme of AU by virtue of qualifying in the UGC-JRF/CSIR/DST/ICSSR Research Fellowship Examinations or any other similar qualifying exam as approved by the University with Financial support.
IV) SELF SUPPORTED SCHOLARS- LOCALLY & PROFESSIONALLY EMPLOYED PERSONNEL
This category refers to the candidates who are locally and professionally employed personnel. These candidates should be able to meet supervisor(s) regularly in AU for the guidance on their research work.
The applicant must be a regular employee of a recognized R&D organization, national institute, government organization or industry. No financial assistance will be provided by AU to such students.
A No Objection Certificate from the Head of the Institute/ Organization in which he/she is employed (Form-II) must be enclosed at the time of application.
V) SPONSORED SCHOLARS (EXTERNAL)
This category refers to candidates employed in R&D organizations having adequate research facilities. Admission of such Scholars shall be made by the Vice Chancellor on the recommendation of Research Committee (RC).
VI) AU EMPLOYEES / FACULTY SCHOLARS/ PROJECT FELLOWS
Full time employees (Regular/Contractual) including Project Fellows / Staff of AU may be allowed as full-time or part-time students by the Vice Chancellor, on recommendation of Dean, Faculty of Council.
VII) INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS
The admission of foreign students shall be made by the Vice Chancellor on the recommendation of RC.
B.
I) FULL-TIME SCHOLARS
All candidates who pursue full time research in this University shall belong to this category.
II) PART-TIME SCHOLARS
All candidates other than full time research in this University shall belong to this category.
3. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION
Students for admission to Ph.D. Programme in AU must satisfy the following criteria:
Master’s Degree or equivalent as approved by Association of Indian Universities (AIU) in Arts, Science, Commerce, Engineering, Technology or any other discipline.
Graduate in Professional courses recognized by law, such as, Engineering, Medical, Law, Chartered Accountancy, Cost Accountancy, Company Secretary, etc. with good academic record and having aptitude for research. The minimum marks for Humanity 55% and others 60% or equivalent grade. Students passing from foreign universities / institutions should conform to above eligibility criteria through equivalence as approved by the Equivalence Committee of the University.
4. ADMISSION PROCEDURE
4.1 Admission to the Ph.D. Programme of AU will take place in the month of June and December every year.
4.2 Admission to all categories of students is granted on the basis of an Entrance Admission Test followed by interview. At the time of interview, doctoral candidates are expected to discuss their research interest/area. Candidates whose selection is approved by the Vice Chancellor on the recommendation of RC will be admitted to the Ph.D. Programme of the AU after payment of the prescribed fees.
4.3 In the case of Sponsored students (external), the following additional conditions are to be satisfied:
4.3.1 The candidates will be required to undergo course work at AU for at least one semester during Ph.D. Programme. A sponsored / employed candidate will have to produce a certificate from his employer that he/she will be fully relieved from all the duties of the organization to complete his/her course work at AU.
4.3.2 The sponsored candidate must submit full details of the facilities relevant to the research programme available in the organization where he/she is employed, duly certified by the sponsoring authority.
4.3.3 The sponsored candidate will have to submit a certificate from the sponsoring authority that required facilities like leave, etc. will be made available by the organization.
4.4 In case of International Scholars, the procedure to be followed will be based on the recommendation of RC.
4.5 Students desirous of enrolling for Ph.D. programme will have to take admission on payment of fees as may be decided by the university from time to time. The date of admission will be treated as the date of enrolment.
5. ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS
5.1 Supervisor(s) / Co- supervisors
(a) A supervisor of any category must have evidence of carrying out research work through publications in reputed national or international journals.
(b) Every student admitted to the Ph.D. programme of AU must carry out his/ her research work under the supervision of a faculty member of AU. This faculty member will be called the Supervisor of the student. If a part of the research work is carried out in industry, reputed institute or R&D laboratory, a Co- Supervisor, may be nominated by the concerned Dean Faculty Council for Post Graduate and Under Graduate Studies, from that industry, institute or R&D laboratory in consultation with the head of the organization or his nominee.
(c) The student may have a second supervisor from AU in case of inter-disciplinary nature of research work. In this case the additional supervisor will be called as a Co-Supervisor. The Co-Supervisors will be nominated by the concerned Dean, Faculty Council for Post Graduate and Under Graduate Studies for the administrative responsibilities connected with the Ph.D. programme.
(d) The following categories of persons are permitted to be associated with the Ph.D. Programme as Supervisor or Co- Supervisor.
(i) Eligible faculty members of AU.
(ii) Eligible Adjunct/Visiting Faculty members of AU.
(iii) Eligible person from sponsoring organization in case of sponsored student.
5.2 Appointment of Supervisor(s)
5.2.1 The allocation of a Supervisor for a selected student shall be decided by the Department in a formal manner depending on the number of student per eligible faculty member, the available specialization among the faculty supervisors, and the research interest of the student. The allocation of supervisor shall not be left to the individual student or faculty member.
5.2.2 The Supervisor(s) should be identified and appointed immediately after the enrolment.
5.2.3 Sponsored students (external) shall have one Supervisor from AU (AU Supervisor) and one co-supervisor from the parent organization.
5.2.4 There may be external Supervisor as co-supervisor recognized by the RC who will supervise the research work carried out by the scholar for Ph.D. and in such case one AU Faculty will be the Supervisor.
Bio data of the External Supervisor should be submitted for approval of the Vice Chancellor on recommendation of the Dean of the concerned Faculty Council for Post Graduate and Under Graduate Studies and Head of the Department.
5.2.5 In case of an inter-disciplinary Research Programme the RC may appoint a Co-Supervisor in the relevant field of study in respect of a candidate undertaking interdisciplinary Ph. D Programme.
5.2.6 The maximum no. of students assigned to supervisor shall be 8 at any point of time.
5.3 Change of Supervisor(s)
The Vice Chancellor may permit a student to change his Supervisor(s) for valid reasons on recommendation of concerned Dean, Faculty Council for Post Graduate and Under Graduate Studies.
5.4 Doctoral Committee (DC)
5.4.1 To monitor the progress of research of the students, there will be a separate committee for each Ph.D. Student, called Doctoral Committee (DC) consisting of following members:
(i) Head of the Department / Head of the Center Chairman
(ii) The Supervisor or (if the Head of the department /Center is the supervisor then, his/her nominee) Member Secretary
(iii) The other Co-Supervisor(s) Member
(iv) One other faculty members from the department/other department nominated by the supervisor
and approved by the Chairman, and report the same to Academy Council Member
The DC will be constituted by Dean, Faculty Council for Post Graduate and Under Graduate Studies in consultation with the Head of the Department.
5.4.2 The Chairman of DC may convene the DC meetings for a Ph.D. student as and when necessary.
5.4.3 Until the DC is constituted for a Ph.D. student, the concerned Faculty Council for Post Graduate and Under Graduate Studies/ Council of Studies/ Centre will perform the duties of the DC.
5.5 Research Committee (RC)
5.5.1 To general control and supervision of Doctoral Research and other researches leading to research degree, a committee called Research committee will be constituted consisting of following members:
5.5.2 Members of the Research Committee:
1. Director of research Chairman
2. Two deans of Faculties of studies nominated by VC Members
3. Three HODs nominated by VC Members
4. Controller of Exam or his nominee Members
5. Registrar or his nominee Member secretary
5.5.3 Functions of Research Committee:
1. To monitor the admission process,
2. Designing and conducting Course work,
3. Registration of PhD Students as approved by RC.
4. Availability of research facility in AU
5. Any other powers and responsibilities as may be assigned by the Academic Council (AC).
5.6 Course Work
5.6.1 Ph.D. Students will have to register and complete a minimum of 12 credit PG level course (4 Credits for each course).
5.6.2 Course work (minimum one semester) should be completed within two semesters by all the students unless extended by the RC.
5.6.3 However, Course work duration, content and credit for Graduate in Professional courses will be determined by AC on the recommendation of RC.
5.6.4 All students need to take final examinations and obtain a minimum CPI/CGPA of 6.0 based on the scores of final examination and other internal examinations taken together.
5.6.5 If a student is unable to obtain the minimum qualifying marks, he/she shall be given another chance to appear the repeat examination within six months.
5.6.6 If a student unable to obtain the minimum qualifying marks in the repeat examination, then he/she should go through the entire process course work again or his/her admission will be cancelled.
5.7 Registration for Ph.D. Programme
5.7.1 After successful completion of the Course Work and the Examination, the candidate has to submit Research Proposal (in or about 1000 words excluding Bibliography) highlighting the plan of work defining the research problem identified and course of investigation proposed to be pursued. An assessment of the current status of problem area and a justification for the work has to be projected to the Research Committee (RC) through the Head of the Department.
5.7.2 The research proposals shall be evaluated by all members of the DC and based on the evaluation Research Proposal shall be short listed.
5.7.3 All candidates whose Research Proposal are short listed will make an oral presentation before DC for Registration Seminar. Once Proposal is accepted by DC, DC will recommend to RC and approved by VC and report the same to Academic council.
5.7.4 The student will be registered by the University as the Ph.D. student with effect from the date of enrolment.
5.8 Progress Review
The DC will meet at least once in six months to review the progress of the Research Programme of the student. The DC will report the progress of the student to the RC after every such meeting.
5.9 Semester Registration
5.9.1 Students of all categories in the Research Programme will have to register in person each semester on the stipulated date.
5.9.2 They are required to pay the prescribed fees for each semester till the submission of their thesis within stipulated dates.
5.10 Cancellation of Registration
The Ph.D. registration of a student is liable to be cancelled for any of the following reasons:
(a) Consistent lack of progress in research.
(b) Violation of Discipline and Conduct Rules of the AU.
(c) Non-submission of the thesis within the stipulated period.
(d) Non-conformity with the regulations of the programme.
(e) Giving false information at the time of application/admission/during the programme.
5.11 Comprehensive Viva Voce Examination for the Ph.D. Programme
i. Every research scholar has to appear for a comprehensive viva voce examination after 2 years from the date of registration/enrolment and after successful completion of course work.
ii. Scholars who are not successful in the comprehensive viva-voce examination in the first attempt will be asked to reappear within a period of 3 months.
iii. In the event a scholar is unable to qualify in the comprehensive viva-voce examination as in (ii) above, he / she may be allowed to discontinue the Ph.D. programme.
iv. Those scholars, who fail to qualify in the comprehensive viva-voce examination as in (i) above, may be considered for award of M.Phil. / MS degree subject to fulfillment of all academic requirements including submission of appropriate dissertation.
5.12 Temporary Withdrawal
i. Research scholars may be permitted to withdraw temporarily after completion of their course work and allowed to submit thesis from outside on the recommendation of the DC, subject to the condition that they have to register every semester on payment of semester fees.
ii. No scholar shall be allowed to withdraw before completion of at least one semester in the university.
5.13 Validity of Registration
The maximum duration of the Ph.D. Programme will be 7 years from the date of enrolment for full time students. For part-time students this period will be 8 years. However, for sufficient and reasonable ground the Academic Council may extend the period on the recommendation of RC for another one year at a time up to maximum two years in total.
5.14 Medium of Instruction and Examination:
5.14.1 The medium of instruction and examination for all programs of the university including doctoral programme shall be English.
5.14.2 The medium of instruction and examination for a programme in a specific language (eg- Bengali, Spanish etc.) shall be in that specific language for dissertation/thesis only. The medium of instruction in the related course work shall be English.
5.14.3 The medium of instruction and examination for the course work shall be English except for the language subject paper.
5.15 Synopsis of thesis
5.15.1 At least 3 months prior to the submission of the thesis, the student shall submit 10 copies of the synopsis of his research to the DC. The synopsis will contain an outline of the research work done by the student along with his/her findings.
5.15.2 The student shall submit the synopsis of his/her thesis work and make seminar presentation before the DC. The DC, if approved, shall permit the student to submit the thesis within three months and forward the synopsis to the office of the Controller of Examinations.
5.16 Panel of Examiners
The DC will forward and recommend a panel of 6 examiners having a rank of Professor/Associate Professor or equivalent from other Institutes/ Universities/ R&D Organizations in India or from abroad (from the list of examiner submitted by the supervisor(s)) to the office of the Controller of Examination for necessary action and for approval of the Vice Chancellor for appointment of Examiners.
5.17 Submission of Thesis
i. The scholars having M.Tech. / M.Pharm / LL.M./ M.Phil. or equivalent will be allowed to submit thesis after two years from the date of registration. The scholars having M.A. / M.Sc. / M.Com. / MBA / M.Ed. / B.Tech. or equivalent will be allowed to submit thesis after three years from the date of registration.
ii. Within three months of the acceptance of the synopsis by DC the students shall submit four copies of his thesis along with a soft copy in PDF format to the office of the Controller of Examinations. The student must have at least one first author paper in a peer reviewed journal.
iii. The soft copy of the Thesis will be examined by the University through standard anti-plagiarism software before submission of the Thesis. A certificate to this effect to be submitted by the Scholar at the time of submission of the Thesis.
iv. If any Scholar completes his/her Thesis before the minimum period prescribed, he/she can apply to the Vice Chancellor through the supervisor for early submission. The Vice Chancellor may allow for early submission provided the synopsis and Seminar Presentation Reports are satisfactory.
5.18 Examiners of the thesis
The thesis shall be referred to two examiners chosen by the Vice Chancellor from the panel of examiners recommended by the DC.
5.19 Thesis Reports
(a) The Controller of Examination should take the prior consent of an expert to act as examiner to evaluate the thesis before the thesis is sent for evaluation.
(b) The examiners are expected to send the reports on the thesis within three months from the date of receipt of the thesis.
(c) If an examiner does not send the report within two months, a reminder will be sent by the office of the Controller of Examination. If the report is not received within four months, the Vice Chancellor will refer the thesis to another examiner from the approved panel. The appointment of the examiner who has not sent the report within four months shall be deemed to be cancelled.
(d) If one of the two thesis examiners does not recommend the thesis for the award of the Ph.D. degree, the Vice Chancellor will refer the thesis to a third examiner from the approved panel.
(e) If an examiner suggests re-submission of the same, the student is allowed to resubmit the same after due revision within the time stipulated by the DC. The decision of the examiner on the thesis shall be final.
(f) If two of the examiners do not recommend the thesis for award, it should be rejected.
(g) If two of the examiners recommend the award of Ph.D. degree, the DC will consider the reports and recommend the conduct of viva-voce Examination.
(h) In all other cases, not covered by the above Regulations, the matter will be referred to the Academic Council for a decision.
5.20 Viva-Voce Examination
(a) The following is the composition of the Viva-voce Examination Board (VEB):
(i) Chairman of the DC Chairman
(ii) Members of DC Members
(iii) One examiner of the thesis within the country, or Member
An expert from the same panel nominated by the VC from the panel of Examiners Approved the DC
(iv) One expert nominated by the VC Member
(b) The VEB conducts the open defense (open to all interested in the field) of the thesis by the candidate ensuring that he/she answers all the written queries of the thesis examiners satisfactory.
(c) If the VEB finds the performance of a student unsatisfactory, the student will be asked to reappear for another viva-voce examination at a later date (not earlier than a month and not later than six months from the date of the first viva-voce examination).
(d) If the VEB evaluates performance of the Research Scholar as unsatisfactory on the second occasion also, then the matter will be referred to the Academic Council for decision.
(e) The VEB may also recommend revision to be made in the final version of the thesis after taking into consideration the suggestion of the examiners who evaluated the thesis and the discussion at the viva-voce examination. The Chairman of the VEB shall forward the report to the Head of the concerned Department, certifying that the recommended revisions by the VEB, if any, have been incorporated in all copies of the thesis. A soft copy of the final version of the thesis shall be submitted by the student within 7 days of the Viva-voce Examination.
(f) VEB will send his final reports to the VC (in the prescribed format) recommending / not recommending the award of the degree.
5.21 Award of Ph.D. Degree
If the performance of the research students in the Viva-voce Examination is satisfactory as per the report of VEB, he will be awarded Ph.D. degree on the recommendation of the Vice Chancellor and with the approval of the Chancellor of AU. The award of the degree will be notified by Controller of Examination or his nominee. The degree will take effect from the date of notification.
5.22 Grievance Redressal
In implementation of this Ph.D. Regulations if any difficulty/grievance arises, the matter shall be placed before the Vice Chancellor who will make appropriate recommendation to the Academic Council for disposal of the issue. The Academic Council shall take final decision which will be binding on all the parties and his decision shall be treated as final.
The DC will be constituted by Dean, Faculty Council for Post Graduate and Under Graduate Studies in consultation with the Head of the Department.
The Chairman of DC may convene the DC meetings for a Ph.D. student as and when necessary.
Until the DC is constituted for a Ph.D. student, the concerned Faculty Council for Post Graduate and Under Graduate Studies/ Council of Studies/ Centre will perform the duties of the DC.
Research Committee (RC)
To general control and supervision of Doctoral Research and other researches leading to research degree, a committee called Research committee will be constituted consisting of following members:
Members of the Research Committee:
1. Director of research Chairman
2. Two deans of Faculties of studies nominated by VC Members
3. Three HODs nominated by VC Members
4. Controller of Exam or his nominee Members
5. Registrar or his nominee Member secretary
Functions of Research Committee:
To monitor the admission process,
Designing and conducting Course work,
Registration of PhD Students as approved by RC.
Availability of research facility in AU
Any other powers and responsibilities as may be assigned by the Academic Council (AC).
Course Work:
Ph.D. Students will have to register and complete a minimum of 12 credit PG level course (4 Credits for each course).
Course work (minimum one semester) should be completed within two semesters by all the students unless extended by the RC.
However, Course work duration, content and credit for Graduate in Professional courses will be determined by AC on the recommendation of RC.
All students need to take final examinations and obtain a minimum CPI/CGPA of 6.0 based on the scores of final examination and other internal examinations taken together.
If a student is unable to obtain the minimum qualifying marks, he/she shall be given another chance to appear the repeat examination within six months.
If a student unable to obtain the minimum qualifying marks in the repeat examination, then he/she should go through the entire process course work again or his/her admission will be cancelled.
Registration for Ph.D. Programme :
After successful completion of the Course Work and the Examination, the candidate has to submit Research Proposal (in or about 1000 words excluding Bibliography) highlighting the plan of work defining the research problem identified and course of investigation proposed to be pursued. An assessment of the current status of problem area and a justification for the work has to be projected to the Research Committee (RC) through the Head of the Department.
The research proposals shall be evaluated by all members of the DC and based on the evaluation Research Proposal shall be short listed.
All candidates whose Research Proposal are short listed will make an oral presentation before DC for Registration Seminar. Once Proposal is accepted by DC, DC will recommend to RC and approved by VC and report the same to Academic council.
The student will be registered by the University as the Ph.D. student with effect from the date of enrolment.
5.8 Progress Review:
The DC will meet at least once in six months to review the progress of the Research Programme of the student. The DC will report the progress of the student to the RC after every such meeting.
Semester Registration:
Students of all categories in the Research Programme will have to register in person each semester on the stipulated date.
They are required to pay the prescribed fees for each semester till the submission of their thesis within stipulated dates.
Cancellation of Registration:
The Ph.D. registration of a student is liable to be cancelled for any of the following reasons:
Consistent lack of progress in research.
Violation of Discipline and Conduct Rules of the AU.
Non-submission of the thesis within the stipulated period.
Non-conformity with the regulations of the programme.
Giving false information at the time of application/admission/during the programme.
Comprehensive Viva Voce Examination for the Ph.D. Programme:
Every research scholar has to appear for a comprehensive viva voce examination after 2 years from the date of registration/enrolment and after successful completion of course work.
Scholars who are not successful in the comprehensive viva-voce examination in the first attempt will be asked to reappear within a period of 3 months.
In the event a scholar is unable to qualify in the comprehensive viva-voce examination as in (ii) above, he / she may be allowed to discontinue the Ph.D. programme.
Those scholars, who fail to qualify in the comprehensive viva-voce examination as in (i) above, may be considered for award of M.Phil. / MS degree subject to fulfillment of all academic requirements including submission of appropriate dissertation.
Temporary Withdrawal:
Research scholars may be permitted to withdraw temporarily after completion of their course work and allowed to submit thesis from outside on the recommendation of the DC, subject to the condition that they have to register every semester on payment of semester fees.
No scholar shall be allowed to withdraw before completion of at least one semester in the university.
Validity of Registration:
The maximum duration of the Ph.D. Programme will be 7 years from the date of enrolment for full time students. For part-time students this period will be 8 years. However, for sufficient and reasonable ground the Academic Council may extend the period on the recommendation of RC for another one year at a time up to maximum two years in total.
Medium of Instruction and Examination:
The medium of instruction and examination for all programs of the university including doctoral programme shall be English.
The medium of instruction and examination for a programme in a specific language (eg- Bengali, Spanish etc.) shall be in that specific language for dissertation/thesis only. The medium of instruction in the related course work shall be English.
The medium of instruction and examination for the course work shall be English except for the language subject paper.
Synopsis of thesis:
At least 3 months prior to the submission of the thesis, the student shall submit 10 copies of the synopsis of his research to the DC. The synopsis will contain an outline of the research work done by the student along with his/her findings.
The student shall submit the synopsis of his/her thesis work and make seminar presentation before the DC. The DC, if approved, shall permit the student to submit the thesis within three months and forward the synopsis to the office of the Controller of Examinations.
Panel of Examiners:
The DC will forward and recommend a panel of 6 examiners having a rank of Professor/Associate Professor or equivalent from other Institutes/ Universities/ R&D Organizations in India or from abroad (from the list of examiner submitted by the supervisor(s)) to the office of the Controller of Examination for necessary action and for approval of the Vice Chancellor for appointment of Examiners.
Submission of Thesis:
The scholars having M.Tech. / M.Pharm / LL.M./ M.Phil. or equivalent will be allowed to submit thesis after two years from the date of registration. The scholars having M.A. / M.Sc. / M.Com. / MBA / M.Ed. / B.Tech. or equivalent will be allowed to submit thesis after three years from the date of registration.
Within three months of the acceptance of the synopsis by DC the students shall submit four copies of his thesis along with a soft copy in PDF format to the office of the Controller of Examinations. The student must have at least one first author paper in a peer reviewed journal.
The soft copy of the Thesis will be examined by the University through standard anti-plagiarism software before submission of the Thesis. A certificate to this effect to be submitted by the Scholar at the time of submission of the Thesis.
If any Scholar completes his/her Thesis before the minimum period prescribed, he/she can apply to the Vice Chancellor through the supervisor for early submission. The Vice Chancellor may allow for early submission provided the synopsis and Seminar Presentation Reports are satisfactory.
Examiners of the thesis:
The thesis shall be referred to two examiners chosen by the Vice Chancellor from the panel of examiners recommended by the DC.
Thesis Reports:
The Controller of Examination should take the prior consent of an expert to act as examiner to evaluate the thesis before the thesis is sent for evaluation.
The examiners are expected to send the reports on the thesis within three months from the date of receipt of the thesis.
If an examiner does not send the report within two months, a reminder will be sent by the office of the Controller of Examination. If the report is not received within four months, the Vice Chancellor will refer the thesis to another examiner from the approved panel. The appointment of the examiner who has not sent the report within four months shall be deemed to be cancelled.
If one of the two thesis examiners does not recommend the thesis for the award of the Ph.D. degree, the Vice Chancellor will refer the thesis to a third examiner from the approved panel.
If an examiner suggests re-submission of the same, the student is allowed to resubmit the same after due revision within the time stipulated by the DC. The decision of the examiner on the thesis shall be final.
If two of the examiners do not recommend the thesis for award, it should be rejected.
If two of the examiners recommend the award of Ph.D. degree, the DC will consider the reports and recommend the conduct of viva-voce Examination.
In all other cases, not covered by the above Regulations, the matter will be referred to the Academic Council for a decision.
Viva-Voce Examination:
The following is the composition of the Viva-voce Examination Board (VEB):
a. Chairman of the DC Chairman
b. Members of DC Members
c. One examiner of the thesis within the country, or Member An expert from the same panel nominated by the VC from the panel of Examiners Approved the DC Member
d. One expert nominated by the VC Member
The VEB conducts the open defense (open to all interested in the field) of the thesis by the candidate ensuring that he/she answers all the written queries of the thesis examiners satisfactory.
If the VEB finds the performance of a student unsatisfactory, the student will be asked to reappear for another viva-voce examination at a later date (not earlier than a month and not later than six months from the date of the first viva-voce examination).
If the VEB evaluates performance of the Research Scholar as unsatisfactory on the second occasion also, then the matter will be referred to the Academic Council for decision.
The VEB may also recommend revision to be made in the final version of the thesis after taking into consideration the suggestion of the examiners who evaluated the thesis and the discussion at the viva-voce examination. The Chairman of the VEB shall forward the report to the Head of the concerned Department, certifying that the recommended revisions by the VEB, if any, have been incorporated in all copies of the thesis. A soft copy of the final version of the thesis shall be submitted by the student within 7 days of the Viva-voce Examination.
VEB will send his final reports to the VC (in the prescribed format) recommending / not recommending the award of the degree.
Award of Ph.D. Degree:
If the performance of the research students in the Viva-voce Examination is satisfactory as per the report of VEB, he will be awarded Ph.D. degree on the recommendation of the Vice Chancellor and with the approval of the Chancellor of AU. The award of the degree will be notified by Controller of Examination or his nominee. The degree will take effect from the date of notification.
Grievance Redressal:
In implementation of this Ph.D. Regulations if any difficulty/grievance arises, the matter shall be placed before the Vice Chancellor who will make appropriate recommendation to the Academic Council for disposal of the issue. The Academic Council shall take final decision which will be binding on all the parties and his decision shall be treated as final.
