Ph.D Ordinance

1. General

1.1 This ordinance will come into force with immediate effect.

1.2 There shall be an entrance test for admission in the Ph.D. Programme of the university by the end of June and December every year. The student who qualifies in this test shall be eligible for admission to the Ph.D. Programme of the university.

1.3 The entrance test (Annexure – I) committee, constituted by the Vice-Chancellor, shall have one chairperson and five members. The mandate of the committee shall be as follows:

• To announce the schedule for the entrance test.
• To conduct the entrance test.
• To evaluate and declare the result for the same.
• The last date for enrollment for the Ph.D. Programme by the successful candidate in the respective department.

1.4 The number of seats available in each department/school for Ph.D. will be made available to the selection committee by the Dean (R&D) and shall be notified in advance on the university website.

1.5 While admitting students for the Ph.D. Programme, the reservation policy of the state/centre shall be followed at the respective department level.

1.6 The duration of the Ph.D. Programme shall be a minimum of two years and a maximum of five years. The maximum period can be extended further for not exceeding two years; but only if the circumstances demand and with the approval of the Research Advisory Committee (RAC).

1.7 The fee structure will be decided by the university, and any change in the fee structure from time to time shall be applicable.

2. Eligibility

The following are eligible to seek admission to the Ph.D. Programme:

2.1 Candidates for admission to the Ph.D. Programme shall have successfully completed:

• A 1-year/2-semester master’s degree programme (after a 4-year undergraduate degree) with at least 55% marks in aggregate or its equivalent grade ‘B’ in the UGC 10-point scale (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed) or an equivalent degree from a foreign educational institution accredited by an assessment and accreditation agency which is approved, recognized, or authorized by an authority, established or incorporated under a law in its home country or any other statutory authority in that country to assess, accredit, or assure quality and standards of educational institutions.
• A 2-year/4-semester master’s degree programme, with the same conditions as in subclause 2.1.1 above.
• A candidate seeking admission after a 4-year/8-semester bachelor’s degree with research should have a minimum CGPA of 7.5/10.
• A relaxation of 0.5 score, i.e., CGPA of 7/10 or an equivalent relaxation of grade may be allowed for those belonging to SC/ST/OBC (non-creamy layer)/differently-abled, economically weaker section (EWS), and other categories of candidates as per the decision of the commission from time to time.

3. Enrollment, Course Work, and Registration

3.1 A candidate who has qualified the entrance test for the Ph.D. Programme shall first deposit the requisite fee and then apply to the department/school where he/she wants to enroll/register. Along with the fee, the student will be required to submit:

• A brief write-up of his/her research interest as a research proposal in the prescribed format.
• A consent letter from the prospective supervisor(s).
• A no objection certificate (NOC) from the employer, if applicable.
• A certificate from the head of the organization/institution in which the candidate opts as the place of research work indicating that the necessary facilities for the proposed work exist in the organization/institution and shall be made available to the candidate but only on the recommendations of the supervisor(s) and allowed by the university.
• One copy of the bio-data of supervisor(s)/co-supervisor (in a prescribed format).

3.2 If the candidate is not able to get the consent of a supervisor, then the head of the concerned department in consultation with the Dean of the concerned school would decide the allocation of the supervisor(s). It will be decided and allocated depending upon the permissible allocation of the number of students with a supervisor, available specialization among faculty supervisors, and the research interest of the student as indicated by the student in his/her application.

3.3 The minimum number of the credit requirement for the Ph.D. Programme should be at least 12 credits and a maximum of 16 credits.

3.4 On completion of the course work (Annexure – II), the candidate will have to make a presentation before the selection committee in which his/her topic will be approved and the research proposal will be accepted. The selection committee shall consist of the following members:

• Convener of RDC of concerned subject (Chairperson)
• Two experts of the concerned subject from concerned faculty members/institute (nominated by the VC)
• One expert of the concerned subject member but not from the university (nominated by the VC)

(a) If the selection committee is satisfied with the performance of the candidate, it will recommend for provisional registration of the candidate as a Ph.D. scholar to the concerned RDC.

(b) Candidates exempted from course work shall have to go through the same process of provisional registration as for other candidates.

3.5 Presentation before the RDC has to be made within a maximum period of six months from the date of completion of course work. The period of six months can be extended to one year if the circumstances demand and with due permission of the Research Advisory Committee (RAC).

• (a) If RDC doesn’t get satisfied with the candidate’s performance, the candidate may be given another chance to present his/her proposal.
• (b) The gap between the two presentations shall be at least six months or as decided by the RDC.
• (c) If the second presentation of the candidate is again found to be unsatisfactory, then his/her candidature will be rejected.
• (d) Should the RDC advise the candidate to revise the proposed Ph.D. topic, the date of registration could be suitably altered to match the date when the revised topic was accepted.

3.6 Thereafter, the candidate may formally register for the Ph.D., and the date of registration of the candidate shall begin from the date of successful defending of the research proposal before the RDC.

4. Research Degree Committee (RDC)

4.1 Constitution of RDC:

• The Research Degree Committee shall consist of the following members:
  • Dean (R&D) (Chairperson)
  • Dean of concerned school (Convener)
  • HOD of concerned department (Member)
  • Supervisor(s) (Members)
  • One expert from the concerned subject/discipline nominated by the Vice-Chancellor on the recommendations of Dean (R&D) from the approved panel (Member)
• All members shall possess a Ph.D. degree or equivalent or have sufficient experience at the doctoral level.
• Four members of the RDC present at a meeting shall form the quorum thereof.
• If the chairperson or convener of the RDC is unable to attend the meeting, the senior most member present in that meeting shall act as the chairperson or convener.
• The RDC will meet at least twice in each academic session and when called upon by the chairperson.

4.2 The RDC will be duty-bound and empowered to:

• Recommend a student to be formally registered as a Ph.D. candidate if the required conditions have been met and after a successful presentation.
• The minutes of the RDC meeting shall be put up at the next meeting of the RAC for approval.
• RDC shall examine the synopsis of the proposed Ph.D. work for registration and shall give a clear report either as topic & synopsis approved or to be resubmitted or as rejected.
• Evaluate and declare the outcome of each presentation and recommend the case to RAC for either a formal approval to proceed or for a representation.
• Monitor the progress of the candidate as forwarded by the concerned department (Annexure – III).
• If for some reason change of supervisor(s) is required or the supervisor is not able to continue with the student, then the RDC will look into facilitating the allocation of new supervisor(s) to the candidate which would preferably be the co-supervisor and will recommend the change and seek approval from the RAC.

5. Supervisor(s)

5.1 A person shall be eligible to act as supervisor, provided after one year of obtaining his/her Ph.D. degree, provided s/he has a good publication record and his/her work has been published in reputed scientific/technical journals. Such a person may either be principal/director/dean, professor, associate/assistant professor of the university or of any reputed organization/institution.

5.2 The maximum number of candidates that can be registered under a supervisor at any particular time shall be as follows:

• Professor: 08
• Associate Professor: 07
• Assistant Professor: 05

5.3 If sufficient number of supervisor(s) is/are not available in a department, faculty from two different departments may be clubbed and act as supervisors for the purpose of joint guidance.

5.4 In all cases, the main supervisor will be from the university only; however, the co-supervisor, if needed, may be from another university/institute.

5.5 If for some unavoidable reasons the Ph.D. supervisor leaves the university, he/she will continue to supervise candidates registered with him/her as co-supervisor.

5.6 The allocation of research supervisor for a selected research scholar shall be decided by the department concerned depending on the number of scholars per research supervisor, the available specialization among the supervisors, and research interests of the scholars as indicated by them at the time of interview/viva voce. The controller of examinations shall fix the date and declare results of course work examinations, seminars, presentations, and viva-voce exams.

6. Composition of the Research Advisory Committee (RAC)

• Vice-Chancellor (Chairperson)
• All directors/deans of schools/institutions (Members)
• Two experts nominated by the Vice-Chancellor (Members)
• Dean (R&D) (Member Secretary)

The RAC will hold a meeting every six months just after the RDC meeting to review/approve/disapprove the minutes of the meeting placed before it.

7. Duration, Progress Monitoring of the Candidate

7.1 A candidate shall have to submit six monthly progress reports in a prescribed format to the RDC through the supervisor(s) and with a recommendation that he/she is satisfied with the progress of the candidate.

7.2 The candidate will have to present the progress of his/her research work by giving at least one seminar a year which is to be assessed by the RDC.

7.3 It is incumbent upon the candidate to ensure that the supervisor forwards the progress report well in time to the RDC. Only if the supervisor’s recommendations are positive, the candidate will be allowed to continue his/her research work.

7.4 If no progress reports are received for two successive six-monthly periods, the RDC may call for an explanation from the candidate as well as from the supervisor(s). The candidate will be permitted to continue with the research work only if that explanation is found to be satisfactory.

7.5 To continue the registration of the programme, the candidate shall have to deposit the required fee at the beginning of each semester or as and when notified by the university.

7.6 The Ph.D. Programme shall be for a minimum duration of two years excluding course work, and a maximum of six years.

• (a) In special circumstances and on the recommendations of the RDC, an extension of up to two years in six-monthly installments can be provided by the Vice-Chancellor.
• (b) The candidate seeking extension must apply at least a month before the expiry of the deadline.
• (c) A candidate may be allowed to modify the proposal of his/her research work with the approval of the concerned RDC, but in such a case, he/she shall not submit his/her Ph.D. thesis within six months from the date of approval for such a change.
• (d) If no extension is granted and the candidate fails to submit the thesis, the registration of the candidate shall lapse. In such a case, the candidate shall have to re-register and begin afresh.
• (e) It shall be essential for a candidate to submit thesis within six years from the date of registration, otherwise, the registration shall automatically be cancelled after due date and no more extension shall be provided in any circumstances.

8. Thesis Submission

8.1 It is expected that a candidate would endeavor to present quality work in the thesis such that at least two research papers emanate from it and these are published in peer-reviewed or refereed journals and presented in conferences/seminars also. The RDC will recommend submission of thesis only after these papers have been published/accepted. The quality assessment of Ph.D. degrees should be the responsibility of the Institutions. The institutions are free to evolve guidelines in this regard, if needed.

8.2 Candidate must deliver a Pre-submission seminar before the RDC in the presence of his/her Supervisor(s).

8.3 Candidate will have to submit ten (10) copies containing a brief report (soft bound) of the work carried out by him/her.

8.4 On recommendation of the RDC, the candidate shall be allowed to submit his/her Ph.D. thesis within three months.

8.5 The language of the thesis shall be English only.

8.6 The thesis shall comply with the following conditions:

1. It must be a piece of original research work showing evidence of contribution to the corpus of knowledge.
2. Candidate shall take care that literary cogency is maintained and specifications given in the manual for the preparation of the thesis are complied with.
3. The thesis shall be typed on both sides of the page and hard-bound. The candidate shall submit four typed copies of his/her thesis along with a soft copy to the University.

8.7 The thesis shall be accompanied by:

• Declaration by the candidate (Annexure –IV) stating that the thesis embodies the original work of the candidate and it, as a whole or part of the same, has not been submitted earlier for any Degree or Diploma.
• A certificate issued by the Supervisor(s) (Annexure –V) stating that the candidate has worked under his/her/their supervision for the period prescribed by the RDC.
• That the various guidelines of UGC and those of the university have been followed.
• A certificate issued by the concerned department verifying that the plagiarism with respect to the contents of the thesis (other than the experimental work and observations reported by the candidate) is not exceeding by more than 20%.

8.8 The work reported by the candidate under experimental/analytical work result section and discussion shall have plagiarism by not more than 5%.

9. Thesis Examination

9.1 The appointment of examiners shall be made in the following ways:

1. The supervisor shall submit a list of five Experts to the RDC (out of the approved panel) to whom the thesis could be sent for examination/evaluation.
2. However, no referee shall be from Baddi University of Emerging Sciences and Technology.
3. The referees should be Ph.D. and recognized Research Supervisors/Guides of the concerned University/Institution. The referee should have some published work in the field that the candidate has reported in his/her work.
4. The Vice-Chancellor shall select two external referees from the panel submitted to him and to whom theses will be eventually sent for evaluation.
5. The Vice-Chancellor shall also appoint the External Referee for the Viva-Voce Examination in the same case. In case of refusal by any External Referee, the Vice-Chancellor shall appoint another Referee.
6. The synopsis will be first sent to these examiners and their formal approval within one month shall be sought before the final thesis is mailed for evaluation. If no communication is received within 15 days, then a reminder request is sent for final consent. If no formal approval is received (within one month), then the Vice-Chancellor may appoint fresh examiners out of the approved panel.
7. One of these examiners has to be present at the viva voce examination while the other may send his/her evaluation and comments in writing to the Dean (R&D).
8. If the convener of RDC is the supervisor, the senior most member of the RDC shall act as the convener.
9. If the Vice-Chancellor is the supervisor, the appointment of examiners shall be made by the senior most member of RAC.
10. If both the Vice-Chancellor and the convener of RDC are the supervisors, the senior most member of RAC shall act as the convener and will appoint the examiners.

9.2 The evaluation reports of the external referees shall be opened by the RDC in the office of Dean (R&D) and shall be further communicated to the concerned Supervisor(s) for further action desired in the matter. The examiners shall specifically report in a prescribed performa (Annexure –VI) whether the thesis fulfills the requirements of clause 7. They shall clearly recommend whether the thesis be:

1. Approved as it is.
2. Approved after minor revision.
3. Be resubmitted after major revision with:
   • Major rewriting
   • Some extra work
   • Rejected

The candidate shall not be declared eligible for the degree unless all the examiners unanimously declare him/her eligible for the degree. Following combinations of difference in opinion by the referees may be adopted for further decision on the thesis examination:

1. Combination of (i) and (ii) – to be treated as (i)
2. Combination of (i) and (iii) – to be treated as (iii)
3. Combination of (ii) and (iii) – to be treated as (iii)

9.3 In the event of the difference of opinion (II, III), the Vice-Chancellor shall appoint a third External Referee (out of the approved list) for this purpose.

• If, afterwards, the majority of external referees’ reports are negative, then the candidate shall be rejected for the award of the Ph.D. Degree.
• In case minor revisions are recommended by the referee/s, then it is to be verified by the supervisors whether the candidate has appended those revisions and the thesis be approved.

9.4 In case of major revision, the candidate shall resubmit his/her work after incorporating suggested revisions. The External Referee shall examine the revision at the time of viva-voce examination.

1. If the candidate is required to revise the thesis, the RDC may permit the candidate to revise his/her thesis and resubmit to the University in a period not later than one year from the date of communication to the candidate.
2. The candidate shall have to pay an additional examination fee as prescribed by the University for re-submission of his/her thesis.

9.5 On receipt of the satisfactory evaluation reports from external referees, the Ph.D. student shall undergo a viva-voce examination.

1. The Board for viva-voce shall comprise of one examiner who has approved the thesis (If for any reason both the examiners who have earlier evaluated the thesis are not available, the Vice-Chancellor may nominate another examiner from the panel).
2. The supervisor (Internal Examiner).
3. HOD of the concerned Department.
4. One expert nominated by the Vice-Chancellor on the recommendations of Dean (R&D) (expert should be from within the University (Internal).

9.6 The Board of Examiners at the Viva-Voce (open defence) shall award a clear verdict based on which the candidate may be:

• Awarded the Doctoral Degree
• Be asked to make amendments in the thesis and resubmit
• Rework and resubmit the thesis.

9.7 In case a candidate is expected to appear for a second viva-voce examination, the fresh schedule shall be notified by the concerned committee to the candidate.

9.8 Clarity of verdict is required on whether the resubmitted thesis is required to be openly defended in another viva-voce or the supervisor is empowered to approve the amendments/corrections so recommended by the Board of Examiners.

10. Award of Ph.D. Degree

10.1 A candidate, after successful Viva-Voce examination, shall submit four hard-bound copies of the thesis duly typed on both sides of the A4 size paper in Times New Roman Script with line spacing of 1.5 and including all the corrections proposed by the examiners to the university prior to the issue of the provisional degree certificate. Out of the four copies, the first copy will be retained in the Library of the University, and the second copy will be sent to the concerned Department/School of the candidate.

10.2 Following the announcement of the award of degree, the University shall submit a soft copy of the Ph.D. thesis to the UGC within a period of thirty days, for hosting the same in INFLIBNET accessible to all institutions/universities.

10.3 The University shall also issue a Certificate stating the fact to the effect that the Ph.D. Degree has been awarded in accordance with the provisions of the UGC (Minimum standards and procedure for award of Ph.D. degree) Regulations.

10.4 Based on the verdict of the Board of Examiners at the Viva-Voce and on the recommendation of the RDC, the RAC shall approve the conferment of the Doctoral Degree on the candidate during the next Convocation.

10.5 Those who cannot attend the convocation may receive the degree by post on paying the required fee. The Ph.D. degree by post shall be made only after the convocation has been held.

10.6 If there is a proven case of plagiarism within three years after the official convocation, the RDC reserves the right to recommend to the RAC to revoke the Doctoral Degree. Such a decision shall be taken only by the Vice-Chancellor on the specific recommendation of the RAC.

10.7 The RAC shall direct the Registrar to provide a provisional degree certificate to the successful candidates and such a certificate shall lapse on the date of the Convocation when the Doctoral Degree shall be awarded.

10.8 In case RAC is not likely to meet in the near future or the result of the candidate is getting delayed, then the VC can empower the Registrar for notification of the results of the student(s). The same has to be then ratified by the RAC as and when it meets afterwards.