UGC revises norms for PhD admission, 60% of seats to be reserved for NET/JRF awardees dropped

UGC revises norms for PhD admission, 60% of seats to be reserved for NET/JRF awardees dropped

Last Updated Nov - 09 - 2022, 10:50 AM | Source : PTI | Visitors : 53

A proposal to reserve 60% of the seats for the National Eligibility Test/Junior Research Fellowship holders in all higher education institutions has been droppe

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has notified revised admission norms allowing four-year undergraduate degree holders with a minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 7.5 to join PhD programs and professionals to pursue part-time research courses.

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A proposal to reserve 60% of the seats for the National Eligibility Test/Junior Research Fellowship holders in all higher education institutions has been dropped. “It was not considered keeping in mind the suggestions of the stakeholder,” said UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar

Draft UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of PhD Degree) Regulations, 2022 were released for suggestions from the stakeholders in March. They were notified on November 7 and will replace the 2016 regulations.

In a notification, UGC, the higher education regulator, said there will be a status quo in terms of the procedure of admissions. The eligibility criteria have been revised after the discontinuation of the MPhil program as per National Education Policy 2020, and the introduction of four-year undergraduate programs.

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Candidates with a four-year bachelor’s degree and research and a minimum 7.5 CGPA will be eligible for admission to PhD programs under the new norms. First and second-year post-graduate students (after completing a four-year program) will also be eligible. Candidates pursuing or having completed MPhil will continue to remain eligible for admission to PhD programs.

Professionals will be allowed to pursue part-time PhD programs under the revised norms provided they submit a “no objection certificate (NOC)” from their employers. HT on July 4 reported about this.

The new norms have done away with the mandatory requirement of publishing research papers in peer-reviewed journals for the submission of PhD thesis. HT reported about the proposal on May 26.

Under the revised norms, faculty members with less than three years of service before superannuation shall not be allowed to supervise new research scholars. They allow each supervisor to guide up to two international research scholars on a supernumerary basis over and above the permitted number of PhD scholars they can supervise. The higher education institutes have been allowed to decide their own selection procedure for PhD admission of international students keeping in view the guidelines/norms in this regard issued by statutory/regulatory bodies.

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The revised regulations provide for a 5% relaxation in eligibility criteria for the economically weaker sections.

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