Candidates who wish to pursue PhD from the next academic year may have to qualify in an entrance exam conducted either by the university or the National Eligibility Test. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has drafted new regulations which make the test mandatory for all candidates, including those joining PhD after undergraduation and postgraduation.
The regulations are likely to be implemented by April, said P. Duraisamy, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madras and a member of the committee that had drafted the regulations. The draft has been uploaded for comments.
The draft had also dropped the award of M.Phil degree, a year-long programme. Universities in the State might not be able to offer M.Phil degree once the UGC implemented the new regulations, Mr. Duraisamy said.
Last year, Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudi had announced that universities would continue to offer M.Phil degree citing representation from college teachers.
Amendments dropped
The draft regulations for PhD admission have, however, offered relief while dropping two amendments made in 2016 and 2018. Candidates whose M.Phil dissertation has been evaluated and are recommended for the degree will be admitted provisionally to the PhD programme even if they have not completed their viva-voce or final defence.
Candidates who pursue the four-year undergraduate course with no arrears and a CGPA of 7.5 and above can directly be admitted to PhD. The regulations permit two additional years to women to complete their course work
Also, 60% of admission to PhD would be for candidates who have qualified in the NET and 40% would be provided for non-NET takers. However, based on vacancies in both these segments, candidates from the other segment may be admitted.
The rule for admissions would apply to all State, Central, private and deemed universities.
More course work
On whether the State government would accept the regulations, Mr. Duraisamy said the UGC had powers to bring regulations. “Based on the National Education Policy, the UGC is bringing changes in the regulations. The NEP has no direct policy but the national level entrance test was mooted to improve the quality of higher education. They [UGC] are planning to introduce more course work. PhD candidates would have to take up three courses — research methodology; one on the subject concerned and a topic on which their research would be based. The courses would be prescribed by the PhD advisory committee. Those who have already studied M.Phil need not study the three courses. The advisory committee will prescribe courses for undergraduate students admitted to the PhD degree.”
