Ph.D Admission Guidelines

Usha Martin University offers PhD programmes and regulates these through its Academic Council, whose members are very eminent scholars in their respective fields. The research guide would be allocated by the research committee of each department following UGC guidelines in respect of the number of students that can be attached with a faculty member, her/his specialization and the research interest/preference of the student, as indicated at the time of interview. The University Research Coordinator facilitates research scholars to be on an active career path. The academic faculty provides support and guidance on identification of Research Topic as well as access to resources necessary to carry out research.

The University encourages  interaction within and across subject areas, providing a rich environment for  innovative, collaborative and inter-disciplinary research.

A research scholar is ordinarily expected to work in the Department and/or Research Institute of the University.

The rules about eligibility, entrance examination, interview, registration, supervision, submission and evaluation of dissertation/thesis, viva-voce, defense of thesis etc. are as follows:

For admission to Full-Time and Part_Time Ph.D. Degree programme in a subject, an applicant fulfilling any of the following criteria shall be treated as eligible:

1. Candidates belonging to the General Category must have passed Post Graduate Degree (Master’s Degree) or an Equivalent Examination with at least 55% marks or equivalent Grade Point Average (GPA) from an institution recognised by the UGC/AICTE/NCTE or any other statutory national body. However, candidates belonging to SC/ST/OBC categories shall get relaxation of 5 % marks. That is, candidates belonging to reserved categories should have 50% marks in Post Graduate Degree (Master’s Degree) or an Equivalent Grade Point Average (GPA) from an institution recognised by the UGC/AICTE/NCTE or such other national statutory body.
2. A Student whose M. Phil dissertation has been evaluated but the viva is pending may seek admission in the Ph.D. programme of the University.
3. The foreign candidates (who have not obtained Master’s degree from any recognized Indian University) should also have at least 55 % or equivalent GPA at Master’s Degree level. Moreover, the foreign University must be recognized by AIU, New Delhi.

• The duration of the Ph.D. programme shall be a minimum of two years ( Full Time) or three years, ( Part time) including course work and a maximum of six years. Extension beyond the maximum period will be governed by the relevant Statute/Ordinance of the University.
• Female candidates and Persons with more than 40% disability will be eligible for a relaxation up to two years for Ph.D. in the maximum duration. In addition, the female candidates would be entitled to Maternity Leave/Child Care Leave once in the entire duration of Ph. D. for up to 240 days.

A candidate (Indian or Foreign) will be eligible for admission only after she/he qualifies an Entrance Examination conducted by the University.

• Entrance Examination:

The question paper for the Entrance Examination would be divided in two parts; each carrying 50 marks. It will carry a total of 100 multiple choice questions covering Logical Reasoning, Numerical Ability and Language Competence (50%) and subject domain knowledge (50%). Candidates whose overall score is 50% or more for General category & 45% or more for SC/ST/OBC will be eligible for interview.

Candidates holding M. Phil degree or those who have cleared JEST of DAE or UGC-NET or GATE-IIT will be exempted from Entrance Examination as per UGC Guidelines but shall have to register with the University and be interviewed by the Committee constituted by the University for the purpose.

• Interview

Every eligible candidate desirous of pursuing Ph.D. degree will have to appear in the interview by the Committee constituted by the University for the purpose. All such candidates will apply to the University and register for interview.

The interview would be worth 50 marks and the final merit list will be based on linear sum of marks in entrance examination and interview.

Successful candidates can pursue research either Full-time or Part-time. Ordinarily, candidates offered a fellowship by the University or any other agency will have to pursue the research programme on full-time basis. However, candidates employed in an educational or research organisation may be permitted to register as Part-time students.  Moreover, they will work and be present at the University Campus in Ranchi as and when needed for the purpose of their research.

A successful candidate shall be required to apply to the Registrar, Usha Martin University, Ranchi in the prescribed Application Form.

A candidate who has been offered registration shall be required to deposit the prescribed programme fee in three equal installments (to be paid annually during the programme), starting from the time of registration. If a student fails to submit fee due, her/his registration would be liable for cancellation. However, in special cases, extension up to six months may be granted by the University, on written request.

The applicant shall submit five copies of his/her Ph. D. research proposal as per the prescribed guidelines, along with the application.

The date of the Research proposal acceptance shall be treated as the date of provisional Registration of the candidate and the candidate shall be issued provisional admission/registration letter as per University Norms and Conditions.

Extension up to one year beyond the maximum period may be granted by The Vice Chancellor on the recommendations of the Research Committee, provided considerable research work evidenced by publications, has been done by the candidate. The candidate would be required to submit application for extension through his/her guide and Head of the Department three months prior to the expiry of the registration period, along with requisite fee.

Allocation of Research Supervisor will be made as per UGC Regulation.

1. The credit assigned to the Ph.D. Programme course work shall be a minimum of 08 credits and a maximum of 16 credits.
2. Admitted candidates shall be required to undertake course work for a minimum period of one semester.

The course work shall be treated as prerequisite for Ph.D. degree. A minimum of four credits shall be assigned to one or more courses of Research Methodology, which could cover areas in the relevant field, training, field work, etc. Other course(s) shall be advanced level courses preparing the candidates for pursuing Ph. D programme.

The University Department/Research Centre, as the case may be, shall decide the minimum requirement for allowing a candidate to proceed with the writing of the Dissertation/thesis. If necessary, course work could be carried out by doctoral candidates in related departments/institutes within or outside the University. Due credit for this will be given to them.

Candidates holding M. Phil degree from a recognized University and who were admitted to the Ph. D. degree through an entrance examination and had successfully completed course work at M.Phil level may be exempted from the course work.

Every candidate registered in the Ph. D. programme shall be required to submit, through his/her research guide, detailed progress report on the work done every six month.  If a candidate fails to submit three progress reports consecutively, his/her registration could be cancelled on the recommendation of the supervisor, Head and the Dean of the Faculty concerned.

Submission of Synopsis:

Every full-time Ph. D student will be required to submit a synopsis after completion of 6 months of the Course Work.  However, a part-time PhD student will be required to submit a synopsis after completion of 12 months of the Course Work.

Submission of Dissertation/Thesis:

• D. Scholars must publish at least two research papers (One national and one International) in referred journals and conference/ Seminar before the submission of Dissertation/thesis, monograph for adjudication, and produce evidence for the same in the form of acceptance letter or the reprint.
• At least three months prior to submission of the thesis, every student will be required to make a pre-submission presentation. The seminar for this purpose shall be arranged by the Head of the Department concerned on the request of the scholar and duly endorsed by the guide. The final plan of the thesis will be discussed by the research scholar. Presence of research guide (at least one in case of joint supervision), the Head of Department and Director, Research or his/her nominee shall be mandatory. The suggestions made during the presentation will be communicated to the scholar in writing by the HOD
• In the light of the discussions during the seminar, the scholar shall submit to the University five copies of the Dissertation/Thesis after duly incorporating the suggestions made at the presentation through his/her guide and HoD within one month from the date of presentation of seminar. The guide will submit a list of five referees as potential thesis examiners to the Academic Section of the University, through the Head of Department concerned.

• The Full time scholar will be allowed to submit his/her thesis only after completion of a minimum of 12 months from the date of submission of synopsis, whereas a part-time scholar will be allowed to submit his/her thesis only after completion of a minimum of 18 months from the date of submission of synopsis.

• In exceptional cases, the University may permit a scholar to submit his/her thesis in time frame less that that stipulated in (iv) above. Such approvals will have to be processed through the Academic Council.

Evaluation

The dissertation/Thesis submitted by research scholar shall be evaluated by two examiners (one external examiner not in the employment of the University).  Ordinarily, the external examiner will be appointed by the Vice Chancellor out of the panel submitted by the research supervisor. However, the Vice Chancellor shall be at liberty not to use the panel and appoint external examiner on his own. The research supervisor(s)  of the candidate will not be among the internal examiners appointed by the University.

The viva-voce examination based, among other things, on the critiques given in the evaluation report, shall be organized  by the HOD concerned.

Viva Voce and Defense of Dissertation/Thesis

The Head shall notify the day, date, time and the place for the viva voce for the defense of thesis at least fifteen days in advance. Normally, the viva voce and the defense of the Dissertation/Thesis shall be arranged in the University Department. In exceptional cases, the Vice-Chancellor may allow the viva to be conducted at a place outside the University campus. In such a case, the procedure and norms for the conduct of viva shall be as laid down by the University.

The defense of the Dissertation/Thesis shall take place in the presence of viva voce panel comprising the Guide (Internal Examiner), one External Examiner, the HoD, and one senior member of an allied discipline nominated by the VC, who shall jointly evaluate the performance of the candidate. In case of dispute, the Dean of the Faculty concerned shall take an appropriate decision. If the external examiner cannot be present at the time of the defense, the Vice-Chancellor, on the recommendation of the Guide and the Dean of the Faculty concerned, shall appoint a senior researcher in the field to act as an examiner for the defense of the Dissertation/Thesis. In case the Internal Examiner is not available, the Vice-Chancellor shall appoint one of the senior faculty members on the recommendation of the Dean of the Faculty concerned. However, at least one of the examiners involved in the evaluation of the Dissertation must be part of the Viva Voce Panel. The examiners present for the viva-voce and the defense of the Dissertation/Thesis shall submit to the Vice Chancellor their final consolidated report along with summary of replies given to the queries raised by the examiners and accepted by the members of the Viva-Voce Panel, immediately after the defense is over.

In case the defense is not satisfactory, the examiners may recommend with reasons, that a fresh viva-voce and defense of the thesis be organized within a period of not less than one month. If the defense is still not satisfactory, the Committee would record the reasons for the same. The Committee may then recommend resubmission of the thesis with suggested changes or recommend the rejection of the thesis.

The University shall issue provisional certificate to the scholar who successfully completes thesis defense process.

The list of successful candidates will be presented to the Chancellor along with that of other graduands for award of the degree in the following convocation.