Students to get 6.5 years for PhD at DU

Students pursuing PhD from Delhi University will now get six and half years to finish their research against the earlier deadline of four years and will have to clear an entrance test for admission to the same. The decision was taken in a meeting of the Executive Council (EC) on Monday.

As per the new guidelines, the researchers will also be required to submit a soft copy of the PhD thesis to the UGC within a period of 30 days on successful completion of the evaluation process and announcement of award of the degree. Earlier, the students used to get four years and there was a provision for an extension of six months.

"The span period for submission of PhD thesis shall be five years, extendable up to a maximum of six and a half years. In exceptional cases, the span may be extended after proper justification," EC member Abha Dev Habib said.

The varsity has amended its PhD ordinance in accordance with UGC Regulation, 2009 (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of PhD degree) and UGC Regulation, 2010 (Minimum qualifications for Appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges and measures for the maintenance of standards in Higher Education).

"While the admission process for PhD programmes varied from department to department, it has now been made mandatory to admit the students only through an entrance test. An entrance test shall be conducted for admitting students to the PhD programme. However, separate terms may be decided for students with JRF and MPhil Degree," Habib said.