PhD Syllabus & Subjects 2024

The syllabus for a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) program depends on the student's specialization and includes core and elective subjects. The syllabus typically includes topics from Psychology (Research methodology, psychological testing, emergence of psychology, and psychological thought in some major Eastern systems), Sociology (Sociological theory), Science (Combinatory, linear algebra, calculus, probability, and programming and data structure), General aptitude (Vocabulary, reading comprehension, reasoning, aptitude, and data interpretation).

PhD syllabus includes all about Research Methodology, Research Ethics, and other topics. The PhD subjects that students study during the course are determined by the aspirant's specialisation, but there are some fundamental subjects that all students must learn about. PhD syllabus majorly depends on the student's specialisation. The syllabus includes topics from10+2, Graduation, Postgraduation, Technology, Life sciences, Mathematics, Sciences, General aptitude. 

Some core PhD subjects include:

• Research methodology
• Ethics of research
• Literature review
• Ethics of using social media in research
• Research tools
• Proposing a research
• Formulation of research proposal 

PhD is the highest academic level degree granted to students who conduct original and independent research in a specific domain. Students in a PhD programme conduct research and write an original thesis on a specific topic. Typically, it takes three to six years to complete a PhD course syllabus. However, the PhD course duration may vary depending on the regulations of the institutions. The PhD degree is primarily offered in two areas: Humanities and Science. The PhD course curriculum and PhD course subjects differ depending on the course type. The PhD syllabus is designed to motivate students to conduct research. Apart from research, students participate in seminars, presentations, and other activities. 

Also Read: PhD Admission 2024

A PhD student must publish at least one paper, per the current UGC guidelines, before submitting their thesis. According to the universities, different numbers of seminars and papers are published. The PhD programmes offer a comprehensive perspective and advance both knowledge and skill to the level of scholarly inquiry. Students conduct extensive research before deciding on PhD programmes. They must review the course syllabus and the PhD stream-specific topics. Also, PhD job scope is diverse and ever-changing, making it an exciting and demanding career path.

The major highlights of the PhD course are listed in the table below. 

Also Read: Best Certificate Courses in India 

PhD is an advanced research study for students who have both undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications. Therefore, the PhD course syllabus is framed keeping the students and their research objectives in mind. The PhD syllabus depends on the specializations a student wants to earn their PhD degree. If we check the syllabus, then some modules can be found the same for a particular domain. The syllabus and PhD subjects completely depend on the domain, guide, and institute that offers the course. Hence, we have provided a general idea of that. 

The below-given table will help to understand how a PhD course syllabus goes on.

PhD 1^st year Syllabus

In the first year, a student needs to work on the following subjects.

PhD 2^nd-year Syllabus

Get an idea of the 2^nd year syllabus pattern of PhD courses:

PhD 3^rd-year Syllabus

Check the third-year syllabus and PhD course subjects in the table below:

PhD or Doctor of Philosophy courses is offered on numerous streams. Science, Arts and Humanities, and Management are some of the major streams of a PhD. A large number PhD courses are there in India. The stream wise syllabus for some of the PhD courses is mentioned in the table below:  

By learning the PhD subjects of a particular domain students develop strong methodological skills that are needed to perform the research. These PhD course subjects work as a background for their research paper. Students can check out the list of subjects for some major Doctor of Philosophy specializations in the given table:

The PhD subjects included as optional papers help in improving the understanding ability. For a challenging course like Doctor of Philosophy, optional subjects help to balance the load of learning. It introduces some subjects that the students might not have studied ever. An important benefit is that these subjects make the learners more skilled in the field. With the added advantage of additional learning, students get the scope of increasing their knowledge of their domain and related areas. 

While selecting these subjects, students should consider their interest and confidence in the subject as important factors. There is a large number of optional subjects in the PhD course syllabus. Optional of two major Doctor of Philosophy courses are listed below:

Being a traditional higher-level academic course, the Doctor of Philosophy comes with a vast range of specializations. Therefore, for the PhD aspirants, the options are abundant. Be it a science stream or the Arts stream, students have immense opportunities for earning a degree in their subject of interest. Students can check out the below-given lists to know about the kind of PhD specializations available in Indian colleges or universities. Among a large number of specializations, only a few are mentioned below:

PhD entrance exams are conducted at both national and institute levels. The students who score a minimum of 50% marks are allowed to seat for the entrance test. The universities/institutes want to test a students’ understanding level of the subject he/she wants to earn a Doctor of Philosophy degree. The course has been mainly preferred by students who want to avail research studies in their post-graduate subject. In the present century, the number of individuals doing PhD has increased a lot. 

India is giving some excellent research opportunities to post-graduate students. The universities want to enrol only talented students in their Doctor of Philosophy courses. Here comes the importance of the PhD entrance test. Some popular entrance tests are CSIR UGC NET, UGC NET, etc. 

The syllabus for PhD entrance exams covers common topics from 10+2, graduation, and postgraduate levels, such as technology, life sciences, mathematics, science, and general aptitude. The subjects and topics covered in the PhD syllabus vary depending on the PhD Specialisation and sub-stream chosen. The subjects included in the PhD Syllabus are centred on the research and practical aspects of the subject, with little emphasis on theoretical knowledge.

A list of PhD syllabus for the entrance exam is tabulated below:

Books play a pivotal role to complete a course like a PhD. Immense information is required for the research work involved in this course. Therefore, students need to be updated on their research topics. PhD students should take help from subject-oriented books. Usually, a Guide who supervises the students in their research work, recommends books. However, here is a list of books on research methodology that the PhD students can refer to complete the course with ease:

Once the students get enrolled in a PhD course, they are required to prepare and submit their research topic and the proposal of research. Then the institutes from where a student pursues the course allocate a guide to the students. Once the students get a Guide, he/she informs the PhD course syllabus, course work, teaching schedule, and assessment technique. Usually, in most universities or institutes students require to submit their work reports at an interval of six months. Another important part of the PhD course is seminar presentations. A student pursuing this course mandatorily gives at least two seminars and then submits his/her Certificate to the Research Unit. The next phase is thesis submission. Before making the final submission of the thesis, students require to publish one research paper in a peer-reviewed journal. This Certificate is also required to submit to the Research Unit. A Pre-Seminar Submission is organized by the Guide before the final submission of the thesis. 

Based on the performance, a report is prepared and submitted. The students get some valuable suggestions for improvement and they incorporate them into the final thesis. Then they prepare a summary of the thesis which they need to submit 45 days before the thesis submission. Once the thesis is finally submitted, it is examined by the experts and students must take part in the viva-voce where they can express their perspectives before the group of experts. Those who successfully get through all these phases are awarded a PhD Degree. In brief, we can structure the Doctor of Philosophy course in the following structure:

·   Submission of Research Proposal

·   Research Report

·   Seminar

·   Certificate Submission

·   Publication of one research paper

·   Pre-seminar submission

·   Thesis Submission

·   Viva Voce