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Mr. Suranjan Das, Vice-Chancellor of Jadavpur University sent a draft proposal to four faculties of the varsity, i.e., engineering, humanities, science and interdisciplinary studies regarding bringing change in the admission procedure for Ph.D. course. Doctoral committees have accepted the introduction of entrance test and interview for the admission to Ph.D. course. If these rules are implemented, getting admission to Ph.D. course at Jadavpur University will require the candidates to appear in additional rounds.
Also read: - Calcutta University to Offer Ph.D. Course as Per New UGC Guidelines
Recently, Jawaharlal Nehru University adopted the new admission rules for M.Phil and Ph.D. course as per the suggestions of University Grants Commission. UGC wants all the varsities to adopt similar admission procedure for Ph.D. course. As per the UGC norms, all the universities have to hold an entrance examination for Ph.D. aspirants. However, the candidates who have cleared GATE / NET/ SLET/ CSIR/ ICAR or the candidates who have qualified M.Phil are exempted from taking the entrance examination for Ph.D. course.
Jadavpur University has directed all the four faculties to figure out modalities of the entrance procedure. On the other hand, non-GATE/ SLET/ NET category students have to take an entrance examination, which is conducted for 100 marks. Currently, Jadavpur University only holds interview for the admission to Ph.D. programmes.
On the other hand, one of the clauses of UGC has raised hackles among the teachers of Jadavpur University. The clause says that a Ph.D. qualified professor with five publications will have the opportunity to supervise a maximum of eight research fellows. Similarly, an associate professor who qualified Ph.D. can guide only six research fellows and an assistant professor who has a Ph.D. can only guide four research fellows.
Also read: - UGC Rule on M.Phil & Ph.D. Admissions Not Retrospective, Clarifies JNU VC
The major issue of concern is that most of the professors in humanities faculty have Ph.D. students more than the limit prescribed by University Grants Commission. Therefore, they cannot guide research students anymore unless the existing students complete the programme.
The engineering faculty of the varsity suggested that the varsity could hold the entrance examination for 100 marks with a cut-off score of 50 and NET/ GATE /SLET candidates should not be exempted from the entrance examination. The engineering faculty also suggested that a Ph.D. fellow must earn at least eight credit points during the one-year course work. He/she has to start writing thesis only after achieving a minimum of eight credit points or a maximum of 16 credit points.
