Jadavpur University floats new PhD entry rules, teachers baffled

  • | Saturday | 25th February, 2017

At present, JU only holds a selection interview for its PhD programme.However, another UGC clause has raised hackles among JU teachers. For instance, the Engineering Faculty Council has proposed to hold an entrance test for 100 marks with a cut-off set at 50. The fact is that most professors and associate professors in the humanities faculty already have PhD students far exceeding the UGC limit. Even if they are allowed to supervise the existing students, chances are they can't guide research students anymore till the existing ones complete the programme. This is what University Grants Commission wants all universities, from JNU to JU, to follow.Going by UGC norms, universities have to conduct an entrance test for PhD aspirants.

KOLKATA: Getting admission into a PhD programme in Jadavpur University won't be that easy.A draft proposal from JU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das sent to all four faculties-engineering, science, humanities and interdisciplinary studies -calls for bringing about a change in the admission procedure Doctoral committees have accepted, in principle, introduction of an entrance testinterview for screening of candidates. This is what University Grants Commission wants all universities, from JNU to JU, to follow.Going by UGC norms, universities have to conduct an entrance test for PhD aspirants. The clause may be waived for NETGATE SLETCSIRICAR fellows or those who have done MPhil. All four faculties have been requested to chalk out modalities of the entrance procedure for this category, while an entrance test of 100 marks is a must for the non-NETGATESLET category. At present, JU only holds a selection interview for its PhD programme.However, another UGC clause has raised hackles among JU teachers. It says that a professor having a PhD with five publications can supervise a maximum of eight research fellows, an associate professor can guide six, while an assistant professor having a PhD can supervise only four. The fact is that most professors and associate professors in the humanities faculty already have PhD students far exceeding the UGC limit. Even if they are allowed to supervise the existing students, chances are they can't guide research students anymore till the existing ones complete the programme. Like teachers, the university also wants to lay down screen ing procedures for PhD aspirants. For instance, the Engineering Faculty Council has proposed to hold an entrance test for 100 marks with a cut-off set at 50. The engineering faculty doesn't want to waive it for NETGATESLET students. It wants a different sort of admission test for this category based on MCQ. Candidates will then have to appear for an entrance interview.The minimum eligibility criterion for pursuing a Ph.D program may be an MTech with 55%. The engineering faculty also wants the PhD fellow to earn a minimum eight credit points and a maximum 16 credit points during the one-year course work before she starts writing the thesis.A section of teachers is averse to abiding by the UGC stipulation in letter and spirit. "The UGC has given a general guideline to improve the quality of research. Universities should have the elbow room to formulate its own modalities based on the UGC guidelines. But then, there are some practical problems, too. For instance, universities should be left with the option to decide on the admission procedure of non-NETGATE category. At the same time, there are professors and associate professors who have a rich teaching experience and a PhD but do not have the publications as stipulated by the UGC. We need to take a flexible stand to increase the volume of research work," a JU professor said. He also pointed to the recent developments in JNU where teachers are up in arms against such stipulation.JU V-C Suranjan Das, however, reserved his comment. "I have nothing to say on this. Let the deans speak on behalf of the faculties," Das said.

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