1. For admission into the PhD program a minimum CGPA 3.00/4.00 (in the Semester System) or First Division (in the Annual System) in MS or Equivalent shall be required.
    2. Admission Policy for PhD admissions shall be in accordance with the HEC Policy.
    3. The PhD program shall have a total of 48 SCH out of which 18 SCH shall be for the course work which shall be qualified, as PhD scholar, with a minimum CGPA of 3.00/4.00.
    4. The PhD student shall be on probation if his/her CGPA falls below 3.0. For two consecutive semesters on probation, the admission shall stand Cancelled.
    5. A maximum allowable registration in a Spring or in a Fall semester for a PhD scholar shall be 09 SCH, whereas, it is 06 SCH in a Summer semester. Summer semester can be used only for Deficiency courses.
    6. A PhD scholar shall register in each semester during his/her studies. If a PhD scholar remains unregistered for two consecutive semesters it shall lead to the cancellation of the admission.
    7. After the completion of course work, a PhD scholar is required to qualify the comprehensive examination within a maximum of two attempts to get the PhD candidacy status.
    8. A scholar is required to register for comprehensive examination which shall be conducted in the end of each semester with under mentioned specifications:
      1. The subjects and course contents of comprehensive examination shall be defined by the respective department.
      2. Cumulative qualifying score for comprehensive examination shall be 70%.
      3. Scholars who have registered but did not appear shall be awarded ‘F’ grade and attempt shall be counted.
      4. A withdrawal from comprehensive examination registration shall be communicated in writing by the scholar at least two working days prior to the holding of examination.
    9. A Research Synopsis shall be submitted by the PhD candidate at least two semesters prior to the dissertation submission, and the semester in which it is submitted shall be counted.
    10. Synopsis shall be examined by a committee comprising of:
      1. Dean of the Faculty     –     Chairman
      2. External examiner     –     Member
      3. Internal examiner   –       Member
      4. Supervisor                –        Member
  2. Synopsis shall be graded as Pass/Fail and in case of ‘Fail’ grade the candidate may request in writing for another chance.
  3. Each PhD Candidate after successful defense of PhD Synopsis shall be assigned a PhD Supervisory Committee comprising of following:
    1. Supervisor – Chairman
    2. One external member – Member
    3. One internal member – Member
  4. A PhD scholar, during the research phase is required to earn a satisfactory report at the end of each semester which shall be evaluated by PhD Supervisory Committee.
  5. Publication of at least one research paper from PhD work in a HEC recognized Journal having an Impact Factor as per latest Journal Citation Report published by Clarivate Analytics (formerly known as Thomson Reuters).
  6. The dissertation may be submitted after the completion of 30 research SCH and with an active registration status at the time of submission.
  7. A dissertation shall be cleared for evaluation if its similarity index is less than 20% in total and less than 5% from a single source. Similarity from the student’s own published work carried out during the PhD studies shall be excluded.
  8. The university shall observe zero tolerance towards plagiarism. In case of any ambiguity in plagiarism assessment, the following committee shall evaluate the case and shall submit its recommendations to the BASR for decision:
    1. Concerned Dean
    2. Concerned HoD
    3. Student’s Supervisor
    4. Director Graduate Studies
  9. The dissertation shall be evaluated by at least two foreign experts from a technologically / academically advanced country
  10. At least five foreign examiners shall be proposed by the Dean in consultation with the Supervisor. Of these five BASR shall approve only three.
  11. The PhD dissertation shall have at least two out of three positive foreign evaluations to allow the candidate for final defense.
  12. The Dean shall propose the local examiners in consultation with the Supervisor for the approval of the BASR.
  13. An open final defense for the PhD dissertation shall be carried out by a committee comprising of:
    1. Dean of the Faculty – Chairman
    2. Two external examiners – Members
    3. One internal examiner – Member
    4. Supervisor – Member
  14. On the conclusion of the final defense, the Chairman, in the absence of the candidate and audience, shall invite the examiners for voting on one of the following options:
    1. accepted as it is
    2. accepted with minor revisions
    3. accepted with major revisions
    4. rejected
  15. A dissertation with minor revisions shall be submitted within 04 weeks from the date of examination and shall be accepted with a certificate from the Supervisor that ‘the revisions have been incorporated’.
  16. A dissertation with major revisions shall be submitted within 12 weeks from the date of examination and shall be accepted with certificates from both external and internal examiners that ‘the revisions have been incorporated satisfactorily’.
  17. The date of completion shall be the date of examination in case of minor revisions whereas it shall be the date of re-submission in case of major revisions.
  18. The Chairman shall ensure the communication of examiners comments to the scholar, if any.
  19. A maximum allowable duration, inclusive of semester break, for the PhD program shall be 07 years from the date of admission whereas, the normal duration is 03 years.
  20. PhD scholars are required to comply with the following timeline. In case of failure, his/her case shall be referred to the BASR for cancellation of admission.
    Activity Time Limit
    (from the date of Admission)
    Minimum Maximum
    Course Work 2nd Semester 4th Semester
    Comprehensive Exam 3rd Semesters 6th Semester
    Synopsis Defense 4th Semesters 7th Semesters
    Thesis Submission 7th Semesters 14th Semesters
  21. A scholar may repeat a course in which he has earned B- or below grade.
  22. A scholar may get an elective course substituted with another elective course with the approval of the department.
  23. The PhD program completion shall be subject to the approval of the BASR. However, a transcript / provisional certificate indicating program completion may be issued, on the recommendations of the Dean, by the Chairman of the BASR.
  24. Decisions of BASR in respect of comprehensive exam, synopsis and PhD completion shall be issued over the seal of the Registrar.
  25. Three copies of the final thesis along with a CD, containing soft copy of the thesis, shall be submitted to the department.

Note:

  1. Anything not covered in these rules & regulations or in case of any ambiguity, the decision and interpretation of the University shall be final and binding for
    implementation.
  2. University reserves the right to continue or stop any program at any time.