Research Regulations 2011 for Ph.D.

RESEARCH REGULATIONS 2011 FOR Ph.D.

1. Eligibility
1.1 Master's Degree of this University or any other qualification recognized as equivalent thereto in the fields of study notified from time to time by this University. 1.2 Minimum eligibility is 55% of marks or equivalent CGPA. However 5% relaxation is given to the candidates belonging to SC/ST.

2. Categories of Ph.D candidates and place of research

2.1 There shall be three categories of Ph.D. candidates as listed under: a) Full -time, b) Part-time (Internal), c) Part-time (External) i) Full-time Candidates :All approved candidates who pursue full-time study and research in this University shall belong to this category.

ii) Part-time Candidates (Internal): All approved candidates who are employed in this University and actively involved in the relevant area of teaching, research or development as part of their regular work shall belong to this category. iii) Part-time Candidates (External): Candidates working in Industry involved in R&D activities or Research Organisations recognized by this University, and who are permitted for pursuing Ph.D. Programmes in this University while continuing in their job, shall belong to this category. While they shall pursue research in their place of employment, such candidates shall report to their respective supervisor as and when required.

2.2 Research outside the University :

During the course of the Ph.D. Programme, for reasons approved by the Doctoral Committee, a candidate may be permitted by the University to spend up to one year in an Institution or on a project approved for the purpose, outside the University for carrying out research in areas related to the subject of investigation. The conditions for this will be laid down by BRC from time to time.

3. Duration of the programme:

3.1 The duration of the programme and minimum time for submission of thesis after the date of registrations will be as per the table given below: Full time A B C PG in Engineering / Agricultural / Veterinary / Medicines etc. M.S. (Research) / M. Phil. In Arts / Science / Humanities / Management PG in Arts / Science / Humanities / Management / Education 2 years 3 years Part Time

3 years

4 years

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3.2 In all the categories the maximum period shall be six years. In exceptional cases maximum period shall be extended by half an year at a time, maximum of four times based on the recommendation of the Doctoral Committee. This shall be approved by Board of Research & Consultancy.

4. Admission Procedure
4.1 Candidates desirous of registering for the Ph.D. Degree shall submit the application in the prescribed form through proper channel, wherever applicable in response to the advertisement by the University. 4.2 All eligible applicants will be called for a written entrance test and interview. The admissions will be based on a merit list based on the consistent academic record and performance in the entrance test and interview. 4.3 The candidate will be issued a provisional admission letter by the Admission Office of the University 4.4 Candidate shall be admitted for the programme only at the beginning of the semester. The candidate will continue to pay the prescribed fees every semester, in order to keep the Ph.D. Registration alive until the thesis is submitted. If a candidate fails to do so within the permissible dates of payment of fees, the registration will be withdrawn and the candidates name will be removed from the rolls after referring to the Supervisor. 4.5 Provisional admission will be given only after paying of fees and submission of all original certificates as required by the University. 4.6 Within a week of the admission, the School research committee along with all approved research supervisors of the school will allocate Supervisors for each candidate and to be submitted to Dean (Research) for approval and subsequent ratification by BRC 4.7 The date of registration will be the date on which the first Doctoral Committee is held.

5. Supervisors and Number of Candidates

5.1 An updated and approved panel of recognised Supervisors for the Ph.D. programme of the University shall be maintained by the Dean (Research). Faculty members of this University who can guide in interdisciplinary areas shall register themselves in the relevant Schools. The Research Committee of the School / Dept. shall examine and recommend the application form to BRC. After approval the faculty member can be included in the panel of recognized Supervisors. 5.2 All categories of Ph.D. registrants shall be required to work under a recognised Supervisor of this University. The students can also have a Joint-Supervisor, depending on the nature of work. 5.3 In the case of Part-Time candidates (External) there shall be a Co-Supervisor / Research Coordinator from the organisation where the/candidate is planning to do research, if the research involves experiments and or data collection as specified by the Doctoral Committee. 5.4 In exceptional cases a candidate shall be allowed to register under a recognised Supervisor of this University, who is working in an approved institution/R&D lab/Industry by this University. However in such cases Research Coordinator from this University is mandatory. 5.5 When the Supervisor of a candidate happens to be away from the University on other assignments for more than six months, he/she may continue to guide the candidate, but a Joint Supervisor belonging to the University faculty shall be officially nominated by the BRC in keeping with abilities and background, and research adequacies and willingness of the Joint Supervisor in consultation with the Supervisor. 5.6 If the Supervisor happens to resign, Dean (Research) shall appoint a new supervisor from the relevant area within one month.

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5.7 Provision for changes

(i) Change of Research Supervisor : If a research scholar wants to change his / her supervisor for valid reasons, he / she shall write to Dean (Research). The BRC may approve the request of the research scholar to change his/her Research Supervisor on valid reasons. In such cases, a new Doctoral Committee can be constituted, if required. (ii) Change in the category: A full time research scholar in the event of getting any employment may change the category from Full - time to Part time and vice-versa. In such cases the duration of the programme shall be reviewed by Dean (Research)

5.8 Recognition:
Recognition of Supervisor for guiding research work will be accorded by the Chairman-Academic Council on making an application in the prescribed format and on the recommendations of the BRC, provided the applicant possess the following : (i) A Ph.D. Degree in the relevant or allied areas of research in which he/she proposes to guide the candidate. (ii) A minimum of two publications in the relevant or allied areas of research in a refereed Journal or a patent.

5.9 Number of Candidates

A Supervisor shall not guide more than seven doctoral candidates at any time.

6. Doctoral Committee
6.1 There shall be a Doctoral Committee for every scholar to monitor the progress of research work. 6.2. For every scholar, the Supervisor shall furnish a panel of six experts with doctoral qualification in the field of proposed research, from the faculty members of the University / Colleges affiliated to the University / other Universities / experts from R&D Departments / National Laboratories / any other laboratories, from which two will be recommended by the Director of the School, as members (one within the University and one outside expert preferably within the State) Dean (Research) will give the final approval. 6.3 The Supervisor of the scholar shall be the convener of the Doctoral Committee. 6.4 The Joint Supervisor, if applicable, shall also be a member. 6.5 The Director / Head of the Department of the Supervisor shall be an ex-officio member. 6.6 If the Supervisor and the scholar are from different institutions/ Organizations, the Head of the Institution / Department / Organization of the scholar shall be the Research Co-ordinator. 6.7 The Supervisor / Research Coordinator from the University shall be the Convenor of the Doctoral Committee. In the event of the Supervisor of the University leaving the University temporarily or permanently the Second/Joint Supervisor shall be the Convenor. 6.8 All communications shall be routed through the concerned HoD and Director of the School.

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7. Prescription of Course work

7.1 Course work
i) The Doctoral Committee of the candidate shall meet within thirty days of admission and prescribe course work for the candidate. ii) Subjects at P.G level being offered under any approved programme of this University shall be recommended as per their qualification [refer 3.1] by the Doctoral Committee from approved courses as under: 3.1 A 16 credits 3.1 B 16 credits exemption can be given to the Research Methodology done in M.Phil. / M.S. 3.1 C 16 credits iii) Full Time / Part-time (Internal) Ph.D. scholars required to attend class work. Part-time (External) are expected to register their courses under self study with Controller of examinations as per the guidelines. If there is clash in time-table Part-time (Internal Scholars) may be permitted to do self study. iv) Every student would have to undertake course work for a minimum period of one semester of subjects at P.G level being offered under any approved programme of this University as recommended by the Doctoral Committee. v) The course on Research methodology which will include quantitative methods and computer applications will be compulsory for all students, except those who have done this course as part of their M. Phil. programme. vi) No change in the courses prescribed shall be made without the prior approval of the Doctoral Committee. vii) The students are required to register for courses including the literature survey (0:0:4) within 15 days after the commencement of any semester. viii) Every student should acquire a minimum CGPA of 6.0 through prescribed courses. ix) As a part of the course work at the end of the semester every student is required to submit an extensive review report and to give a seminar with a credit of 0:0:4 of literature survey of the research problem which should be comprehensive and exhaustive and will be open to all faculty and research students of the school and shall be attended by the DC members.

8. Monitoring the Progress of Candidates

i) Discussions with Supervisors: Each full-time PhD scholar is required to meet his / her Supervisor(s) at least once in a week and report the progress about the research work done. ii) Part-time PhD scholars are required to meet his / her Supervisor(s) at least once in a month and report the progress about the research work done. Part-time PhD scholars are required to meet his / her Supervisor(s) at least once in two months and report the progress about the research work done, if they are working far away from the University. Part-time PhD scholars are required to meet his / her Supervisor (s) at least once in six months and report the progress about the research work done, if they are working outside India. Every six months, commencing from the date of initial registration, the candidate shall submit progress reports in the prescribed format [Pro forma 3] to the Supervisor

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iii) The Supervisor shall arrange to make a presentation by the candidate of his/her work once in a year before the Doctoral committee. A Doctoral Committee (without external expert) shall review the progress of the candidate at least once in between two Doctoral Committee meetings. The supervisor will send the minutes of the DC meeting along with student report to Dean (Research) iv) Irregularities in conducting DC meetings and submission of progress reports may lead to the cancellation of the registration of the candidate

9. Cancellation of Registration
The registration of a candidate whose progress is either not satisfactory or who has exceeded the maximum period (including grace period) stipulated for the Ph.D shall be cancelled by Board of Research and Consultancy based on the recommendation of Doctoral Committee.

10. Synopsis of Thesis

i) On satisfactory completion of the research work carried out after successful completion of all prescribed courses and the seminar on literature survey the candidate shall submit to the Doctoral Committee through the Research Supervisor, six copies of the synopsis of the Ph.D. work carried out. The earliest date on which synopsis submission shall be six months before the date of submission of thesis as per norms. ii) The synopsis shall be accepted only when the Research Scholar has at least one paper either published or accepted for publication in a refereed journal.

iii) The synopsis viva-voce shall be conducted by the Doctoral Committee in the presence of all faculty members and research scholars of the School. After satisfactory presentation of the research work reported in the synopsis, the Doctoral Committee shall forward six copies of the revised synopsis including the feedback from the Synopsis viva to the Controller of Examinations along with panel of examiners There shall be three different panels of three examiners each. A) From outside India B) From outside Tamilnadu, Pondichery and Kerala C) From within Tamilnadu, Pondichery and Kerala.

11. Submission of Thesis

i) The thesis shall be prepared in an organised and scholarly fashion with an account of the original research work of the candidate leading to the discovery of new facts or techniques or correlation of facts already known (analytical, experimental etc.) and demonstrating a quality as to make a definite contribution to the advancement of knowledge and the candidates ability to undertake independent research and present the findings in an appropriate manner with actual accomplishments of the work, plainly stated and honestly appraised. One bound copy of the Thesis to be submitted to Dean (Research) for scrutiny. The Thesis shall be scrutinized by a Scrutiny Committee constituted by the Vice-Chancellor to assess the overall layout, contents and the quality of presentation of the Thesis. The deviation, if any, shall be rectified by the scholar in consultation with the Supervisor and the same shall be approved by the Dean (Research).

i)

iii) Six copies of the thesis shall be prepared and submitted to the Controller of Examinations in accordance with the format and specification prescribed. Thesis shall be submitted within six months of the approval of the Synopsis by the Doctoral Committee. The research scholar also shall submit three copies of the abstract of the thesis in about 400 words to Dean (Research). Under no circumstances, the thesis submission can be delayed except under extraordinary circumstances, where an extension of two months may be permissible with the recommendations of the Doctoral Committee. iv) The thesis shall include a certificate from the concerned Supervisor (and Joint Supervisor, Co Supervisor, if any) to the effect that the thesis is a record of the bonafide research work carried out by the candidate under his/her/their supervision and guidance and that the work reported in the thesis has not been submitted elsewhere for a degree or diploma.

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v) Instructions to candidates for submitting synopsis and thesis shall be laid down by the Controller of Examinations. vi) Fees shall be paid by the candidates on six monthly basis, till the submission of the thesis; the candidate will submit a no dues certificate from all concerned to the Controller of Examination.

12. Thesis Evaluation

i) The thesis shall be referred to the first two examiners from the panel as nominated by the Vice-Chancellor from the panel of names recommended by the Doctoral Committee.

ii) The Dean (Research) shall take such steps through the Controller of Examinations as deemed necessary to enable the reports of the Examiners to be received as quickly as possible. The examiners are expected to send, in the prescribed form, their reports within two months from the date of receipt of the thesis. iii) The examiner shall include in his / her report an overall assessment, placing the thesis in one of the following categories : a. b. Recommended for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy : Highly commended / Commended. Revision required (i) Revised thesis be resubmitted (ii) Revised thesis need not be resubmitted. c. Rejected

iv) The examiner shall enclose a report in about 300 words, indicating the standard attained in case (a), the nature of revision in case (b) and the reasons in case (c). v) If both the examiners recommended the award of the degree, thesis shall be provisionally accepted. Any minor revision, modification etc., suggested by the examiners shall be carried out before the oral examination is arranged. vi) If both examiners recommended rejection, the thesis shall be rejected and the registration of the research scholar stands cancelled. vii) If one examiner recommends the award of the degree while the other recommends rejection, then the thesis shall be referred to the third examiner as nominated by the Vice-Chancellor from the panel of examiners. If two of three examiners recommended the award, the thesis shall be provisionally accepted. If two of the examiners recommend rejection, the thesis shall be rejected and the registration of the research scholar stands cancelled. viii) If any examiner recommends revision of the thesis the candidate shall be permitted only once to revise and resubmit the thesis within 6 months and the revised thesis shall be referred to the same examiner only in the situation such as (i). when the examiner recommends new experiments and major modification involving new methodology and also (ii). the examiner insist the university to send the thesis back to the same examiner after revision for offering his final recommendation on the thesis which should only be either recommended for the award or rejection. In case, the examiner does not insist on sending the thesis back to him, the thesis shall be referred to the Supervisor to ascertain the corrections carried out in the thesis as suggested by the examiners. The Supervisor shall study the report of the examiners & accordingly send consolidated report to the Controller of Examinations. Controller of Examinations, based on the approval of Vice-chancellor shall constitute oral examination board, within a period of two months from the receipt of the reports from the supervisor. ix) Individual cases not covered by the above clauses shall be referred to the Vice-Chancellor. On reasons deemed fit, the Vice-Chancellor shall refer to the Board of Research and Consultancy which in turn shall refer to the Board of Management, if necessary.

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13. Oral Examination

i) The Board of viva-voce Examination shall be : a) Chairman to be nominated by VC

b) One of the Indian examiners who valued the thesis to be nominated by VC c) Supervisor

ii) The viva-voce examination shall be conducted in this University as Open Defence Type examination. The decision of the Board of Examiners shall be final.

14. Award of Ph.D. Degree

If the Board of viva-voce Examination recommends, the candidate will be awarded Ph.D. Degree with the approval of the Board of Management.

15. Publication of Thesis

15.1 Papers arising out of the thesis may be published by the candidate. 15.2 The thesis as a whole shall not be published by the candidate without the specific approval of the Board of Research and Consultancy of the University. 15.3 The abstract of the thesis will be uploaded on to the internet by the Dean (Research). 15.4 The same copy of the thesis in CD ROM duly certified by the Research Supervisor shall also be submitted to Dean (Research) immediately for depository with UGC and uploading in INFLIBNET

16. The Act of Plagiarism

In the case of research scholars who have copied a dissertation / thesis / book for Ph.D. degree his / her thesis shall be forfeited and his / her research registration shall be terminated in this university and also he / she shall be debarred to register for any other programme in this University. For the abetment of above such action, the recognition of his / her supervisor shall be withdrawn for a period of 5 years and he / she shall be debarred from guiding the research scholars for any research programme in this University till such period.

17. Power to Modify

Notwithstanding anything contained in the above said regulations, the Board of Management reserves the right to modify any of the above said regulations from time to time.

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