Rules & Regulations for PhD

1. Award of PhD Degree. HITEC University, on recommendations of Board of Advance Studies and Research (BAS&R) shall award degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) to the students who satisfy the following conditions:-
   • Course Work/Residency. The minimum course work required shall be 18 credits of graduate level courses and two years of Residency. Only relevant graduate level courses or equivalent shall be counted towards the total course work requirements of PhD.
   • Research Work. In addition to the course work, all students must register for 30 Credit Hours of doctoral research and volume of research work to be determined by the Supervisor.
   • Successful Dissertation Defence. Details are given in paragraphs 18-21 of this Chapter.
2. Eligibility for Admission. To be eligible for admission to PhD a candidate:-
   • Shall possess M S/M Phil (18 + years) degree or its equivalent with a minimum CGPA 3.00 out of 4.00 or first division in the relevant subject from a recognized university.
   • In case the candidate is serving in a private or government organization, he/she shall also attach a “No Objection Certificate” from his/her employer, and route the admission form through proper channel.
   • Shall define the area of research and proposed supervisor.
   • Shall pass GAT/GRE subject test before the admission and meet HEC admission criterion as announced from time to time.
   • A student previously withdrawn from HITEC University on disciplinary grounds will not be eligible to apply again for any degree program.
   • In case of dispute, decision of the Vice Chancellor shall be final for grant of admission to any student in PhD program.
3. Application /Registration
   • Desirous applicants shall apply to the Registrar HITEC University on the prescribed application form along with necessary documents (in duplicate) to the Admission Office, as per advertised schedule of admissions. The Admission Office will issue a receipt of acknowledgment to the candidate.
   • After initial scrutiny as per the eligibility of the candidate, the application form will be forwarded to the concerned department for evaluation and recommendations.
   • Each department will form a PhD Admission Committee headed by the Chairperson with 2-3 PhD faculty members as approved by the VC. The Committee will scrutinize each case for the approval of VC, as per following guidelines:
     • Appraisal of academic profile of the candidate and the accompanying letters of recommendation.
     • The research proposal will also be carefully assessed.
     • The candidate could be called for an interview by the committee.
     • Availability of a suitably qualified and experienced supervisor in the relevant field of research and his acceptance of the candidate are essential for the grant of admission to a candidate.
   • After receiving approval of VC, the Registrar shall issue notification of the candidate as a provisional PhD student with intimation to all concerned. The letter will be issued to each successful/unsuccessful candidate.
   • At the beginning of the program, every student shall register with the University in the discipline for which he/she has been recommended by the Admission Committee.
   • Each student so selected shall be required to register and pay security and admission fee within 30 days from the date of issuance of the notification of registration.
   • All admissions shall be liable to be cancelled until the submission of:-
     • Required/pre-requisite and attested documents.
     • Full security and admission fee as laid down.
     • Any other supporting documents that may be required.
     • Attested copies of certificate within two weeks of declaration of results by the candidates awaiting result is mandatory, otherwise the University will cancel their admission.

     Note: - At the time of registration, candidates will provide original certificates also, which will be retained by the Admission Office till completion of the program.

4. Academic Deficiencies. A student shall be dropped from the PhD degree program if:
   • Receives „F‟ grade in more than one course.
   • Fails after repeating the course.
   • On completion of course work and even after availing the chances for improvement of grades, the CGPA remains below 3.00
   • Fails twice in the comprehensive examination.
   • On disciplinary grounds when recommended by the Discipline Committee.
   • Other conditions are also applicable as mentioned in these rules.
5. Improvement of CGPA. Before taking the comprehensive examination, a student may repeat only two courses having grade point average of less than 3.00. Procedure for repeating the course(s) shall be as under:-
   • The candidate shall apply to the Chairperson for permission to repeat a course. The Chairperson, in consultation with the Supervisor, may permit the student to repeat the course, subject to its offering.
   • The transcript shall show both the old and the new earned grades but the CGPA shall be based on the better grade.
   • The student shall have to repeat the course within the time limit given by the supervisor.
   • In addition to clearance of the „F‟ grade, a student shall be allowed to repeat a maximum of two courses only during his/her entire PhD coursework.
6. Confirmation of Admission
   • After successful completion of graduate level courses or equivalent (minimum 18 credit hours) with a minimum CGPA of 3.00 out of 4.00, a student shall take a comprehensive examination consisting of written and oral components.
   • The comprehensive examination should be conducted as soon as possible after the completion of course. The pass percentage shall be 60%.
   • A Department shall normally hold at least one comprehensive examination in an academic year which shall be conducted by the PhD Examination Committee approved by the VC on the recommendations of the Chairperson of the Department and Dean of the Faculty concerned in consultation with the Supervisor.
   • The Supervisor of the student will be the Chairman of this Committee.
   • A maximum of two chances will be available for clearing the comprehensive examination.
   • The registration of a PhD student shall be cancelled if he/she does not pass the comprehensive examination even in the second attempt.
   • Within one year of passing the comprehensive examination, the student with the guidance of supervisor will submit a synopsis of the proposed research topic for the approval of Board of Advanced Studies and Research.
   • On approval of synopsis of the proposed research topic by Board of Advanced Studies and Research, the admission of the candidate to PhD program will be confirmed.
   • Failure to present the research proposal within the specified time may result in cancellation of admission of the candidate.
7. Appointment of Supervisor. Board of Advanced Studies and Research will appoint a supervisor from the relevant field as proposed and approve the field of research/title on the recommendation of the Department concerned.
   • Appointment of Guidance and Evaluation Committee. A doctoral GEC shall be formed at the earliest after the acceptance of an applicant into PhD Program, within a month after the appointment of supervisor. The Chairperson in consultation with the student and his supervisor and also with the approval of Dean shall appoint the Committee. The student‟s supervisor shall chair the Committee. GEC shall comprise of minimum three PhD members including the supervisor, one member from the department and one external member from a reputed national university or research organization / relevant industry. One additional member (if required) can be from other department of the HITEC University keeping in view the research topic and expertise of the faculty.
   • Proposal Defense. There shall be a proposal defense of PhD scholar before the GEC within 6 months after passing the Comprehensive Examination.
   • Appointment of a Co-Supervisor. A co-supervisor, if required, will be appointed with the mutual consent of student, supervisor, Department Chairperson and Dean. A co-supervisor should be a PhD, and shall be either from another department within HITEC University or outside the university/research organization.
8. Medium of Instructions. The medium of instructions, writing and examination shall be English unless otherwise approved by the VC.
9. Progress Reports
   • The Supervisor of a PhD student shall submit a detailed report to the BAS&R by 30th June and 31st December each year on the progress of the student.
   • In the absence of Supervisor, progress report will be submitted by the Chairman of the Department concerned.
   • In case of two consecutive unsatisfactory reports by the Supervisor, the case will be recommended to BAS&R for cancellation of admission.
10. Change of Supervisor/Topic
    • Any subsequent changes in the proposal will be forwarded to BAS&R through concerned Department and Dean.
    • Request for change in PhD supervisor or if a supervisor opts to withdraw from supervision of a candidate will be sent to BAS&R for approval, through the Chairperson of concerned department.
    • No relaxation in the completion time will be granted on this basis.
    • The change request of supervisor and topic is allowed once during entire PhD coursework.
11. Duration
    • Minimum period for completion of PhD program shall be three years whereas the maximum period shall be eight years and shall include two years of residency.
    • Deleted
    • During residency, the University staff(s) selected to undergo the PhD program shall temporarily discontinue teaching (for residency period only) and will be paid scholarship/stipend as applicable/authorized from time to time.
12. Research Publication. Publication of at least one research paper based on PhD research work in an HEC approved “W” or “X” category Journal is essential for the award of PhD Degree in Science disciplines, while for Social Sciences paper published in Y category journal is acceptable besides W and X category of Journals.
13. Appointment of External Examiners
    • Standing list of local external and foreign examiners suggested from time to time by the Departmental Board of Studies/Board of Faculty concerned and approved by the Board of Advanced Studies and Research will be maintained by each Department.
    • Deleted.
    • The Supervisor shall suggest a panel of at least eight external examiners (four local and four foreign experts) from the approved list. The VC in consultation with Dean shall appoint two external and two local examiners from the suggested panel to evaluate the dissertation.
    • Dissertation must be evaluated by at least two experts from technologically advanced countries and two local experts.
14. Plagiarism Test. Plagiarism Test must be conducted on the dissertation before its submission to foreign and local experts by the QAC.
15. Evaluation of Research Dissertation
    • The dissertation will be sent for evaluation to two experts from technologically/academically advanced foreign countries and two local experts (external).
    • Final presentation of dissertation will be given after obtaining unanimous positive evaluation report by all the four experts.
    • Each expert shall submit his/her report to the Controller of Examinations.
    • In case of rejection by one of the expert, the dissertation will be sent to the expert from the originally proposed panel for obtaining the final opinion.
    • In case, if two of the experts ask for a resubmission, the candidate will be asked to work on the dissertation for a maximum period of six months before submitting it for re-evaluation.
    • The dissertation shall be resubmitted after incorporating revisions and changes suggested by expert(s).
    • Re-submission may be allowed at least three months after intimation to the concerned supervisor.
16. Interpretation of Reports
    • If dissertation is approved by the four examiners, the Dean shall allow the candidate to defend the dissertation in open defence.
    • If any of the examiners suggests modification/revision of the dissertation, the candidate shall be required to resubmit a revised version of the dissertation, duly certified by the Supervisor, within one year.
    • The revised dissertation shall be approved by the same examiner.
    • Minor modifications will be incorporated without referring again to the examiner.
17. Evaluation Process if External Examiners Fail to Respond
    • In case, one of foreign/local experts fails to respond within three months, the dissertation would be sent to the third foreign/local expert and then to fourth expert, if the third foreign/local expert also fails to respond within three months.
    • In case, fourth foreign/local expert fails to respond within three months, a new panel shall be recommended for selection by the supervisor.
    • The process would be repeated until evaluation reports by two foreign and two local experts have been received.
18. External Examiner for Defence of Dissertation
    • The Supervisor, after receiving experts‟ unanimous positive opinion, will confirm to Controller of Examinations that all requirements of the program have been met successfully for the conduct of Dissertation defence.
    • The Dissertation defence shall be conducted by the panel of examiners consisting of two local examiners (who had reviewed the dissertation), members of the GEC (including the supervisor) and the Chairperson of the Department. All members of panel of examiners, well before the date of open defence, shall have complete access to the dissertation and the reports of external examiners. @ In case of non availability of a local external examiner (who had reviewed the dissertation), another local external examiner(s) (already approved vide Para 13c) will be appointed by the VC in consultation with Dean.
    • The Controller of Examinations will notify the date and place for holding the open defence.
    • Prior to candidate‟s presentation, the Supervisor will introduce the student.
    • The candidate will make a detailed presentation of the research work.
    • For maximum participation, the schedule of open defence of the Dissertation by the candidate shall be announced at least four weeks prior to its conduct.
    • The Dissertation defence shall be open to the public but the evaluation will be done by the panel of examiners.
    • Consequent to the open defence, the panel of examiners will give its decision by a majority vote.
19. Submission of Dissertation. The dissertation submitted by PhD candidate shall comply with the following conditions:-
    • It shall form a distinct contribution to knowledge and afford evidence of originality, shown by the discovery of new facts, by the exercise of independent critical judgment, and/by the invention of new methods of investigation.
    • It shall not include research work for which a degree has already been conferred in this or any other university.
    • Initially, the candidate shall submit four spiral bound copies of completed dissertation along with an application on prescribed form, duly recommended by the supervisor and the Chairman of the Department to the CoE, for evaluation of dissertation.
    • At final submission six hard bound copies of dissertation with a soft copy each on CD, will be prepared for submitting of four copies to the University (out of which one set will be sent to HEC), one copy for the Department, one copy for the Supervisor, one for Library and one student copy.
20. Award of PhD Degree
    • The candidate who successfully completes all the requirements including passing of Dissertation defence shall be awarded, with the approval of the Board of Advanced Studies and Research; the degree of PhD under the Seal of the University in the relevant discipline.
    • The VC may approve the recommendations of the Board of Advanced Studies and Research on behalf of the Board of Governors regarding the award of PhD degree to the candidate.
21. Code of Ethics
    • The candidate or his spouse or his relatives shall not communicate with external examiner(s) directly or indirectly.
    • Any faculty member of the department shall not participate in the PhD process of a candidate at any stage, if the candidate is his blood relation or his spouse or the faculty member is a candidate himself.
    • External examiners may not be co-author of any publication with the candidate or his spouse or his blood relative or supervisor.