Every candidate has to complete certain activities during his/her Ph. D. programme as given in the following paragraphs. The process starts with applying for Ph. D. programme of the Institute and taking up Ph. D qualifying examination.
 
Admission
 
A candidate is normally admitted to the Ph.D. programme after passing his/her Ph.D. qualifying examination. A few candidates may be admitted to the programme as provisional candidates before passing the Ph.D. qualifying examination. This provision is applicable to full time research scholars on the campus or for certain collaborative organizations. Their admissions are confirmed once they pass the Ph.D. qualifying examination.
 
Registration
 
All the candidates have to register in every semester till the submission of his/her thesis. In the beginning of each semester, all the candidates will sign the registration card confirming their registration for the semester. This card indicates the courses in which he/she is being registered in that particular semester.
An off campus candidate will receive this card by post. This card should be duly signed by the candidate and the supervisor(s)/mentor and then returned to the Dean, ARC Division for further processing. Semester fee and all other dues are to be cleared before registration in each semester.
A candidate can seek permission for not registering in a particular semester by making an application to the Dean, ARD well before the beginning of semester giving valid reasons for the same. The application has to be recommended by the supervisor(s). Since most of the off-campus candidates are working professionals, mere involvement in work cannot be a valid reason for dropping a semester.
 
Ph. D. Qualifying Examination.
 
A Ph D aspirant is formally admitted to the programme after clearing Ph D qualifying examination of the Institute. After short listing, the candidate will receive information from Dean,ARD regarding the contact details of the DRC convener and head of the department. Candidate is supposed to contact the DRC convener of the department regarding date and sub-disciplines for qualifying examination. Each Ph.D. student must, in consultation with his/her supervisor(s), plan for and prepare to clear qualifying examinations in two areas notified by DRC for this purpose. One of these must be in the sub-discipline in which he/she proposes to undertake research. One can also choose one area from across other department areas. Qualifying examination will consist of written test followed by an oral examination. Results of qualifying examination will be communicated by the registrar to the candidate.
 
Departmental Research Committee (DRC)
 
Each Department has a “Departmental Research Committee” (DRC), consisting of Head of Department (HOD) as ex-officio member and Chairperson, and 2 to 6 faculty members, at the level of Assistant Professor or above, who are active in research. The off-campus candidate will closely interact with concerned DRC throughout his studentship. DRC will monitor the progress of a candidate through supervisor and DAC members.
The off-campus Ph. D. aspirants will propose a supervisor and the DRC will recommend a thesis co-supervisor or mentor on the basis of department faculty and student’s area of interest. Further, for each Ph.D. student, the DRC will, in consultation with the supervisor and co-supervisor of the student, appoint two additional members for Doctoral Advisory Committee (DAC). For students in interdisciplinary area there can be DAC member(s) from other department/campuses based on topic of research.

Duration of Ph. D. programme

A candidate must submit his/her thesis within ten semesters (excluding summer term) to be counted from the semester following the semester of passing qualifying examination. After the expiry of this term, candidate has to seek extension of term from DCC through DRC. This application should reach ARD at least two months before expiry failing which the admission from Ph. D. programme may be cancelled.

Topic of Research & Supervisor

Once a Ph.D. student clears the required qualifying examination, he/she becomes eligible to submit his research proposal. The candidate, prepare a detailed research proposal and send it to DRC through ARD. Candidate is strongly advised to choose a BITS faculty as co-supervisor for his Ph D. The DRC will get the proposal reviewed by the DAC members and if necessary, will ask the candidate to present the same through seminar. Based upon DAC recommendation, the DRC will recommend to ARD for approval of (i) supervisor and co-supervisor, (ii) the research topic together with the detailed proposal and its summary, (iii) the research plan, and (iv) place of research work, as per requirement. At this stage, the student formally becomes eligible to register in the Ph.D. thesis course.
Normally the approval of research proposal has to be obtained within one or two semesters of the first registration in the Ph.D. programme after passing the Ph.D. qualifying examination. Registration in Ph.D. Thesis (BITS C799T ;10 units) is permitted only after the approval of Topic of Research and Supervisor.
 
Semester Work
 
The operation of the courses in which the candidate is registered has to be carried out as per details outlined in the course handout of the course and evaluation form for Ph.D. courses. The following documents are to be submitted each semester as per schedule indicated in the calendar of events.


After the approval of Topic of Research and Supervisor, the candidate is entitled to register in Ph. D. Thesis course (BITS C799T). The supervisor(s) and DAC will monitor progress of the respective student’s thesis work. At the end of each semester, grades will be communicated to Dean, ARD. Non-receipt of evaluation forms and reports by the due dates may result into a `NC’ (Not Cleared) in the particular course.  Award of ‘NC’ in two consecutive semesters may debar a student from being on the rolls of Ph.D. students.

Change of Locale/Supervisor/Topic of Research

A fresh approval of the Research Board is required for any changes in place of work, topic of research and/or supervisor. Candidate has to request through supervisor(s) to ARD for approval of Research Board

Pre-submission draft and Seminar

On completion of research, the Ph.D. student will prepare two copies of draft thesis as well as its synopsis and submit to DRC through Dean,ARD. The DAC members will evaluate the thesis and submit their report to DRC convener. The DAC comments will be communicated to the candidate for consideration and incorporation in final thesis. Once all comments are satisfactorily addressed by the candidate, pre-submission seminar will be organized by DRC. During the seminar, title of thesis will also be finalized.

 

Thesis Title Approval
 
After the successful completion of pre-submission seminar, candidate (through supervisor) will send a request to approve the exact title of thesis to ARD. The title should be written following the `Title Case’ style. The candidate will be notified by the Dean, ARD after the title is approved by the Research Board,
 
Thesis submission
 
Final thesis along with synopsis and relevant documents are to be submitted to DRC through ARD. At this stage supervisor will submit a list of 6-8 potential examiners with their brief bio-data in a sealed envelope to DRC. The list should also contain (i) a brief description of the potential examiner’s current position, (ii) the area of expertise, and (iii) a short list of related publications. The DRC will scrutinize the list of examiners, and will recommend to the ARD that the evaluation of the thesis may begin.
 
Thesis evaluation
 
Out of the list submitted by DRC, two examiners will be finalized by the Vice Chancellor and the Registrar will send the thesis for evaluation to the examiners. Upon receiving the report from all the examiners, a three member committee will study the reports, and submit their recommendation to the Registrar. If the report is found satisfactory, Dean ARD will request all the examiners to conducting viva-voce examination.
The viva-voce may be held in the presence of the (i) Supervisor, (ii) at least one external examiner, and (iii) Co-supervisor(s), if any. Once viva-voce is held, the final report will be submitted by Dean ARD to the Registrar. The Registrar will seek approval of EC (or VC as Chairman of EC). VC approves result in his/her capacity as Chairman, Examination Committee, with information to Dean ARD and Dean ARCD of the respective campus. The award of the degree will subsequently be ratified by the Senate.