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Who can apply for Off-Campus Ph.D. in BITS Pilani?

Candidates holding any BITS degree or working in an oragnization collaborating with BITS will be considered for Off-campus Ph.D. Industries interested in the scheme for the development fo their manpower at doctoral level are invited to seek collaboration with BITS and sponsor their candidates along with their application in the prescribed format.

I have completed M.Sc./M.Com /M.B.A./M.C.A recently. Am I eligible for Ph.D. Programme?

Since M.Sc./M.Com /M.B.A./M.C.A is only a First Degree, holders of these degrees are not in general eligible for either On-campus or Off-campus Ph.D. programme. However such candidates may apply. In case of On-campus Admissions, if the candidate's credentials are particularly good, admission may be offered through regular procedure with an additional course package to be completed. In case of Off-campus admissions, persons not having a higher degree but having a high standing in professional work may also apply.

I have only a First Degree and several years of working experience after First Degree. Am I eligible?

Persons having long experience after First Degree may apply for Ph.D. under Aspirants scheme through M.Phil. (Applied) route . They will be required to provide technical documents, published papers and reports prepared by the candidate in his professional capacity. Although there is no particular measure, a minimum of ten years of experience is desirable.

Can the Ph.D. Qualifying examination be waived in view of my extensive experience?

Passing the Ph.D. Qualifying examination is a must for all, both On-campus Ph.D. Applicants and Ph.D. Aspirants (Off-campus). Therefore in no case it is waived.

What will be the format, standard and syllabus in my qualifying examination?

For all Applicants, the qualifying examination consists of three papers each paper having two or three sections. For Higher Degree holders, the papers in the QE will be of the same standard as their higher degree final exams. Therefore this category of applicants are strongly advised to furnish the details of syllabus, text books and question papers of their HD with the application form for their own benefit. In case of M.Phil (Applied) route candidates, the course wise documents submitted for the selected eight courses from the list are examined and a pronouncement of suitability for the purpose of Ph.D. QE is made. These documents will broadly from the syllabus besides some prescribed readings.

Do I still need to send the question papers and the list of text books of the Higher Degree even though I have passed the higher degree from BITS, Pilani?

The syllabi of many subjects keep changing every year due to revision of curriculum. So, unless you have passed in the previous year itself, you are required to send us your course list issued by the Institute (detailed transcript/grade sheet). There is no need to send the list of textbooks and the question papers. The examiners can identify them. However, If you have such data, it will be helpful if you can send those details also.

Is it alright to find a supervisor outside my organization? Do I need to decide the supervisor at the time of sending the application form?

Yes, if a suitable supervisor is not available in the candidate’s organization, a suitable person may be selected from outside the organization provided he latter is located in the same city as that of the candidate’s. In such cases, an additional letter is to be enclosed by the candidate with the application form, clearly mentioning the nature of affiiation of the supervisor with the organization or activities of the organization of the Aspirant.

Yes, you are required to write your supervisor’s name, qualifications and organization on the application form. In addition, you are also required to enclose with the application form an NOC from the proposed supervisor and an NOC from supervisor’s organization.

Is it required for alumni of BITS, Pilani also to take the Ph. D. Qualifying Examination?

Passing the Ph. D. Qualifying Examination is compulsory for all candidates for an admission into the Ph. D. programme, and in no case, it is waived.

I am residing at a place/in a city, where there is no branch of UCO Bank. Is it compulsory that the Ph. D. Q.E. fee be paid through a DD drawn on a branch of UCO Bank only? Alternatively, any other bank is alright? At which place should the DD be Payable?

The Ph. D. Qualifying Examination fee (Rs. 500/-) may be paid through a DD drawn in favour of “BITS, Pilani” and payable at Pilani. The DD may be drawn on a branch of UCO Bank or any of the State Banks. If it is a DD from a UCO Bank, it should be payable at UCO Bank, Brach-Vidya Vihar, Pilani. If it is a DD from any of the State Banks, it should be payable at SBBJ, BITS, Pilani.

I have just completed my MS from BITS, Pilani through the Distance Learning programme. I would like to continue my Ph. D. but the web site suggests that the last date for admissions is over and I have to wait until May 2003. I would not want to waste a semester and would want to begin right away. Is it possible? Can I send an application on a plain paper along with necessary DDs right away to buy the application form?

The application forms are available from our Admissions office only twice a year, as per the advertisements issued in April and October. So, please synchronize your schedule of applying with this.

I have completed MS from the Distance Learning programme of BITS, Pilani. Will I have to repeat the papers of my MS in my Ph. D. Qualifying Examination again?

The Qualifying Examination will consist of exactly all the those papers that you appeared in during MS. Alternatively, you may choose the path of the Aspirants holding only FD but no HD. In this route, a set of nine courses selected from the list of M. Phil (Applied) courses will be subjects for Ph. D. Qualifying Examination. However, before the aspirant appears in the Ph. D. QE, he has to furnish detailed documentation from his professional experience after first degree, in support of the selected nine courses. This documentation in addition to some other prescribed readings forms the syllabus for Ph. D. Qualifying Examination

I have selected the nine courses from the list of M. Phil (Applied) route courses. Now, how to submit Documentation for these courses?

Now having selected the nine courses, you are required to submit documents in support of those courses.

What you may do is to first gather all the reports, papers, case study results, articles authored etc., generated either individually or as a member of a team. Then categorize them as belonging to these nine courses.

Bind them appropriately so that each bound report can be identified to be relating to one or more courses. Prepare a summary sheet to let our experts clearly know which set of documents belongs to which course. Send the whole bunch to us.

This is nothing but the M. Phil (Applied) Documentation and, if approved by our experts for its sufficiency to serve as syllabus and to set question papers for your Ph. D. Qualifying Examination in these nine courses, the Documentation you submit along with any books prescribed by the experts will become the syllabus for your Ph. D. Qualifying Examination.

What information is expected to be submitted as “profile of organization”? Is there is any specific format in which the profile of my organization needs to be submitted?

Even after fulfilling all other requirements, only those applicants working at either collaborating organizations/Institutions of BITS, Pilani or at other highly reputed organizations and Institutions having all the facilities for research, are considered by the committee for further processing. In this connection, the organizational profile needs to be submitted in as great a detail as possible in the specified format. Click here to download this format:MS-WORD.

How to organize my PhD thesis report?

The organization of the PhD thesis report must have the following general features.

Title page (As per BITS format)
Certificate (As per BITS format)
Dedication Page (optional)
Acknowledgements (as per the BITS format)
Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Review of Literature
Chapter 3: Statement of the problem in actual subjective phrase
Chapter 4: Methodology (as it is or in actual specific subjective phrase)
Chapter 5: Results and Discussion
Chapter 6: Conclusions
Chapter 7: Limitations and Future Scope

References
Appendices
Publications Made out of his Thesis Work

* Journal Publications

* Conference Publications

Biography of the candidate and biography of the supervisor (both should be brief enough to fit on a single page)

In the above list of publications, only those papers published out of the work of the thesis must be course listed. A minimum of 2 Journal publications and completion of 40 units of “PhD Thesis” are mandatory before draft thesis can be submitted.

Some people need more than one chapter either for problem statement or methodology. In that case additional chapter may be added with appropriate subjective titles. Never literally name the chapters as Problem Statement-1, Problem Statement-2 etc. or as Methodology-1, Methodology-2 etc. Give appropriate but brief subjective phrases as titles of chapters.

How the draft thesis report differs from the final PhD thesis report?

The draft thesis should be same in quality and format as the final thesis would have to be, except it may be spiral bound whereas the final thesis is to be hard bound. The final thesis will also be updated version consisting of all modifications that may follow the recommendations of the DAC members

What else I need to send along with the two copies of draft thesis report?

You need to send reprints (if reprints are not made available by the journal then a good quality photocopy is acceptable) of your journal papers made out of the work of your PhD thesis. For those journal papers that have not appeared in print yet, you may send prints of the acceptance letters from the editor and prints of the paper in the form that they were accepted. Do not bind the papers themselves inside the draft thesis or final thesis.