| a. |
The period for completion of PhD program shall be counted from the date of joining for PhD/transfer to PhD. |
| b. |
The minimum period for the completion of PhD studies shall be three years whereas the maximum period shall be six years. In special circumstances, upon recommendation of supervisor/co-supervisor and HoD, Dean (Research) may extend the maximum period. |
| c. |
A student can take leave of one or more semesters during his/her study period provided that he/she is expected to complete PhD during the stipulated time. |
| d. |
The course work is compulsory for every PhD student enrolled at PIEAS. A minimum of 18 credit hours of graduate level courses including allowed course exemption and credit hour transfer are required to be completed. |
| e. |
Every full time PhD or MS/MPhil leading to PhD student will have to register in each regular semester at PIEAS for 12 credit hours. Failure to register can result in cancellation of PhD registration. |
| f. |
Every PhD student is expected to take his/her course work and qualifying examinations within first two years starting from the date of joining PhD/transfer to PhD. |
| g. |
Rules & Regulations for PhD courses/thesis research registrations will be the same as for PIEAS MS/MPhil Programs. |
| h. |
Course Exemption/Course Credit Hours Transfer: |
A PhD student may be allowed course exemptions/equivalences and course credit hours transfers, to be decided by a committee comprising the HoD, supervisor and two senior departmental faculty members. The recommended procedure for this Committee is: |
| i. |
Exemption/credit hour transfer is applicable to the courses studied at the postgraduate (MS/MPhil) level from an HEC recognized university. It will be allowed only to graduates who have obtained their final degrees within last five years. The exemption will be given for courses with A or B grades only. |
| ii. |
Exemptions by a formal test-out option: The test-out option implies that the student may pass courses by appearing in the prescribed tests for these courses. These tests will be arranged by the Head of respective Department and papers will be prepared and preferably graded by relevant course teachers. |
|
| i. |
Failure in Course Work |
| i. |
A PhD student registered in a regular course shall be declared fail if he/she obtains a GP (grade point) of less than 2 in that course. |
| ii. |
A PhD student will have to maintain a minimum CGPA (cumulative grade point average) of 3.0 at the scale of 4. |
| iii. |
Failure in Course WorkIf a student fails to maintain the minimum CGPA during course work then he/she should either improve it in two chances to the minimum level OR opt for MS/MPhil by research. |
| iv. |
There will be only one chance to pass any test-out registered course. Those who fail to qualify the test-out registered course shall then require passing that course as a regular registered course. |
| v. |
There shall be two chances to pass any course registered as a regular student. A student failing to qualify any of the courses of departmental or subject requirement in three chances will cease to be a PhD student of PIEAS. |
|
| j. |
Qualifying Examination |
A PhD student shall be required to pass the PhD qualifying examinations. The details are as follows: |
| a. |
The Departmental Qualifying Examination or Subject GRE (International): |
| i. |
The departmental qualifying examination shall be based on the courses specified by the department. The nature of the problem would be to assess the understanding of the basic concept in the broad areas relevant to the research of the student and the problem solving approach. The mode of examination shall be comprehensive written test and the grading shall be pass or fail. If the student does not pass this examination in first attempt, then he/she may be given one more chance. The registration of a PhD student shall be deemed as cancelled if he/she does not pass this examination even in the second attempt. The paper for the departmental qualifying examination will be prepared and checked by the concerned department. The HoD will appoint a committee within the department for this purpose and the qualifying examination shall be conducted by the Department. Results for each student will be conveyed to Dean (Research) in pass/fail form. The details for this examination will be supplied by the concerned departments. |
| ii. |
In case of Subject GRE (international) examination the departmental BoS shall decide the qualifying criterion. |
|
| b. |
The Subject Qualifying Examination: |
| i. |
After passing the Departmental Qualifying Examination/GRE, the student shall appear in this part. It shall be compulsory for all PhD students. |
| ii. |
This examination is meant to assess the approach of tackling research problems. The mode of examination is presentation of proposed PhD research evaluated by two examiners appointed by the HoD. The grading shall be pass or fail. If the student does not pass this examination in first attempt, he/she may be given one more chance. The registration of a PhD student shall be deemed as cancelled if he/she does not pass this examination even in the second attempt. Results for each student will be conveyed to Dean (Research) in pass/fail form. |
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|
| k. |
Failure/Probation in Research Work |
| i. |
PhD student registered in research/dissertation course shall be required to maintain SATISFACTORY Grade throughout his/her PhD. |
| ii. |
A PhD Student obtaining one NOT SATISFACTORY result at the end of any semester in research/dissertation course (XXX699) will be placed on probation. |
| iii. |
A PhD Student obtaining two consecutive NOT SATISFACTORY results or three total NOT SATISFACTORY in research/dissertation course (XXX699) will cease to be a PhD student. |
|
| l. |
After passing the qualifying examination, the student is required to give at least two seminars on his thesis topic of research, preferably one during third year and second just before submission of the thesis. |
| m. |
Before submission of a Thesis for External Examination, all PhD students shall be required to have accepted for publication or published at least one technical/research paper in an International Science Indexed Journal (ISJ). |
| n. |
The Dean (Research) will take appropriate measures to ensure the implementation of the plan of study. |
