It must form a distinct contribution to knowledge and afford evidence of originality known either by the discovery of new facts or by the exercise of independent critical Judgment. It must not include research work for which a degree has been conferred on him/her in this or any other Institute/university.

It must be written in English and the presentation must be satisfactory for publication in peer-reviewed international journal.

For any part of the thesis, which has been published before the submission of the thesis, a list of published work should be appended at the end of the thesis.

The thesis must be formatted and bound in accordance with the specifications mentioned in the recent version of Thesis Writing Manual (which is available in PIEAS Library).

Upon completion of all requirements laid in the plan of study, the candidate should submit eight copies of his completed thesis along with an application form for the evaluation of his/her thesis, duly approved by his/her PhD Supervisor/co-supervisor, to the CGSR, PIEAS.

Upon the recommendation of HoD and Departmental Board of Studies, CGSR will approve the list of internal and external examiners for the institute. The External Examiners will evaluate the thesis and Internal Examiners will conduct the final thesis examination. The Rector can appoint additional members if it is deemed necessary.

The Rector shall appoint a Panel of External Examiners. This panel will include the supervisor and two or more other Examiners preferably from an industrialized country on the recommendations of the Head of Department and supervisor. The thesis will be evaluated by this panel of external examiners. The student must have at least two satisfactory reports.

The Rector will also appoint a Panel of Internal Examiners. This panel will include the supervisor, co-supervisor, Head of the Department, Dean (Research) and 2 experts from the approved list of internal examiners for the institute.

If two third or more of the External Examiners recommend that the thesis is wholly inadequate and it may be rejected, then the student shall be declared a complete failure in obtaining the PhD degree.

If any one examiner from the Panel of External Examiners suggests major modifications/revisions of the thesis, the candidate will be required to resubmit a Revised Version of the thesis within a year. In this case, the student has again to pay the thesis evaluation and processing fee. The one who suggested modifications in the thesis shall approve the Revised Version of the thesis.

If any one examiner from the Panel of External Examiners finds the thesis adequate but suggests minor modifications/revisions, this may be incorporated without referring again to the examiner and supervisor will have to make sure that appropriate changes have been done in the thesis by the student before final defense.

In case, any of the external examiners do not respond within 3 months, then the procedure from step 'g' will be repeated by appointing new examiner(s).

After the receipt of two (2) or more satisfactory reports, the student will defend his/her work in front of the Panel of Internal Examiners for Final Defense of Thesis. The Panel shall ask the student to give a presentation in an open gathering. However, the panel members only will ask questions after the student has completed his/her presentation and the audiences have left the hall. The decision of the panel shall be by majority.

If the candidate fails to satisfy the examiners in the thesis defense examination, then the Panel of Internal Examiners may require the candidate to defend the thesis for the second and last time within a period of six months. Second time failure will result in cancellation of registration.

If the candidate passes the final thesis defense examination, then the degree of PhD under the seal of the Institute shall be awarded to the successful candidate after all the formalities for PhD degree are met and reports of the examiners for the thesis defense examination are positive. The Dean (Research) shall request the Rector, PIEAS to approve and award the degree and shall pass on the information to CGSR, Academic Council and Board of Governors, PIEAS.