Now students can pursue PhD after a 4-year Undergraduate Course

Now students can pursue PhD after a 4-year Undergraduate Course

Students who secured a CGPA score of 7.5/10 in their four-year-undergraduate programme (FYUP) are eligible for PhD admissions. According to the new regulations on the award of PhD degrees finalised by the University Grants Commission (UGC), it is not necessary to complete a master’s program for the eligible students. In line with the trend of publishing in predatory journals, UGC guidelines recommend either patenting or publishing in peer-reviewed or referred journals.

The University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of PhD degree) Regulations 2022 will be published by the end of June, this will come into effect from 2022 to 23 academic periods.

In line with the National Education Policy (NEP), the regulations state that candidates seeking PhD admission require a mandatory CGPA of 7.5/10 after a 4-year/ 8 semester Bachelor’s degree while offering a relaxation of 0.5 CGPA score on a scale of 10 for candidates from SC/ ST/ OBC/ differently-abled as well as economically weaker sections.

Candidates who secured a CGPA of less than 7.5, will have to do a one-year Master’s degree program to meet the eligibility criteria. This will Encourage four-year undergraduate students with a research bent of mind to do a PhD is important to improve the research ecosystem in HEIs stated by UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar.

As per the new UGC regulations, 40% of the vacant seats can be filled through university-level tests. Two modes of admissions methods are recommended, first one is 100% based on national level entrance tests or 60-40 split based on national level entrance tests and university level or state-level entrance tests 

If the total vacant seats are filled by the candidates qualifying in the national level entrance tests (conducted by UGC, CSIR, ICMR, ICAR, etc), the selection of such candidates will be based on a merit list with 100% weightage from the interview/ viva conducted by the higher education institution.