Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), Pune,

Adminssion Details

Rules for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
(Approved by the Academic Council at its meeting dated January 11, 2010 and August 30, 2013)

ELIGIBILITY to APPLY

1. A candidate with a Master’s Degree in Economics, Population Studies, and Agricultural Economics with at least 55 percent marks (50 percent for reserved category candidates) from a recognized University/Institute is eligible to apply for the Ph.D. programme of the Institute.

ADMISSION to the Ph.D. PROGRAMME

1. Entrance Examination: Admission to the Ph.D. programme of the Institute will be through an Entrance Examination to be conducted on annual basis as per the schedule recommended by the Internal Ph.D. Committee depending upon availability of seats.
2. Interview: Candidates who have obtained M.Phil Degree of a recognised University through regular and not distance mode, and those who have qualified at the UGC JRF examination shall be exempted from the entrance examination and shall qualify for the interview. The candidates who pass the Entrance Examination be called for the interview to present/discuss their research proposal/area/interest. The research proposal shall contain the following: research problem, review of literature, conceptual framework, methodology, data sources, selected relevant references etc.
3. Number of Seats for Ph.D.: The number of candidates to be admitted for the Ph.D. programme shall depend upon the availability of eligible faculty/guides in the Institute. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Ph.D. programme shall be notified on the website of the Institute.
4. Application: A candidate seeking admission to the Ph.D. programme shall apply to the Director in the prescribed application form after notification of admissions to the programme. Candidates shall download the application form from the Institute’s website www.gipe.ac.in and submit the same to the Ph.D. section at the Institute along with application fee of Rs. 1750/- (Rs. 875/- for reserved category candidates).
5. The Institute does not offer Ph.D. programme through distance mode.

COURSE WORK

1. All students admitted to the Ph.D. programme are required to undertake coursework for one semester which will be treated as pre-Ph.D. preparation. The coursework consists of Research Methodology, Literature Review and other preliminary courses recommended by the Internal Ph.D. Committee. The course on Research Methodology includes quantitative methods and computer applications. Students shall be required to score minimum 40 percent marks in the course work to be eligible to proceed further to write the dissertation.

PH.D. COMMITTEE

1. There shall be a Ph.D. Committee constituted for a period of two years, comprising the following:
2. The  Director (ex-officio Chairperson)
3. Coordinator of the Ph.D. programme
4. Two Research Guides from the Institute to be nominated by the Director
5. Two subject experts from outside the Institute, to be nominated by the Director from the list of experts approved by the Academic Council.
6. The powers and duties of the Ph.D. Committee shall be:
7. To recommend admission to the Ph.D. programme of the Institute
8. To recommend the subject/topics of research for Ph.D. scholars
9. To recommend the award of Junior Research Fellowship/other fellowships, if any.
10. The Ph.D. Committee shall ordinarily meet two times a year. The Chairperson of the Ph.D. Committee may convene extra meetings, if required.

REGISTRATION

1. The date of the Ph.D. registration of a candidate shall be the date on which the candidate joins the Ph.D. course in the Institute. The date of the Ph.D. registration of a foreign candidate shall be the date of joining after obtaining valid student/study visa.
2. The maximum period of registration for a Ph.D. student shall be four years for candidates who do not take up any other jobs/courses or other assignments elsewhere and are eligible for financial assistance from the UGC/CSIR/Institute/other funding sources and five years for candidates who take up other jobs/courses or other assignments elsewhere, after which the registration shall stand cancelled.
3. If a candidate’s thesis is not ready after the lapse of four years he/she may be allowed to submit his/her thesis within a grace period of up to two years by re-registration. Re-registration will require payment of tuition fees up to two years.
4. Each candidate shall be required to submit to the Director, through the Ph.D. guide, his/her half-yearly progress report, in the prescribed format, which will be evaluated by the Internal Ph.D. committee of the Institute.
5. Each candidate shall be also required to present every six months his/her research work to the Internal Ph.D. Committee of the Institute, including the Ph.D. guide. It is compulsory for all the Ph.D. scholars registered for the Ph.D. programme to attend these presentations. The Internal Ph.D. Committee shall recommend continuation of the candidate in the programme on the basis of (i) Guide’s report and (ii) progress shown in the half yearly presentation of the thesis work. In this regard, the decision of the Internal Ph.D. Committee will be final. The date and time of the half yearly presentation will be communicated to the candidates well in advance.

INTERNAL  PH.D. COMMITTEE

1. There shall be an Internal Ph.D. Committee comprising:
2. The  Director (ex-officio Chairperson)
3. Coordinator of the Ph.D. programme
4. Two Research Guides of the Institute nominated by the Director for a period of two years.
5. The powers and duties of the Internal Ph.D. Committee shall be:
6. To recommend the Research Committee for students admitted to the Ph.D. programme, consisting of (a) principal guide and (b) one member of the faculty from the Institute as co-guide for the Ph.D. programme.
7. To recommend change of principal research guide, if required
8. To recommend change of Research Committee, if required
9. To recommend change of research topic on the advice of the principal research guide/Research Committee.
10. To evaluate the progress of the Ph.D. thesis work based on the half yearly presentation of the students. For this purpose Internal Ph.D. Committee can co-opt experts.
11. To recommend extension of the period of Ph.D. registration on the advice of the principal research guide/Research Committee.
12. To recommend submission of the thesis before completion of the stipulated period.

SUPERVISION for PH.D. RESEARCH

1. Allocation of Guide:  All faculty members of the Institute holding a Ph.D. degree are eligible to be research guides. However, the final allotment of research guides will be made by the Internal Ph.D. Committee after taking into account (i) number of students per faculty member, (ii) available specialization among the faculties, (iii) research interest as indicated by the student during the interview, and (iv) inclination of both, the student and the research guide.  A guide shall not have, at any given point of time, more than eight Ph.D. scholars.
2. Research Committee: A candidate shall be required to complete his/her doctoral research under the supervision of a Research Committee consisting of a principal research guide and one more member of faculty, on the recommendation of the Internal Ph.D. Committee. If required, one member of the research committee may be chosen from outside the Institute with the approval of the Director of the Institute. However, the principal research guide must be an internal faculty member of the Institute or from the list of guides approved by the Academic Council. Though all members of the research Committee are expected to give their comments and suggestions to the Ph.D. student at the time of submission of the Ph.D. thesis, approval would be required only from the principal research guide. In case the candidate wishes to submit his/her thesis before the completion of two years from the date of his/her registration, approval will be required from all members of the research committee.

DURATION of the PH.D. COURSE

1. A candidate for the Ph.D. degree must have worked for his/her thesis for  a minimum of two years and, in the normal course, he/she shall not be allowed to submit his/her thesis before completion of two years from the date of his/her registration for the Ph.D. programme.
2. However, as a very special case, the Internal Ph.D. Committee may, on the recommendation of all members of the candidate's Research Committee, permit him/her to submit his/her thesis before the completion of two years.

EVALUATION and ASSESSMENT METHODS

1. Upon satisfactory completion of coursework, the Ph.D. scholar shall undertake research work and produce a draft thesis within the stipulated time.
2. Prior to submission of the draft thesis, the student shall make a pre-Ph.D. presentation which shall be open to all faculty members and research students for their comments and feedback. The comments obtained may be suitably incorporated into the draft thesis under the advice of the guide.
3. Ph.D. candidate shall publish at least one research paper in a refereed journal before submission of draft thesis for adjudication, and produce evidence of the publication.
4. The draft thesis produced by the Ph.D. scholar and submitted to the Institute shall be evaluated by at least two experts, out of which one shall be from outside the state/country.
5. Upon receipt of satisfactory evaluation reports, the Ph.D. student shall undergo a viva voce examination which shall also be openly defended.

PRESENTATION of the THESIS

1. Before submitting the draft thesis, the candidate shall forward to the Registrar of the Institute, through his/her principal research guide, five copies of a statement giving the title and the synopsis of the thesis.  The draft Ph.D. thesis shall be submitted within six months of the date of submission of the synopsis of the thesis, failing which the candidate shall submit a revised synopsis and shall again pay his/her examination fees.  
2.  A candidate for the Ph.D. degree shall submit to the Registrar of the Institute four copies of his/her draft thesis in spiral bound form.  All copies of the draft thesis shall be presented in a permanent and legible form in print or photocopy.
3. A significant extension of research work done by the student for a previous degree can be submitted as a Ph.D. thesis; however such thesis shall not be a reproduction of the earlier work.
4. Along with four copies of the draft thesis to be submitted by the candidate in the manner prescribed above, the candidate shall also submit two copies (or more if required) of a summary of the thesis highlighting the findings and original contributions of the researc.

APPOINTMENT of EXAMINERS

1. The synopsis of the thesis submitted by the candidate shall be forwarded to the Board of Studies, which shall recommend to the Academic Council a panel of external examiners for evaluation of the thesis.  The principal research guide of the candidate shall be the internal examiner. The Director shall select two external examiners from the panel approved by the Academic Council. Of the two external examiners, at least one should be outside the state/country. 

EXAMINATION and DEFENCE of the THESIS

1. After the candidate submits the draft thesis and the Director appoints two external examiners, the Director/Registrar shall invite the examiners to evaluate the draft thesis.  A copy of the summary of the thesis shall be sent to the examiners along with the letter of invitation. When an examiner accepts the invitation to evaluate the thesis, the Director/Registrar shall forward the thesis to him/her within two weeks of the receipt of the letter of acceptance.
2. The examiners shall report on the acceptability of the draft thesis or otherwise within a period of 90 days from the date of receipt of the thesis.  If both the external examiners report that the draft thesis is acceptable, the candidate will be invited for the open defence of his/her thesis.  If both the external examiners report that the thesis is not acceptable, there will be no defence of the thesis and the candidate will be declared to have failed. In case of difference of opinion between the two external examiners about the acceptability of the thesis, the Director shall appoint a third external examiner out of the Panel approved by the Academic Council.  The decision about the acceptability of the thesis shall be based on the majority opinion of the three external examiners' opinion. If the majority find the thesis to be acceptable then the candidate will be asked to undertake the defence of his/her thesis. 
3. The date and the time when the candidate will defend his/her thesis shall be duly notified by the Director.  At least two of the examiners (one internal and one external) should be present at the time of the defence.  The candidate shall be provided with the copies of the reports of the external examiners at least seven days prior to defence of the thesis. 
4. The Director of the Institute shall preside as Chairperson of the Ph.D. defence committee or nominate another expert. All interested persons can attend the defence of the thesis.  The Chairperson will exercise his/her discretion to allow or not to allow a question.  However, the members of the audience at the defence shall have no say in the final decision regarding the award of the Ph.D. degree.
5. The examiners present for the defence shall submit to the Director/Registrar their final consolidated report about the award of the Ph.D. degree immediately after the defence is over.  Their recommendations shall be specific and they shall recommend either that the Ph.D. degree be awarded to the candidate OR that candidate re-submit his/her thesis after due revision as suggested and undertake a fresh defence OR that the candidate be not awarded the Ph.D. degree. A work that has been rejected may be submitted after due revision subject to the payment of half the original fees.

DEPOSITORY of PH.D. THESIS with INSTITUTE and UGC

1. Upon successful completion of the evaluation process and announcements of the award of Ph.D., the candidate shall submit six copies of the final hardbound thesis to the Institute within a period of 30 days. The first copy of the thesis will be deposited in the library of the Institute, the second copy will be returned to the candidate, the third copy will be retained by the principal guide, fourth copy will be retained by the examination section of the Institute and fifth and sixth copies will be sent to the external examiners.
2. Along with a final hardbound copy of the thesis, the candidate shall also submit a soft copy of the thesis to be forwarded to the UGC, for hosting the same in INFLIBNET, which is accessible to all Institutions/Universities.
3. Along with the Degree, the Institute shall issue a Certificate certifying that the Degree has been awarded in accordance with the provisions of the UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedures for Award of M.Phil. /Ph.D. Degree) Regulation, 2009.

ADMISSION for PROFESSIONALS/SENIOR EXECUTIVES SEEKING UPGRADATION of THEIR QUALIFICATION

1. Entrance Examination may be waived of professionals with considerable industrial/professional experience. Such candidates shall be asked to give a faculty seminar outlining their proposed subject and methodology. Candidates will be adjudged by the Internal Ph.D. Committee. If found satisfactory, they will be asked to appear before the Ph.D. Committee to seek final admission. If admitted, the Internal Ph.D. Committee of the Institute shall decide about the course work/exemption from course work to these candidates. The eligibility for such candidates is 50 percent marks in Masters Degree. All other conditions related to Ph.D. programme shall remain the same.

OTHER

1. The Director may, under special circumstances, at his/her discretionary judgement, allow variations in the rules laid down above.
2. The rules governing the Ph.D. programme shall be subject to review in accordance with amendments to the provisions of the UGC Regulations.