The University Grants Commission (UGC) in its Minimum Standards and Procedures for Award of PhD Degree Regulations, 2022, has brought in several big-ticket changes. It has suggested the HEIs assign four-six hours per week of teaching/research assistantship for conducting tutorial or laboratory work to PhD students and fixed a minimum of 12 credits for the PhD coursework.
The UGC regulation states, “All Ph.D. scholars, irrespective of discipline, shall be required to train in teaching/education/pedagogy/writing related to their chosen Ph.D. subject during their doctoral period. The scholars may also be assigned 4-6 hours per week of teaching/research assistantship for conducting tutorial or laboratory work and evaluations.” The initiative, say academicians, will enhance the quality of Ph.D. research work and offer greater flexibility to part-time Ph.D. candidates.
Teacher training for HEIs
The move will create a pool of trained teachers for HEIs and also enable overburdened professors to focus on research work. “In the past, Ph.D. courses in India had been aimed at developing research orientation and teacher training for higher education was largely missing. When the Ph.D. scholars joined as faculty in universities, they had to be trained in designing instructions, constructing a teaching-learning evaluation plan, writing learning outcomes, and mapping instructions to learning outcomes. Teaching along with their guides will allow students to learn these processes while pursuing their PhD degree,” says Raj Singh, spokesperson, of JAIN Online and VC, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University).
“A Ph.D. degree is always associated with research and innovation, but one of the objectives of Ph.D. should be to groom better teachers of tomorrow,” adds Singh.
Incorporating originality
One of the goals of the current UGC PhD regulations is to enhance the quality of PhD scholars and their research output. “The increase in minimum credit requirement for PhD and inclusion of ‘Research and Publication Ethics’, in course work, is a step towards incorporating originality in research output, as well as ethical standards in conducting research and dissemination of the results,” says Anirban Chakraborti, dean, School of Engineering and Technology, BML Munjal University.
Challenging for part-time PhD candidates
While the 2016 UGC regulations had mandated a minimum of 6 credits and a maximum of 16 credits for the PhD course work, the 2022 regulation have mandated a minimum of 12 credits for PhD course work. “This may create challenges for those who pursue a part-time PhD, as most candidates are working professionals,” says Lakshmi Arya Thathachar, associate dean, Research, and associate professor, RV University, Bengaluru.
PhD scholars will now be required to assist in teaching and lab work, besides completing the Ph.D. coursework, researching the findings, and writing the thesis. “The part-time Ph.D. candidates may face problems in garnering the minimum credits. Many teachers pursue part-time research and need to balance it with their teaching schedule. Several students join lectureships after completing PG and clearing the UGC NET exam while finishing their doctoral course as a part-timer. So, HEIs should adopt a flexible approach to help them in completing their research,” says Nimai Chandra Saha, vice-chancellor, of the University of Burdwan, West Bengal.
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