The University of Madras has adopted the University Grants Commission norms with regard to the number of research scholars a faculty can guide.
The norms specify that an assistant professor can guide four candidates, an associate professor is permitted six candidates and a professor can guide eight students at a time.
The university, however, permitted professors to accept 10 research scholars at a time. “We decided to adopt the UGC norms to improve the quality of research done by the candidates,” said Vice Chancellor P. Duraisamy.
Several professors were against the new regulation at the Academic Council on Saturday, stating that it would hurt the students.
The Head of Journalism department G. Ravindran said the university should not blindly adopt the UGC regulations, as experience of Central universities had shown that many Dalit students could not be admitted because of the cap on admission. He also felt that teachers in all cadre should be given equal opportunity to accept candidates.
Mr. Duraisamy informed the council that the suggestion had been approved by the Board of Research Studies.
Doctoral committee
The university also stipulated that candidates must finish Ph.D within three to five years of registration. Within two months of registration, a three-member doctoral committee for each Ph.D candidate must be formed and the committee must submit the minutes of the meeting and a report on the candidate’s progress every six months.
The university would follow a criteria-based monitoring system, Mr. Duraisamy told reporters on the sidelines of the council meeting. Candidates must attend a national level conference in the first year of Ph.D. In the second year, they must present a paper in a conference and in the third year, they must publish a paper in a UGC-listed journal and must make a presentation in a conference. In the fourth year, the candidate must have at least one published research article and one more must have been submitted for publication.
“If the progress of the candidate is slow, the university will recommend the appointment of an additional senior expert to the doctoral committee to supervise the progress,” Mr. Duraisamy said.
When protests continued over adopting the UGC regulations, the V-C said, “The UGC regulation of 2016 was passed in the Senate and approved in the Syndicate. If we violate the norms we are facing a constraint that we cannot certify candidates as having completed the degree,” the V-C explained.
