MPhil, PhD thesis submission deadline extended till December 31. (Express Photo by Prashant Nadkar/Representational)The University Grants Commission (UGC) has extended the last date for submission of thesis for the final-term MPhil and PhD students. Earlier, the UGC had given a six-month extension to MPhil and PhD students who were yet to submit their dissertation or thesis due to pandemic which has further been extended. Now, students who were given time till December 31 can submit their thesis till June 30, 2021, as per the latest notice.
“Due to COVID-19 pandemic, universities have remained closed for the past several months. Therefore, the students have not been able to conduct their research or experiments in university laboratories nor they were able to access library services that are critical for completion of the thesis,” the UGC said in an official statement.
The extension of six months can be granted for submitting evidence of publication and presentation in two conferences. However, the tenure of the fellowship of MPhil or PhD will be the same. It is up to five years, as per the official notice.
Meanwhile, the commission had earlier this week said that the pending fellowship for junior research fellows and senior research fellows (SRF) will be released in a week.
The deadline for admissions in open distance learning (ODL) and online programmes for the September-October academic sessions 2020-21 has also been extended from November 30 to December 31. The Higher education institutes have been asked to make a note of this and upload the admission dates on the UGC DEB web portal by January 15.