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Guidelines for Postgraduate and Doctoral Research

REVISED GUIDELINES/SOPs REGARDING ONLINE EVALUATION OF Ph.D. AND MASTER’S THESIS/DISSERTATION IN VIEW OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC

(A) Ph.D. STUDENTS
(a) Students who have completed their research work and submitted their thesis at the office of the Dean, Post Graduate Studies before the lockdown and only final viva-voce examination is pending
(i) Those students who have completed all the necessary requirements and submitted their thesis at the office of the Dean, Post Graduate Studies, SHUATS before the lockdown and their external examiners are already appointed, on the request of the supervisor to Dean, PG Studies, soft copy of the submitted thesis may be send online to the External Examiners for evaluation.
(ii) After getting the positive report from both the examiners, it will be forwarded to the Student through their Supervisor for incorporating corrections suggested by the external examiners.
(iii) Supervisor will contact the student and ensure that all the corrections suggested by the external examiners are incorporated. After incorporating all the corrections, supervisor will send a mail to the Chairman with a copy to Dean PGS and concerned HoD along with the soft copy of the corrected thesis and “Certificate of Correction” in a prescribed format, requesting to conduct the Final Viva-Voce examination through online mode.
(iv) Soft copy of the corrected thesis along with all the reports and certificate of correction shall be forwarded to Chairman, Evaluation committee by Dean, PGS with a request to schedule and conduct the Final Viva-Voce examination through online mode.
(v) After verifying the corrections suggested by both the external examiner, Chairman may interact with the External Examiner telephonically or by email and schedule the Final Viva-voce examination online. He may inform to the supervisor to host and conduct Final Viva-Voce Examination using Video conferencing through Google meet, Skype, Microsoft Technologies or any other reliable and mutually convenient technology as described in point No. 12 of UGC Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for the Universities in View of COVID-19 Pandemic and Subsequent Lockdown, April 2020.
(vi) Final Viva- Voce Examination must be attended by the all the SAC members essentially, all the faculty members of the department, Research scholars of the department and other interested experts/ researchers of the university besides the Research Supervisor and Examiner(s) as applicable in compliance of Clause 9.6 to 9.9 of the UGC Regulations, 2016 regarding award of Ph.D. Degree as described in point No. 12 of UGC Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for the Universities in View of COVID-19 Pandemic and Subsequent Lockdown, April 2020/ICAR Advisories to Agricultural Universities during COVID-19 pandemic, May 2020.
(vii) On successful completion of the viva-voce examination, supervisor through Head of the Department shall submit a final report to the office of Dean PGS. Dean PGS and send his/her recommendation to the Controller of Examination regarding issuing final semester mark sheet. Supervisor and the Head of the Department shall maintain due records of all the documents including the report signed by the External Examiner(s) appointed for conducting the viva –voce examination, recordings of the Final viva-voce Examination etc. and shall submit a copy to the office of Dean PGS.
(viii) PDC will only be issued once the University is allowed to be functional after lock down by central and state Governments and when research scholar will submit all the necessary documents in hard copy at various offices as given below.
a. Required number of bound copies of the thesis duly signed by all the SAC members and external examiner at the office of Head of the Department.
b. Soft copy of the thesis in CD along with thesis completion certificate and certificate of final Viva- Voce examination duly signed by all the members at the office of the Dean PGS, Director Research, Central Library and Controller of Examinations, SHUATS.
 


(b) Those students who have completed their research work and want to submit their thesis
Pre-submission thesis seminar at the department
(i) Conducting research in a Ph.D. program is one of the most prestigious, defining and important aspect and it also provides the challenging but rewarding opportunity to contribute to and expand your field of study. Thus every care must be taken by the SAC committee to ensure that objectives of the Research work should remain same as approved in the synopsis and level and quality of the research work should not be compromised.
(ii) If all the objectives mentioned in the approved synopsis are achieved, draft of the thesis is prepared as per the guidelines of the university, checked and approved by the supervisor and SAC committee, the student may be permitted by the Head of the department to present his/her Pre-submission thesis seminar through online/offline mode in compliance of Clause 9.6 to 9.9 of the UGC Regulations, 2016 regarding award of M. Phil/Ph.D. Degree./UGC Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for the Universities in View of COVID-19 Pandemic and Subsequent Lockdown, 2020/ICAR Advisories to Agricultural Universities during COVID-19.
(iii) The notice to conduct the pre submission seminar/ link of the online seminar shall be issued and shared by the supervisor of the Ph.D. student to all concern through Head of the Department.
(iv) If the SAC committee accepts the Ph.D. work in pre-submission without any major corrections/modifications, then the corrected hard copies of the thesis must be submitted by the Ph.D. Scholar in person to the office of the Dean, Post Graduate Studies within three months from the date of Pre- submission seminar with all the relevant documents duly signed by the Supervisor/ SAC members/ Head of the Department (Annexure -1).
(v) If the SAC suggests any major change/addition/more experimentation in Ph.D. work, then the SAC will issue a certificate clearly mentioning the suggestions given and time frame within the maximum time period to complete the thesis as per the applied UGC regulations and a copy of the report must be submitted to the Office of the Dean, Post Graduate Studies by the supervisor through Head of the Department. After completing the suggested work/corrections, the student shall reappear in the Pre-submission seminar.
(vi) Once the pre-submission seminar is completed successfully, the corrected copies of the thesis must be submitted to the office of the Dean PG Studies within three months of the date of Pre- submission seminar successfully completed, with all the relevant documents duly signed by the Supervisor/ SAC members/ Head of the Department (Annexure -1).
(vii) While conducting the Viva-Voce Examination through Video Conferencing using electronic means, it may be ensured that it will be open to be attended by members of the Student’s Advisory Committee, all faculty members of the department, research scholars and other interested experts/ researchers, besides the Research Guide/Chairperson and Expert(s)/Examiner(s), as applicable. In case of on line viva voce, recordings must be kept by Supervisor and Head of the Department for any future reference.
 
Note: Only the technically approved thesis after incorporating all the corrections suggested by the SAC members and duly verified by the supervisor will be accepted for submission at the Office of the Dean, Post Graduate Studies for evaluation.

Submission of thesis at the office of the Dean, PG studies
(i) Each student and his/her Supervisor are required to conduct the plagiarism check of the thesis by his own through his/her Plagiarism Detection Software (URKUND) login provided to each faculty member by the Plagiarism Control Officer, SHUATS. After incorporating corrections in manuscripts, when the Level of Plagiarism reaches to permissible limit (< 10% as described in Article 8 of UGC Plagiarisms Regulations 2018 (Vide Letter No. Do No. F.1-18/2010 (CPP-II) dated 6th August 2018), printout of URKUND software report duly signed by Supervisor and student both and verified by the Plagiarism Control Officer, SHUATS, shall be submitted to the office of Dean, PG Studies.
(ii) Office of the Dean PGS opens for essential administrative works on Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM maintaining the Social distancing norms, use of masks and sanitizers and following the Guidelines of Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, State Government, District Administration and SOP issued by Pro VC (Admin) for adoption in SHUATS campus.
(iii) Doctoral students may contact Office Assistant and take prior appointment to submit their thesis with all the relevant documents (Annexure-1) for evaluation during this period.
 


Recommendation through board of studies
(i) Head of the concern department may call online/offline meeting of Board of Studies maintaining all the protocols of COVID-19 pandemic, to recommend the name of External Examiners for approval of Hon’ble Vice Chancellor.
(ii) Minutes of Board of studies recommending the name of Examiners in prescribed format must be submitted in the office of Dean, PG Studies for the approval of Hon’ble Vice- Chancellor.
(iii) In case of online Board of Studies meeting, Format of the Examiners list may be signed by the Chairman and Member secretary of BoS. Detail minutes may be attached in a separate sheet.
(iv) The remaining procedure of thesis evaluation shall be the same as described above in Clause [A] – point a(i) to a(vi)
 


(c ) Those who have not completed their research work
(i) As per the advisory of ICAR, during the period of lockdown the department head may decide to open and maintain the laboratories by the staff of the concerned department for research purpose on rotation basis without violating the norms of “social distancing”. However, the departments may take appropriate measures to allow Ph.D. students to carry out their research work in nearby research stations/research institutes, Regional Research Stations, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, with strict compliance of the guidelines/ directives issued by the appropriate authorities/ Governments from time to time. In such cases, the official correspondence should be done through the department.
(ii) Since conducting research in a Ph.D. program is one of the most prestigious, essential and significant aspect, every care must be taken by the SAC committee that level and quality of the research work should not be compromised. It should also be ensured that objectives of the research work should not be besmirched/degraded and remain same as approved by the SAC in the synopsis. However As per the recommendation given in UGC Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for the Universities in View of COVID-19 Pandemic and Subsequent Lockdown, April 2020 and ICAR Advisories to Agricultural Universities during COVID-19 pandemic, relaxation of 6 months may be given to such students by the university after the condition becomes normal.
 


(B) MASTERS STUDENTS

(a) Those who have completed their research work and dissertation
Evaluation of the thesis/ dissertation
(i) Once the work of the student is completed, dissertation is prepared and checked by the SAC members, pre-submission seminar may be conducted through Video conferencing using Google Meet, Skype, Microsoft Technologies or any other reliable and mutually convenient technology as described in point No. 12 of UGC Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for the Universities in View of COVID-19 Pandemic and Subsequent Lockdown, April 2020. Pre-submission seminar will be hosted by the Supervisor and must be mandatorily attended by all the SAC members. The corrected soft copy of the dissertation/ thesis along with the SAC form (Scanned copy/ jpg file etc.) and Pre-submission certificate dully signed by all the SAC members may be submitted to the Dean PGS (dean.pgstudies@shiats.edu.in) by the supervisor through email with a copy to concerned Head of the Department.
(ii) The softcopy of the thesis will be forwarded to all the SAC members through email by the Dean PGS for evaluation.
(iii) Evaluation reports of the SAC members and Chairman will be submitted to the Dean, PGS through email and a copy will be forwarded to the supervisor for incorporating corrections.
(iv) Supervisor will send “certificate of correction” through email to Dean PGS with a copy to HoD and Chairman after incorporating all the corrections by the student.
(v) After receiving the certificate of correction from supervisor through email, Dean, PGS will forward all the reports to Chairman and a copy to supervisor to schedule the final viva-voce examination.
(vi) Chairman in coordination with the supervisor may schedule the Final Viva-Voce examination though Video conferencing using Google Meet, Skype, Microsoft Technologies or any other reliable and mutually convenient technology and recording of final viva Voce Examination must be kept by the supervisor for future reference and requirement.
(vii) Supervisor through Head of the department shall submit the final report to Controller of Examination, SHUATS, mentioning the successful completion of the Viva-voce examination with all the relevant documents including “CERTIFICATE OF ACCEPTANCE BY EVALUATION COMMITTEE” with the recommendation to issue the Final Semester mark sheet. A copy of that must also be forwarded to Dean, PG Studies. Controller of Examination with the support of all relevant documents will issue the ONLINE FINAL SEMESTER MARK SHEET.
(viii) PDC will only be issued once the University is allowed to be functional fully after lock down by central and state Government’s directives and when student will submit all the following necessary documents in hard copy at various offices duly certified by supervisor/ Head of the Department.
(a) Required number of bound copies of the thesis duly signed by all the SAC members and Chairman to the office of Head of the Department.
i. (No. of Hard copies (6) - for Student, Supervisor, Co-supervisor, Departmental Library, Central Library, for the institution of co-supervisor, if co supervisor is from other organization
ii. Soft copies must be submitted in office of the Dean, PG studies Directorate of Research, Supervisor and Central library.
 
(b) Covering letter from Concern Head of the Department to Controller of Examination, SHUATS along with one original copy of the “Certificate of Acceptance by Evaluation Committee”, duly filled and signed SAC form, evaluation reports by all the SAC members, Final Viva-Voce examination certificate and No dues from the department.
 


(b) Those who have not completed their research work
(i) Final Year Masters Students may also complete their research with Theoretical Problem/ Simulation/ Modelling or Data Analysis (specially from Faculty of Engineering) and could not complete their work, may continue their research work from home in consultation with their supervisor/SAC members through email, telephonically or through Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, Microsoft Technologies or any other reliable and mutually convenient technology. Once the work of the student is completed and checked by the SAC members, on the recommendations of SAC evaluation may be done as described above in Clause [B]- a(i) to a(viii)
(ii) Those students, who were conducting experiments in their respective Labs or on field trials before the lock down and have completed all the experiments/trials, can do their analysis and writing work from home in consultation of their supervisor and SAC members through email, telephonically or though Zoom, Google meet, Skype, Microsoft Technologies or any other reliable and mutually convenient technology. Once the work of the student is completed, dissertation is prepared and checked by the SAC members, on the recommendations of SAC evaluation may be done as described above in Clause [B]- a(i) to b(viii)
(iii) Students who were working in the lab or on field trial before the lockdown and have completed their Research work partially or near to the completion before the lockdown, SAC committee may review the work through online mode and give their recommendation to Head of the Department accordingly. Once the work of the student is completed and checked by the SAC members, on the recommendations of SAC evaluation may be done as described above in Clause A- a(i) to a(viii)
(iv) Students who were working in the lab or on field trial and could not complete their work as per their objectives before the lockdown may be allowed to carry out their research work in nearby research stations/research institutes, Regional Research Stations, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, with strict compliance of the guidelines/ directives issued by the appropriate authorities/ Government /ICAR advisory, 2020. In such cases, the official correspondence should be done and proper records must be maintained in the department. They can continue their analysis and writing work from home in consultation with their supervisor and SAC members through email, telephonically or though Google meet, Skype, Microsoft Technologies or any other reliable and mutually convenient technology. Once the work of the student is completed and checked by the SAC members, on the recommendations of SAC evaluation may be initiated as described above in Clause [B] a(i) to a(viii)
 


Annexure-1


Documents Required for Submission of Ph. D. Thesis at the Office of the Dean, Post Graduate Studies, SHUATS for Evaluation
(i) Application from Scholar to Dean, P. G. Studies with the request to give permission to deposit thesis evaluation fee and to submit thesis for evaluation at the Office of the Dean, Post Graduate Studies, SHUATS .
(ii) Covering Letter from the Advisor of the research scholar to Dean, P. G. Studies mentioning that the Pre-Submission thesis seminar was completed successfully in the presence of the SAC and faculty members of the department, no further work or analysis is left, all the objectives are achieved and the format of the thesis is as per the University Guidelines, thus the candidate may be allowed to submit the thesis for evaluation.
(iii) Certificate of Joining & Completion certificate issued from the Head of the Department.
(iv) Approved copy of the Synopsis.
(v) Dully filled SAC FORM mentioning the details of the Course Work completed including credit hours of the Research work, signed by all the SAC members including Head of the Department.
(vi) Xerox copy of Mark Sheets from 1st to 5th Semester.
(vii) Xerox copy of the Comprehensive Examination Certificate with marks.
(viii) Xerox copy of fee receipt from 1st to 6th Semester. For such students, where extension of time is granted, Xerox copy of the extension letter(s) and fee receipts of all the additional semesters.
(ix) Certificate from the supervisor and scholar in prescribed format regarding Plagiarism Check using URKUND (must be within the acceptable limit as described in SHUATS Plagiarism policy), verified by the Plagiarism Control Officer, Office of the Dean, PG Studies, SHUATS.
(x) Reprint of Two research papers published in Peer reviewed Journal of repute and its report in attached format. (Candidate should be the first author in both the Research Papers.)
(xi) Certificate regarding successful completion of the Pre–Submission Thesis seminar in the department duly signed by all the SAC members.
(xii) Assessment Sheet of 6th Semester duly filled and signed by the Advisor and Head of the Department.
(xiii) Soft copy of the thesis in CD drive, chapter wise saved in PDF format to be uploaded in SHODHGANGA as required by the INFLIBNET.
(xiv) Original copy of the Service Bond from the In-service candidates of SHUATS.
 

NOTE - Ph. D. Scholars are required to submit 3 set of above mentioned documents (1 set of originally signed + 2 sets of Xerox copy) IN PERSON to the Office of the Dean, Post Graduate Studies, SHUATS.

(i) DETAILS OF RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS
(ii) CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION