Henceforth pre-Ph.D. Seminars will be held tentatively on the first or second Wednesday of every month (or the next working day if these dates are somehow unavailable). Normally not more than 4 pre-Ph.D. Seminars will be held in a single meeting. Only if we have a large number of submissions in the queue, we will arrange for a mid-moth meeting.
It is the responsibility of the candidate and the supervisor to be present in the meeting. If there are joint supervisors, they should also be present if logistically possible. The notice of the meeting will be sent to the candidate at least one week in advance.
The 5000 word synopsis must not exceed 15 A4 pages typed on 12 point and with single spacing. This includes text, figures, equations, and references but excludes the title page and the publication list. If the synopsis exceeds the length limit, it will not be considered for further processing and the candidate must submit a shortened version and await his/her turn. Note that the receipt date of the final softcopy (only pdf files are accepted) will be the official date of submission of the synopsis, no matter when the viva takes place.
The synopsis must contain a separate page showing the list of publications. Only include those papers that are published, accepted, or submitted to the arXiv repository. Do not include any work that is in preparation, ongoing, or under consideration in a journal if it is not in arXiv. At least one international journal publication is a must. The candidate has to be the first author, unless the standard practice is to list the authors alphabetically.
The synopsis is accepted normally after 18 months of the Ph.D. registration date. With three copies of the synopsis properly signed by the candidate and the supervisor(s), a copy of the Ph.D. coursework completion certificate and a copy of the Ph.D. registration certificate (sent to the candidate by the University) must also be enclosed. A softcopy of the synopsis is to be sent to cu.phd.theophys@gmail.com with contact numbers of the candidate and the supervisor(s).
The candidate has to give a pre-Ph.D. seminar, which will be open to everybody. The time will be 25 minutes plus 5 minutes for questions. This limit must be strictly adhered to. If the seminar is not satisfactory, the supervisor will be informed and the candidate will get another chance after 6 months.
If there is a strong reason, supported by good publication record, the candidate may apply for an early submission of the thesis immediately after the pre-Ph.D. viva. The letter should be addressed to the Vice-Chancellor, University of Calcutta, and must contain the signatures of the candidate and the supervisor. The reason for early submission request has to be clearly explained.
What if the performance of the candidate is unsatisfactory?
The candidate has to reappear after an interval of at least 6 months and the PhD RAC will not be responsible for the consequences. As the advisor is generally the best judge of the candidate's performance, if the RAC feels that the advisor is not satisfied with the candidate, (s)he may be asked to reappear after 6 months.