Evaluation and Progress of Ph.D. thesis

Evaluation and Progress of Ph.D. thesis

Doctoral Students Committee (DSC)

For each PRL Research Scholar (RF), a DSC/DRC will be constituted to examine and monitor the progress of the research scholar from the time of their joining a Ph.D. guide.

The Constitution of the committee will be as follows:

• Supervisor - Convener

• Two members from the RF's division

• Two members from outside RF's division

Total members: 05 (Supervisor + four members)

The Director PRL will approve DSC.

Click here to submit the names of DSC members

Click here to submit details of the DSC seminar

Responsibilities of DSC

1. To monitor the progress of the research scholar through regular seminars, 3 DSC seminars per year. The deadlines for quarterly DSC reviews are:

• By 31 October

• By 28 February

• By 30 June

Each Research Fellow must give 3 DSC seminars by the end of each academic year.

2. To provide inputs to the Academic Committee to evaluate the research scholar's performance and their continuation in the Ph.D. program.

3. To attend and judge the research scholar's performance during the second year, 3rd year, fourth year, and synopsis reviews.

Second-Year RFs: Minimum ONE division seminar before the second-year review (proposal defense) (to be given before 31 December)

Third-Year RFs: Minimum TWO division seminars after the second-year (proposal defense) and before the third-year annual review (one before 30 November and the second before April 30th)

Fourth-Year RFs: Minimum ONE seminar after the third-year and before the fourth-year annual review (before 30 April)

Fifth-Year RFs: Minimum ONE seminar after the fourth-year annual review and before the synopsis review (before 30 April)

Reviews

Reviews of research scholars will be carried out every year, excluding 1st year (coursework year). Research scholars will receive fellowship enhancements subject to clearing their 2nd-year review, and fellowships for the 4th and 5th years will continue subject to clearing the reviews of their 3rd and 4th years, respectively.

Tentative timelines of review dates:

1. 3rd-4th week of Jan for the Second Year (Thesis Proposal Defense)

2. Last week of April for others

Eligibility for reviews:

Second-year review (Thesis Proposal Defense):

All JRFs registered in IITGn must give a thesis proposal defense seminar (2nd-year review) within six months of successfully clearing the IIT qualifier. The Proposal Defense will include both a written report and a presentation. The Academic Committee will conduct this.

The following are requirements for 2nd year review eligibility:

• Successfully cleared all courses in both semesters, including projects.

• All the JRFs registered at IIT-Gn must have cleared the IIT-Qualifier.

• A minimum of ONE division seminar should have been given.

• Should have completed at least ONE DSC seminar.

• Submitted progress report to the Academic Committee.

Third-year review:

• A minimum of THREE seminars should have been given.

• Minimum FIVE DSC reviews should have been completed

• Should have submitted a yearly report to the Academic Committee.

Fourth-year review:

• A minimum of FOUR seminars should have been given.

• Minimum EIGHT DSC reviews should have been completed

• Should have submitted a yearly report to the Academic Committee.

Note: If any JRF/SRF is asked to give an additional seminar by the AC after evaluating a yearly performance, then it will be the duty of the DSC to ensure that the same is being complied with before the following annual review and failing to fulfil this requirement will disqualify JRF/SRF to appear for the review.

Modalities

Modalities for evaluating the review performance of RFs:

To examine and enable the overall improvement of the research scholars, the second, third and fourth-year reports of the research scholars will be graded by the AC. A separate report from the DSC will also be sought. This evaluation will be considered to decide the clearance of the reviews.

The reviews will be quantified by assigning grades to the research scholars broadly based on, which may slightly differ for the 2nd-year and 4th-year research scholars:

• Understanding of the relevant basics of their research work

• Motivation, Depth of Knowledge, review of pertinent literature and present status of their field of research,

• Clarity of presentation,

• Analysis of research work carried out calculations, methodology (theoretical/instrumentation) and inference of results.

In addition to the above criteria, research scholars will be required to adhere to the minimum requirements for the presentation. Non-adherence to this may be reflected in their grading.

Review/Re-reviews Presentation Guidelines: (applicable to ALL SRFs and PDFs)

• The time allotted for an uninterrupted presentation will be 15 minutes, and 30 minutes for Q&A. 

• Maximum slides including Introduction & seminar/DSC details, etc. should not exceed 15. 

• Avoid overlap/transition/animation of slides to accommodate more than 15 slides.

• Give citation/references/error bars/acknowledgement, etc., wherever required. 

• The font size should be readable, and keep it simple and use basic font colours (especially for presentations made with Beamer or similar software packages).

• If the RFs have not given the required number of division seminars/DSC seminars, the reviews for such RFs will not be held.

If research scholars do not clear the reviews in the first attempt, they will be called to reappear for the review(s). In addition, they may be advised to give seminars in their respective divisions. This decision to either reappear before the Academic Committee or to deliver a division seminar will be based on the research scholar's performance during the first attempt of the review.

If a research scholar does not clear the second-year review in the next attempt(s) (as detailed above), then the research scholar's appointment as JRF at PRL may be terminated without any further engagement.

If any RF fails in the review from any batch (including the 4th year), their fellowship should be withheld until the review is cleared. In this case, the result may be shared with the research fellow later, but action should be taken immediately after receiving input from AC. In this connection, the Head, Academic Services, will do the needful with approval from the competent authority.

Synopsis and thesis submission:

A five-member committee evaluates the synopsis seminars, and the academic committee chair decides the committee. The committee decides on the outcome of the synopsis seminar, which is communicated to the concerned RFs and their DSC by the Office of Academic Services.

The synopsis of a PRL research scholar is reviewed in an open seminar. Through this seminar, the student is expected to receive feedback on their research from a wider audience. A research scholar can give a Synopsis Seminar towards the end of their thesis work when they are almost ready for thesis submission.

• At least TWO publications with DOI and another TWO papers should be accepted/ submitted/in the preparation stage, which will be required to schedule a synopsis seminar of the RF*. If the second paper is accepted/submitted/in preparation, a copy of the manuscript must be submitted along with the synopsis report to AC. In exceptional cases, approval from the Director should be accorded to schedule the synopsis seminar.

[*For SRFs who will be submitting thesis in 2025, at least ONE publication with DOI and another TWO papers should be accepted/ submitted/in the preparation stage, which will be required to schedule a synopsis seminar of the RF.]

• A minimum of FIVE division seminars and NINE DSC meetings should be completed. Also, if the AC has recommended any additional seminars during the reviews, the same needs to be adhered to without fail. (applicable for JRFs of the 2023 batch and onwards)

• AC members of the concerned divisions will submit the evaluation report for the synopses. They will ensure that the SRFs fulfil all the requirements mentioned earlier, and ONLY after receiving the evaluation, the academic committee will decide on the synopsis seminar date.

• After the submission of the synopsis and followed by the successful review in PRL, an SRF should submit the thesis within the stipulated time limit allowed by the respective University/ IIT.

• A research scholar cannot submit their thesis without clearing the synopsis review.

As per PRL norms, if a student does not submit their thesis within three months of the synopsis review, they will have to repeat the synopsis review. This period can be extended up to one more month upon formal request through a Ph.D. guide with justification for such delay. However, note that the time frame for thesis submission at the University/IIT where the student is registered may be less than three months.

If any RF with external funding is registered for PhD through a PRL MoU, PRL's academic guidelines will apply to them without any special considerations.

Weekend Seminars (Ref: Email to RFs sent on 10.09.2021)

• Each RF must give two-weekend seminars per year.

• The weekend seminars will be in addition to the above requirement of division seminars and DSC seminars per year.