As you approach the completion of your research work, write an application to the chairman of Board of Studies (BoS) of your department. Most of the time, the head of the deparment chairs the BoS. Tell your PhD supervisor to submit the application in the next BoS meeting, held 4-6 times in a year. So, ask you supervisor about next BoS and pass it to him at that day or before to get your application presented before the BoS. members.
Informations you need to add in the application:
Title of the thesis. Please visit the Academics and Research Section (beside central library) and ask them to check your thesis titie in their register book Take a picture of the page.
Number of publication at the time of application. You may mention accepted but not yet published works in the application.
Registration number (VB xx of 20xx-xx)
Date of admission.
Attachments:
Photo of the thesis title and other details take from the register book of Academic and Research Section.
Result of coursework examination
Admission slip obtained at the time of PhD admission
First pages of published research articles.
Presentation certificates (at least two, one of those must be international)
After you obtain permission from the BoS meeting, prepare an excel or LaTeX beamer presentation for a 30-minute talk. Usually, it should cover the works that will be included in your thesis. Ask the seniors or search online for templates that suit your requirement well. For LaTeX users, overleaf .com is a great place to start with. Math++ offers a sample beamer presentation. Here is an interesting link for your motivation, do check it out.
Click here to view/download.
Practice well before the final presentation in front of the lab members.
At this step, your guide will write an application to the head of the department for arranging the seminar on next BoS meeting. He/she should mention the name of the external expert. The department will take care of it and will a notice will be put in the university website listing the name of the candidates appearing for the pre-PhD seminar.
Also remind your supervisor to make a list of reviewers for your final thesis.
At this moment, you have been allocated a session to present your work before the faculty members and external expert in BoS meeting. Apart from your presentation file, keep two other things ready.
A format for pre-PhD report (see below)
List of thesis examiners (at least 3 from within West Bengal and 3 from outside West Bengal). Choose best experts in your field and ask your supervisor to take prior permission from them if necessary.
Mention the following points while making a list.
Name:
Designation:
Specialization:
Email:
Mobile No:
Address:
You may also group them as:
Supervisor and Co-supervisor,
Within West Bengal,
Outside West Bengal
Writing a thesis is not a simple task and takes a long time to complete. Be careful about possible sources of mistakes. Start with a template obtained form one of your seniors or some website. Scroll down to find links to thesis and synopsis samples.
The thesis usually has the following layout:
Title page
Dedication
Certificate from you guide and coguide in official pad signed and stamped. (Download the format from here)
Declaration of author (signed by author)
Acknowledgment (signed by author)
The first page of plagiarism report (Ouriginal by Turnitin). You will add this after you have completed writing the thesis. Check only the actual content of the thesis for plagiarism. Use tools like adobe acrobat to extract those pages from the whole thesis and tell your supervisor to check the plagiarism through his Ouriginal account. In the original analysis page, turn off your own works, included the the thesis. Then download the report and extract the first page to include it within thesis.
Abstract
Table of contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Conclusion and future directions
List of publications
Bibliography
First pages of published works.
The synopsis of the thesis almost looks like the 'Abstract' of your thesis. The title page of the synopsis has to be the same as the title page of your thesis, except it is mentioned as 'Synopsis' on top of the thesis title. You may or may not add citations in the synopsis.
The last page of the synopsis must be signed by your supervisor, co-supervisor, and also by yourself.
The process is as follows:
Collect the form from the departmental office. You may print out the from this pdf.
It should be signed in the following order:
Supervisor
Head of the Department (also in the duty of Seminar Library)
If hosteller
Student Warden
Kitchen Secretary
Teacher Warder
Bhavana Library
Central library front desk
Dean of Students' Welfare
Proctor
Principal at Bhavana office
Account section (just before thesis submission)
Documents
Hostel allotment card (original) at the time of visiting the Hostel Teacher Warden.
Library Card while visiting libraries.
Payment slips for hostellers should be produced before Proctor.
ID and Enrollment card at the principal office.
Annual payment receipt and the thesis submission fees receipt.
Attach the admission slip as proof of your studentship (this may not be necessary).
Note: Take one or more photocopies of the No Dues certificate. Don't lose the original.
Number of thesis to be submitted: 4 (5 for those having a co-supervisor). Print one more for yourself. Ask for reduced size (85%), both-sided thesis print.
Recommended printing style: one-sided, A4 page, hardbound
You can print at a local shop. For people near Kolkata, Dhar Brothers may be a good option, as they are very professional. Go for quality even if it costs more.
For the CD, break each part of your thesis and rename the files in the following manner.
01_title.pdf
02_dedication.pdf
03_acknowledgements.pdf (signed by you)
04_declaration_of_author.pdf (signed by you)
05_pagarism_report.pdf
06_certificate.pdf (signed by supervisor and co-supervisor)
07_abstract.pdf
08_contents.pdf
09_list of figures.pdf
10_list of tables.pdf
11_chapter 1.pdf
12_chapter 2.pdf
13_chapter 3.pdf
14_chapter 4.pdf
15_chapter 5.pdf
16_future directions.pdf
17_list of publications.pdf
18_bibliography.pdf
19_seminar certificate.pdf (seminar presentation certificates in one pdf)
20_synopsis.pdf (signed by you, your supervisor and co-supervisor)
80_recommendation.pdf (pre-PhD report)
Write them on four or five (in case you have a co-supervisor) CD/DVD copies and check if they are working properly. You may also ask your printing guy to prepare them for you. For that you need to give him signed copies of the acknowledgement, declaration of author, certificate, and the last page of the synopsis.
Write the following the CDs, preferably with a marker pen:
Thesis title
Your name
Registration number
Name of the Department
Collect the thesis submission form along with Annexures I and II from the exam section. Fill it out and get it signed by
Scholar, that means you.
Guide and Co-guide
Head of the department
Principal (must attach the document listed below)
Joint Registrar (Academic and Research Section). Ask someone in the office that you are submitting your thesis. He/she will point you to one of the clerks who will verify your thesis title (in thesis, synopsis, and the form) and write "Thesis title verified" on the first page of the thesis submission form.
After this step, bring your annual fees receipt and a copy of the thesis submission fees receipt (see the process below) and show it to the accounts officer along with the original No Dues form. The officer will take all those receipts and sign on the No Dues form. After this, Take a xerox copy of the No Dues form and submit the copy at the time of submission of the thesis.
Attachments
Completed No Dues form (original)
pre-Phd report (original)
Coursework Marksheet (xerox copy, self-attested)
Ouriginal plagiarism report (first page only)
Two papers (all pages, self-attested)
Two seminar presentation certificates (xerox copy, self-attested)
MSc marksheet and certificate (xerox copy, self-attested)
Synopsis
Annexure I (plagarism verification)
Annexure II (plagiarism exclusion certificate signed by supervisor and co-supervisor)
How to pay the thesis submission fees
The thesis submission fee at Visva-Bharati is Rs. 2500 as of February, 2023. Pay it via SBICollect website.
Search your institution's name. In the case of VB, search for "Visva", and then select "VISVA BHARATI UNIVERSITY".
Under "Payment Category," select "Misc Receipt."
Under "Purpose of Deposit," select "Others."
Under the "Remarks" section, put "Ph.D. thesis submission fees for <your name>."
Fill in the rest and pay the fees.
Take two copies of the printout of the receipt.
Before you submit, one officer in the adjacent room will verify your registration details. Tell him your name and regitration year mentioned in the registration number. He will verify it and write it on the thesis submision form. Then go ahead to the thesis submission room. Ask the person there to initate your submission process. The whole process takes some time, so try to arrive early.
You need to produce the following documents:
Thesis, synopsis and CDs
Theis submission form
Annexure I (plagarism verification)
Annexure II (plagarism exclusion certificate signed by supervisor and co supervisor)
One passport size photo
pre-Phd report (original)
Completed No Dues form (xerox copy)
Re-registration fees receipt (if any)
Two seminar participation certificates (xerox copy, self attested)
Two papers (all pages, self attested)
Proof of the date of birth (MP admit or certificate)
Aadhar Card
Coursework Marksheet (xerox copy, self attested)
Ouriginal plagarism report (first page only)
Cast certificate (SC/ST/OBC)
PhD submission fees receipt
Migration certificate (if required)
MSc marksheet and certificate (xerox copy, self attested)
All documents should be self attested
Don't forget to obtain the thesis submission certificate.
After the university receives all reports from the thesis examiners, a final viva-voce will be arranged. Your supervisor will take care of it. Make your presentation ready once again. After viva-voce is completed, it takes about a week to get results out. Now you can add Dr. before your name.
Some sample thesis and synopsis from Indian universities can be found in the shodhganga portal.
Link: https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/ (sometimes takes a lot to load)
Direct Link for Visva-Bharati