Ordinance Vl-B. Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.

D)
1.

The degree of Doctor of Philosophy may be granted in any Faculty of the

University.

2.

All academic matters related to this degree shall be supervised by a

Departmental Research Committee consisting of the following:

(i)

Head of the Department (Chair);

(ii)

One Professor (a nominee of the Vice- Chancellor);

(iii)

Professors in the Department subject to a maximum of four by rotation

according to seniority;

(iv)

Two Readers in the Department by rotation according to seniority;

(v)

Two Lecturers in the Department qualified to be Supervisor(s) by rotation

according to seniority;

(vi)

Two Lecturers in the Colleges qualified to be Supervisor(s), one under the

category of teachers with less than 10 years of service, and the other from
among those having more than 10 years of service, by rotation according to
seniority.

Where Departments have a strength of less than ten teachers, all members will be
members of the Departmental Research Committee.
The term of the Departmental Research Committee will be for a period of two years.
3.

The student intake will be regulated in each Department as per the

availability of seats according to the norm of Professor 8 students,
Reader 6 students, and Lecturer 4 students, by the Departmental
Research Committee. However, in such cases where teachers are retiring
or leaving and where redistribution / reallocation of their Ph.D students to
other faculty members is required, the norm can be relaxed by the
Departmental Research Committee and the Board of Research Studies.
The Departmental Research Committee shall also appoint
Supervisor(s)/Joint Supervisor(s) which will be reported to the Board of
Research Studies.

4.

The following categories of candidates can be registered for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy by the Departmental Research Committee, provided
that they fulfill the eligibility conditions:
4A.

Students having fellowships/scholarships instituted by the University /

national and international agencies under schemes approved
/recognized by the University, through procedure laid down by the
University, may be registered provisionally by the Departmental
Research Committee and Board of Research Studies, and confirmed
after completion of course work, by the respective Board of Research
Studies.
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4B.

Students who are otherwise eligible for admission to the Ph.D.

Programme and do not have any financial assistance, will be admitted
through an entrance examination to be conducted by the respective
departments or / and through an interview by the Departmental
Research Committee. Students provisionally admitted to the Ph.D.
Programme through an entrance examination or interview will be
awarded University Grants Commission fellowships for programmes of
doctoral research or any other fellowship that is launched by the national
agencies. The number of fellowships under this category will be
determined annually by the Department.

4C.

Foreign students with their national or other fellowships recognized by

the University or sponsored by their employers, may be given
provisional admission, followed by confirmation through due process
after a stipulated period of time.

4D.

The University / College teachers holding a permanent, temporary or ad

hoc positions and having completed two years of service as teacher in a
Department / Constituent Colleges of the University of Delhi.

4E.

Candidates sponsored by their employers shall be considered only if

they get study leave for a period of two years to fulfill residency
requirements of the University of Delhi.

4F.

Permanent teachers / employees who are in service in any other

recognized University / College / Research Institute in India and have a
minimum of three years teaching / research experience, will be
considered if they get study leave for a period of two years to fulfill
residency requirements of the University of Delhi.

5.

To be eligible for admission to the Ph.D. Programme, a candidate must have

obtained a Masters / M.Phil. degree of the University of Delhi, or any other
recognized University, or any degree recognized as equivalent in the subject
in which the candidate wishes to pursue a course of research, or in an allied
subject. She / he must have obtained either a minimum of 50% marks or
equivalent grading in the M.Phil. degree or a minimum of 55% marks or
equivalent grading in the Masters degree .

6.

Students who were initially registered for the M.Phil. programme of the
University and who obtain a score of 60% or more marks in Part I
examination of the M.Phil. programme would be eligible for admission to the
doctoral programme without completing their M.Phil. degree on the specific
recommendation of the Departmental Research Committee. Such students
shall be granted fellowships as provided in 4B.

7.

Candidates with four years or more than four year Bachelor degrees, viz.
B.Tech. and M.B.B.S with 70% and 60% marks or equivalent grades
respectively, who have obtained any of the national level fellowships, may
be admitted provisionally in the Ph.D. programme. Such students will be
required to go through two semester course work which will be prescribed
by the Departmental Research Committee and reported to the Board of
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Research Studies, and other stipulated requirements like the Departmental

seminar on the proposed research. They will qualify for confirmed
registration after successful completion of the course work, and other
stipulated requirements.
8.

Candidates with M.Tech. / M.Phil. / LL.M. / M.C.A. / M.D. / M.S. degree of

the University of Delhi or candidates holding an equivalent degree from any
other institute / university recognized by the University of Delhi, if they have
obtained any of the national level fellowships can be provisionally admitted
for the Ph.D. programme. Such students will be exempted from the
stipulated requirement of course work and may be confirmed within six
months on the basis of criteria laid down by the Departmental Research
Committee and the Board of Research Studies.
In the Faculty of Law, a student holding LL.B who obtains a score of 60% or
more marks may be admitted to the Ph.D. programme subject to the
provision that the student shall pass in the course work of LL.M. first year.
The process of selection shall be as in 4.

9.

The provisional registration of the students done by the Department shall

require ratification by the Board of Research Studies of the Faculty to which
the Department belongs. All the records of registration and progress of
research work done by the students shall be maintained both by the
Department and the Board of Research Studies.

Each faculty shall have a Board of Research Studies.

9A.

The composition of Board of Research Studies for multiple Department

faculties will be as follows:
(i)
Dean of the Faculty;
(ii)
The Heads of the Departments concerned;
(iii)
One Professor from each Department by rotation according to
seniority;
(iv)
One Reader from each Department by rotation according to
seniority;
(v)
One Lecturer qualified to be Supervisor(s) from each
Department by rotation based on seniority;
(vi)
One Lecturer qualified to be supervisor from each subject
amongst teachers from colleges of the University by rotation
according to seniority.

9B.

The composition of the Board of Research Studies for a single

Department faculty will be as follows:
(i)
The Dean of the Faculty (and three Professors-in charge in the
Faculty of Law);
(ii)
Two Professors to be nominated by the Vice-Chancellor;
(ii)
Three Professors by rotation according to seniority;
(iii)
Two Readers by rotation according to seniority;
(iv)
Two Lecturers qualified to be Supervisor(s) based on seniority;
(v)
One Lecturer qualified to be Supervisor amongst teachers from
colleges of the University by rotation according to seniority.
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9C.

Dean of the Faculty will be the Chairman for the respective Board of
Research Studies.

The term of the Board of Research studies will be for a period of two years.
10.

Students who are provisionally registered for the Degree of Doctorate of

Philosophy (Ph.D.) will be required to take a minimum of two courses and up
to a maximum of eight courses as per the decision of the Departmental
Research Committee.
Each course will be of three hours
instructions/studies per week. The course work should be completed in a
period of two semesters not exceeding one academic year from the date of
the provisional registration. Doctoral students may be permitted to take
courses in related and allied subjects being offered by other Departments of
the University. The students shall be evaluated at the end of each
semester. If a student is not able to pass a course with 50% marks, the
student shall be allowed to reappear in the examination within 12 months.
The provisional admission in the Ph.D. programme will be confirmed by the
Departmental Research Committee and the Board of Research Studies only
after the successful completion of course work and completion of other
formalities like defence of the thesis topic in a departmental seminar.

11.

Other stipulations and procedures are as follows:

(i)

Every candidate shall have an Advisory Committee consisting of the

Supervisor(s) and two other members suggested by the Supervisor(s).
The members can be from the Departments/Colleges of the University
or outside the University but within the National Capital Territory of
Delhi. One member of the Advisory Committee, besides the
Supervisor(s), should be from the University.

(ii)

The Departmental Research Committee, on the recommendation of the

Supervisor, may appoint scholars of eminence who may be residing in
India or abroad, as Joint Supervisor(s). The student, if required, may be
ordinarily permitted to do research for a maximum of 12 months in the
institute of the Joint Supervisor. Any extension shall require the prior
approval of Departmental Research Committee.

(iii) In cases where the Supervisor has three or lesser number of years
before retirement, a Joint Supervisor shall be mandatory.
(iv)

A Reader/Lecturer in Departments / Colleges of the University holding a

Ph.D. degree and three years of teaching or post doctoral experience,
shall be eligible to supervise / jointly supervise students. However, a
Professor who has been appointed under the eminent scholar category
can supervise Ph.D. students irrespective of whether he / she holds a
Ph.D. degree or not.

(v)

Following the provisional admission of the student, the appointments of

the Supervisor(s) and Advisory Committee shall be reported by the
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Departmental Research Committee to the Board of Research Studies.

Reports on the progress (on an annual basis as based on presentations
and seminar) of the course work will be processed by the Departmental
Research Committee and sent to the Board of Research Studies for
confirmation of admission of the candidate. The Board shall be
responsible for ascertaining that the procedures have been followed.
(vi) Registration of students in the Ph.D. programme may be confirmed by
the Board of Research Studies, in August and February, based on the
recommendations of the Departmental Research Committee.
(vii) Subsequent to confirmation and prior to completion of five years, a
student who is a teacher in the University of Delhi, may deregister for
purposes of employment or any other purpose and re-register within
three years of deregistration on the recommendation of the
Departmental Research Committee and the Board of Research Studies
and the consent of the Vice-Chancellor. On re-registration, the student
must submit the Ph.D. thesis after a minimum period of one year and
within a period such that the total span of the initial registration and reregistration is not more than five years.
(viii) Every candidate shall pursue research in the University or a recognized
institution in Delhi for not less than two calendar years after the date of
provisional registration. The student may be permitted by the Board of
Research Studies, on the recommendation of the Supervisor(s), to be
absent from Delhi for ordinarily not more than 2 semesters on the
ground that it is in the interest of her / his research.
(ix) The Advisory Committee will function till the completion of the doctoral
work of a candidate. It will advise the student on course work and
research work on a regular basis. The Advisory Committee shall meet
at least once in a year to record in writing the progress of the work.
These records will be kept by the Board of Research Studies.
(x)

Students can be assigned participation in some academic work like

assisting teaching of science practicals, checking assignments, etc. as
per their fellowship scheme or as decided by the Departmental Council.
This work should not be more than six hours a week.

(xi) Absence from research work by students due to illness, maternity leave
or other circumstances must be reported by the Supervisor(s) to the
Board of Research Studies through the Head of the Department and
Departmental Research Committee. Neglect of research work or any
other acts of indiscipline must be recorded and reported to the
Departmental Research Committee and the concerned Board of
Research Studies.
(xii) Cases of neglect of research work and indiscipline that include unethical
practices such as plagiarism and misrepresentation of data must be
reported to the Department, the Board of Research Studies and the
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University administration.
(xiii) No candidate shall undertake any employment during the period of her
/his study without the permission of the Supervisor(s) and the
Departmental Research Committee which will then be reported to the
Board of Research Studies.
(xiv) No candidate shall, without the permission of the Supervisor(s), the
Departmental Research Committee and the Board of Research Studies
enroll any other course of study which is not stipulated as an essential
requirement for the Ph.D. programme by the Department.
(xv) No candidate shall appear in any examination conducted by the
University or a public body without informing the Supervisor(s) and the
Departmental Research Committee.
(xvi) Before the doctoral thesis is submitted, the research findings will be
discussed in a departmental seminar. In case issues related to
Intellectual Property Rights are involved, necessary patents shall be filed
before disclosure in the final seminar. The Supervisor(s), the Joint
Supervisor(s) and the Advisory Committee shall provide an undertaking
in the beginning, or whenever deemed fit, that they will maintain the
confidentiality of the research till patents are filed.
(xvii) Students shall submit their thesis within four years of provisional
registration. A six month extension for submission can be granted by the
Board of Research Studies on a written request by the student and
recommendation of the Supervisor(s). Any extension beyond this shall
require a written justification for the delay by the student and the
Supervisor(s). Such extension shall require the approval of the ViceChancellor.
(xviii) A candidate shall be permitted to submit her / his thesis after her / his
Supervisor(s) certifies that the thesis presented is worthy of
consideration for the award of a Ph.D. degree. The application for
submission of the thesis will be countersigned by the Head of the
Department. A candidate, after completion of research, shall submit the
thesis to the University at any time during working hours of the
University.
The thesis must be a piece of research work characterized either by the
discovery of new facts, or by a fresh interpretation of facts or theories.
In either case, it should evince the candidates capacity for critical
examination and judgment. It must be satisfactory as far as its language
and presentation are concerned.
The candidate may incorporate in her/his thesis the contents of any work
which she/he may have published on the subject and shall indicate the
same in the thesis. However, she/he shall not submit as her/his thesis
any work for which a degree has been conferred on her/him by this or
any other University.
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(xix)

The candidate shall submit four printed or typed copies of the thesis and
an electronic copy.

(xx)

Supervisor(s) of the candidate shall, six weeks in advance of the

submission of thesis, forward seven copies of Abstract of the thesis
including table of contents for consideration by the Departmental
Research Committee, to the concerned Head of the Department, under
intimation to the Controller of Examinations, University of Delhi. The
Head of the Department shall take immediate steps for convening a
meeting of the Departmental Research Committee to consider
appointment of external examiners. The Supervisor(s) of the thesis, if
she/he/they is/are not member(s) of the Departmental Research
Committee, shall be invited at the said meeting of the Departmental
Research Committee for consultation in regard to recommending the
panel of a minimum of 6 external examiners who shall be eminent
scholars and specialists in the area of the thesis. The recommendations
of the Departmental Research Committee shall be reviewed by the
concerned Board of Research Studies and considered by the Academic
Council. The examiners shall be appointed by the Executive Council.
Three examiners out of the panel so approved shall be appointed for
evaluation of each thesis.

(xxi)

The examiners may recommend that the degree be awarded subject to

satisfactory open viva voce test on the thesis, or that the thesis may be
rejected, or that the thesis be resubmitted.

(xxii)

In the event that all the three examiners unanimously recommend award
of degree, the same shall be done after a satisfactory open viva voce
test.

(xxiii) In the event that two or more examiners reject the thesis, the thesis shall
be rejected and registration of the candidate closed.

(xxiv) In the event that two examiners recommend resubmission and one

examiner recommends acceptance of the thesis or all three examiners

recommend resubmission, the candidate shall be required to revise and
resubmit the thesis as per the rules governing resubmission of thesis.

(xxv) In the event that one examiner accepts the thesis, one examiner rejects

the thesis and one examiner recommends resubmission, or in the event

that two examiners recommend resubmission and one examiner
recommends rejection, the thesis shall be rejected and registration of
the candidate closed.

(xxvi) In the event that two of the three examiners recommend the award of
degree and the third examiner recommends rejection, the thesis shall be
referred to the fourth examiner to be selected by the Vice-Chancellor
from out of the original panel of examiners.
(xxvii) In the event that two of the three examiners recommend the award of
degree and the third examiner recommends resubmission, the reports of
the examiners shall be sent by the Office of the Controller of
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Examinations to the concerned Head of the Department who, in

consultation with the Supervisor(s), shall prepare a Summary of the
Recommendations of the Reports and a Summary of the Technical
Parts of the Reports. These two Summaries are to be submitted along
with original reports to the Committee of the Academic Council
consisting of the Vice-Chancellor/Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Chairman of the
concerned Board of Research Studies, Head of the concerned
Department, the Supervisor(s) of the candidate, and three Professors of
the University of Delhi nominated by the Vice-Chancellor.
In such cases, the Committee shall either require the candidate to revise
and resubmit the thesis or refer the thesis to the fourth examiner to be
selected by the Vice-Chancellor from out of the original panel of
examiners. The Committee shall take only one of the above actions and
the result of such an action shall be final and binding on the thesis.
(xxviii) In case of resubmission of thesis, the thesis must be resubmitted within
one year from the date of supply of comments of the examiners to the
candidate by the Office of the Controller of Examinations of the
University of Delhi, unless extension is specifically granted by the
concerned Board of Research Studies under intimation to the
Committee of the Academic Council. The resubmitted thesis shall be
examined only by the original Board of Examiners unless, they or any of
them are/is unable or unwilling to act as the examiner. Positive
recommendations from all the examiners who have agreed to examine
the resubmitted thesis shall be necessarily required for award of the
degree. The thesis may only be resubmitted once and a unanimous
verdict of the original Board of Examiners shall be final and binding. A
resubmitted thesis shall not be marked to a Fourth examiner.
(xxix) In case the Committee decides to refer the thesis to the fourth examiner,
the same shall be selected by the Vice-Chancellor from out of the
original panel of examiners for recommending either acceptance or
rejection of the thesis. The fourth examiner so appointed shall be
informed of the recommendations of the other three examiners. The
recommendation of the fourth examiner shall be final and binding on the
thesis. Such a thesis, examined by the Fourth Examiner, shall not be
allowed to be resubmitted or marked to any further examiner and the
registration of the candidate shall be closed.
12.

The extent of reservations and the eligibility criteria with respect to the
reserved categories of students to be admitted to the doctoral
programme will be governed by guidelines issued by the University in
accordance with statutory provisions.

13.

Any issues concerning procedure or interpretation of the provisions

contained in this ordinance shall be referred to the Vice-Chancellor
whose decision shall be final. All such cases shall be reported to the
Academic Council.

14.

The provisions of this Ordinance will apply prospectively.

15.

Transitory Provision: The provisions contained in the present Ordinance

with regard to the Departmental Research Committee (Clause 2), the
Board of Research Studies (Clause 9), and Examination Scheme
(Clause 11(xx) to 11 (xxix) shall be applicable to candidates already
registered for Ph.D. programme at the University of Delhi.