RULES AND REGULATIONS

Ph.D. Programme

Academic Affairs
(2013-2014)

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY GOA

 GENERAL INFORMATION
The National Institute of Technology Goa (NIT Goa) is one of the National
Institutes of Technology in the country set up with the objectives of high quality
undergraduate and research in various fields of Science and Technology. NIT Goa was
established in 2010. It currently has four Departments: Humanities and Sciences (HS),
Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), Electronics and Communication
Engineering (ECE) and Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE). The Institute
offers Ph.D. programme in a wide range of areas in Engineering, Humanities &
Science.

ORDINANCES
1. A candidate who has been qualified in the Degree of Master of Technology or Master of
Science (Technology/Engineering) [M.Tech /M.S/M.Sc.(Engg.)] or Master of Arts
from a recognized Institute or University in the discipline as prescribed in the rules and
regulations is eligible to apply for Ph.D. programme of National Institute of Technology
Goa. Exceptional candidates (with CGPA>=9.0) with B.Tech/B.E from a reputed
institute is also eligible to apply for the Ph.D. programme.
2. The award of the Ph.D. Degree shall be in accordance with the respective regulations of
the Senate of the Institute.
3. The award of the Ph.D. degree shall be made by the Institute on the recommendation of
the Senate and with the approval of the Board of Governors (BOG) of the Institute.
4. The Senate/BOG of the Institute has the power to modify any regulations stated from
time to time.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

a. ADMISSION PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS
Ph.D. Programmes
The award of the Ph.D. degree is in recognition of high achievements, independent
research and application of knowledge to the solution of engineering and scientific
problems. The details of research programmes and faculty research interests may be
found on the department websites. NIT Goa currently offers Ph.D. degree in:
Humanities and Sciences (HS), Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), Electronics
and Communication Engineering (ECE) and Electrical and Electronics Engineering
(EEE).
Categories of Ph.D. Candidates
The Assistantship/Fellowships will be payable for duration fixed by the Ministry of
Human Resources and Development (MHRD) (or the granting agency) or until the
date of submission of thesis, whichever is earlier. The Institute admits Ph.D. candidates
under the following categories:
 Full time research scholar on Institute fellowship (FT)
 Teaching Assistant (TA)
 Teaching Assistant through Project (TAP)
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  Industry Fellowships (IF)
 Govt. / Semi Govt. Fellowship Awardees (FA) (CSIR, UGC, DOE, DST, DBT,
NBHM, ISEAP etc.):
 Sponsored candidates (SP)
 Self-Financed (Indian / Foreign) / Study Leave (SF)
 Indian Council for Cultural Relations Award (ICCR) (Foreign Nationals)
(The candidate should possess a valid GATE score for MHRD scholarship)

b. Admission schedule
Normally, advertisement for Ph.D. programmes is issued in the month of March (for
July session) and October (for December-January session) each year in the employment
news, department website as well as in leading newspapers. Admissions are carried out
in the months of July and December. Candidates seeking admission under this clause
must fulfill the required academic qualification/experience at the time of interview.
They must join within two weeks after the issue of admission offer unless specifically
permitted to do so. Admission is subject to vacancy being available in the relevant
specializations.

c. Eligibility criterion for admission to Full-time Ph.D. Programmes

c.1 Table 1 defines the minimum qualifications required for admission and provisional
Registration to full-time Ph.D. programmes at NIT Goa for General/OBC (Non-creamy
Layer)/SC/ST/PH category students.
c.2 Table 1 defines Institute minimum requirements and any department operating through
their Department Research Committee (DRC) can in addition specify a higher
shortlisting criteria.
c.3 Qualifying degree performance is computed by aggregating performance over all the
semesters/years of the qualifying degree.

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 Qualification through

General/OBC SC/ST/PH National level

Qualifying Degree
(Non-Creamy examination
Layer) requirements

M.Tech./M.E./M.Phil./ 60% marks or 55% marks or A valid GATE Score and/or

6.50 CGPA (on a 6.00 CGPA (on qualifying score in the relevant
MBA/ or equivalent
10 point scale) a 10 point discipline*.
scale)

M.Sc.(Science)/M.A 60% marks or 55% marks or CSIR/UGC/NET/ICAR/ICMR

or equivalent 6.50 CGPA (on a 6.00 CGPA (on /DST INSPIRE fellowship
10 point scale) a 10 point
scale)

B.Tech/ M.Sc.(Engg.) 9.0 or above 9.0 or above Nil

CGPA (on a 10 CGPA (on a 10
point scale) point scale)

(*cut-off criteria for eligibility & shortlisting may vary with the departments)

Table 1: Eligibility criterion for Admission to full-time Ph.D. Programmes

d. Selection to the Ph.D. Programmes

d.1 Provisional selection of the candidates will be conducted by a Department Selection
Committee (DSC), which is constituted by the Director. DSC will consist of Head of
Department (HoD) /a Professor within the Institute as Chairman (to be decided and
nominated by the Director), Department Ph.D. coordinator (Internal Expert), All
probable supervisors from the Department, and Academic Affairs Coordinator.
d.2 The mode of selection for admission and provisional registration to the Ph.D. program
is decided by the DSC. Normally the selection is made on the basis of written test
and/or interview.
d.3 Eligible and shortlisted candidates will be called by the department for written test
and/or interview.
d.4 Allotment of research scholars to supervisor(s) will be made by the chairman (DSC),
taking into consideration the preferences of the research scholars and supervisors.
Consent of the Supervisor(s) and student is essential for the allotment. Normally, there
shall not be more than two supervisors (one is the supervisor and other is the co-
supervisor) for a research scholar. In the case of change of supervisor, the research
scholar may submit a written request to the Department Research Committee (DRC)
citing valid reasons. The DRC may recommend for change of supervisor if satisfied
with the request. The change shall be subject to the approval from the Academic Affairs
Committee (AAC).
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e. Duration of the programmes
Minimum period of registration required for Ph.D students with M.Tech. or an
equivalent qualification is 3 years. All candidates are allowed a maximum of 7 years
for submission of their thesis. After completing 5 years of registration (counting from
the time of admission to department), a candidate registered for Ph.D. will be examined
by the DRC for re-registration in order to seek extension of his/her programme and
should be approved by the DRC recommended by the DSC. Based on the
recommendations of his/her DRC the candidate may be allowed to register for not more
than 2 years.

f. Academic requirements
In order to overcome any deficiency in the breadth of fundamental training or proper
foundation for advanced work; special make up or pre-doctoral courses are to be
pursued by admitted candidates in each department. The candidate should approach the
supervisor for the courses that he/she needs to pursue. These courses should be
approved by the DRC. The course work may be completed on the basis of lectures/
self-study, as suggested by the supervisor and approved by the DRC.

g. Constitution of DRC and progress during Ph.D.

g.1 Candidate will enroll for coursework, as self-study/lectures and complete 12 credits
achieving a letter grade of at least 7.0 grade points in each course. The choice of
coursework is based on decision of the candidate's supervisor and DRC and as such is
recommended to help the candidate with preparatory work for research.
g.2 Candidate's DRC will comprise of a Chairman - usually of the rank of Professor and
preferably from the same department, Internal Expert - Area expert from the
Department, External Expert - Area expert from another department, and the
Supervisor(s).
g.3 Candidate will write a comprehensive examination, within two years of registration of
Ph.D., based on the courses approved by DRC. Candidate will have to demonstrate
satisfactory progress /performance on written examination or course viva -voce and
fulfillment of departmental norms in force for evaluation of course work from time to
time.
g.4 Candidate will present a research seminar as a part of the comprehensive examination
to the DRC. In this presentation, he/she should identify his/her problem statement,
thesis title and methodologies in the chosen problem area (s). He/she should have
preferably published at least one paper in a reputed conference. The DRC may then
approve and recommend him/her for a "Confirmation of Registration" of Ph.D. Along
with confirming the area/title of his/her proposed work by a written communication to
AAC.
g.5 Candidate will give progress seminar in each subsequent semester before the DRC,
his/her progress will be monitored with recommendations that must be effectively

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 incorporated by him/her. The DRC has to maintain adequate record of the candidate
progress and communicate the same to AAC at the end of every year.
g.6 Candidate will receive evaluation of his/her progress in each semester after registering
under the supervisor: “P” as satisfactory and “F” as not satisfactory. The DRC with
report/ comments from the members to the AAC at the end of every semester. If a
candidate gets “F” for the first time, the DRC warns the candidate and allows him/her to
proceed with the research work. In case the candidate gets “F” grade second time,
his/her case may be recommended by the DRC for termination of Ph.D. registration.
The recommendation should be forwarded in the form of report to the AAC.
g.7 Candidate may be allowed to present a pre-synopsis seminar and submit synopsis based
on the recommendations of the DRC. A pre-synopsis seminar can be allowed if he/she
has received reviews on at least one paper developed and communicated to a reputed
peer reviewed journal (preferably, SCI journal). At least one journal paper should be
accepted/ published in peer reviewed journal (preferably, SCI journal) prior to synopsis
seminar. A candidate may be allowed to repeat a pre-synopsis seminar based on the
recommendations of the DRC. In case if recommended for synopsis then, he/she must
submit the thesis within one year of successfully presenting the pre-synopsis seminar.
g.8 Based on the candidate’s performance in comprehensive and his/her research
contributions, the DRC in consultations with AAC can recommend a candidate to
submit his/ her synopsis within three years from the date of registration of Ph.D.
g.9 DRC will identify panel of minimum four examiners for the purpose of thesis
evaluation and communicate the same to AAC. This panel will comprise of names of
examiners from within and outside the country (four in each category). In each
category, it is strongly recommended that the Examiners/Reviewers be chosen from
reputed national and international Institutions. Assignment of thesis examiners and the
communication of reviews will be handled by the AAC.
g.10 The thesis defense will be decided based on the review reports received from the
examiners. The review recommendations may fall into the following categories:
 If both the reports are positive, then the viva-voce examination can be
conducted.
 If one is positive and another suggests minor revision, the candidate may be
asked to revise and send to the same reviewer provided the reviewer has asked
to send to him/her. If the reviewer has asked to revise and present in the viva
voce then the revisions should be incorporated and presented during the viva
voce. If one reviewer reports recommendation for strongly acceptance and any
other reviewer rejects, then Director’s decision is final in recommending for
viva-voce.
 If one of the reviewers gives acceptance and other reviewer/s suggest major
revisions with the suggestion to send back to him/her, the candidate should
incorporate the comments and the revised thesis should be communicated. In
case, the revised thesis also receives negative comments then the thesis can be

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 sent to the third reviewer. If the revised thesis receives further negative
comments then Director’s decision is final in recommending for viva-voce.
 If all the reviews are negative, the candidate should work and modify the thesis
and re-submit the revised thesis.

g.11 Thesis defense and viva-voce examination of the Candidate will be open to all. The
defense will be headed by Chairman DRC, DRC, Supervisor (s) and at least one
external Examiner (preferably, one of the Reviewers).

h. Reservation of Seats: As per Government norms.

i. Fees and Payments (Semester wise): As per Institute policy.

j. Financial Assistance and other support: As per Government of India norms.