PHD Guidelines Revised 2024
PHD Guidelines Revised 2024
PHD Guidelines Revised 2024
www.nims.edu.in
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Associate Dean R&P Dean
INDEX
1
Introduction 3
3 Role of the Deanery and the Academic Section with reference to the
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PhD program at NIMS
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General Rules of the PhD program at NIMS 7--15
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Rules for admission to the PhD course at NIMS 15-19
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Annexure –I (Letter of Intent) 20
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Annexure –II (Letter of Consent) 21
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Associate Dean R&P Dean
INTRODUCTION
The regulations outlined have been meticulously developed, reviewed and updated
through an open and wide discussion process, where the views of all the members
of the Committee, appointed by the Director NIMS for the purpose, have been
considered and the resulting document reflects the consensus agreement of all
members. The document has been approved and reviewed by the Dean and the
Director of the Institute as a final authority.
This document has been so detailed that it would serve as a ready reference and
represent a good minimum standard for the PhD program at NIMS, as per
recommended regulations across the country. Most importantly, time lines have
been set that would serve as a ready reckoner for the benefit of the PhD scholars.
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Associate Dean R&P Dean
Admission to the PhD Program:
Admission to the PhD program shall be made once a year preferably in the
month of July on the date notified by the Institute.
All the received applications will be scrutinized for eligibility as per the
admission rules to the PhD program.
Those who qualify in the Entrance Test shall be called for the interview.
Candidates who are qualified for the CSIR, UGC, JRF-NET, ICMR Junior
Research Fellowship (JRF), DST Inspire Fellowship are exempted from the
screening test; however, they have to appear for the interview before the
Selection Committee.
1. Director
2. Dean
3. Associate Dean (AC3)
4. External Subject Expert
5. Guide
Selected candidate may register in any notified department of the Institute for
conducting their research of interest.
The candidate has to submit to the Director a Letter of Acceptance from the
Guide (Annexure l), under whom he/she is going to conduct the PhD
project.
No stipend will be paid to the candidate from the Institute funds during the
PhD program.
The candidate shall be encouraged to apply for funding of the project to the
funding agencies through the Guide with approval of the Director, NIMS.
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Associate Dean R&P Dean
Functions of the Academic Section (AC3):
The Associate Dean (AC3), in consultation with the Dean, shall be responsible for
the administrative issues related to the conduct of the PhD program. Concerned
Academic Section (AC3) shall arrange to place details including regulations
pertaining to the PhD program on the NIMS website.
With regard to the conduct of the PhD program following are the functions of the
Academic Section (AC3):
I. Admission Process:
Arrange to issue notification in the newspapers and the Institute website
inviting applications for admission to the PhD program as per the schedule.
Receive, acknowledge and arrange for scrutiny of the applications.
Notify the date of PhD entrance test, arrange to conduct the test and furnish
stipulated timeline.
Supervise submission of thesis protocol to the respective statutory
(NIEC/SRC/DD0s/FC).
I I I . Thesis Evaluation:
Assist in the selection process of the Board of reviewers for each of the thesis
of the thesis.
I V. Public Defense:
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Associate Dean R&P Dean
Assist Constitution of the Board of Examiners for the ‘Public Defense’ of the
thesis.
Obtain suitable date for the ‘Public Defense’ from the national examiners.
Arrange to announce the public defense viva-voce to all concerned within
and outside NIMS.
Provide the evaluation report and questions from the international reviewer
of the thesis to the National examiners at the time of the public defense.
Record the minutes of the viva-voce (Doctoral Committee /Board of
examinations) and also attendance for the public defense.
Arrange for smooth conduct of the public defense and viva voce including
local hospitality to the external examiners.
V. Post Completion of the Course:
Check ‘No dues’ and payment of prescribed fee by the candidate.
Issue of Provisional certificate and final degree of PhD to the successful
candidate.
Maintain the data base of all the PhD awardees at NIMS.
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General Information
i) Having not less than eight (8) years of postgraduate teaching experience
as faculty at NIMS
ii) At least five (5) original research publications in PubMed-indexed journals
as a first/ second/corresponding author (submit proof of publications).
2.2 Co-Guide:
i) Having not less than six (6) years of postgraduate teaching experience as faculty
at NIMS
ii) At least three (3) original research publications in PubMed-indexed journals as a
first/ second/corresponding author (submit proof of publications).
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2) Scientist from NIMS with PhD qualification are eligible as Co-Guides for the
PhD program, provided they fulfill the following criteria:
i) Having not less than four (4) years of post-PhD teaching/research experience
ii) At least three (3) original research publications in PubMed-indexed journals as a first/
second/corresponding author (submit proof of publications).
3) Faculty from outside NIMS are eligible only as External ‘Co-Guides’ provided
they fulfill the following criteria:
i) Having not less than six (6) years of postgraduate teaching or postdoctoral research
experience as a faculty (submit proof from competent authority) and
ii) At least five (5) original research publications in PubMed-indexed journals as a first/
second/corresponding author (submit proof of publications).
i) Having not more than three candidates under him/her as Co-Guide, including
internal and external candidate (submit details of candidates).
ii) The faculty should seek prior permission from the Director, NIMS to act as External
Co-Guide.
NOTE:
i) Faculty of NIMS cannot act as a ‘Guide’ for external candidates (i.e registered
for PhD program in other Institutes/Universities).
ii) The Guide and Co-Guide shall not be closely related to the candidate.
As a Guide – not more than two (2) candidates registered at any point of time.
As a Co-guide - not more than three (3) candidates registered at any point of time.
ii) Faculty with no postgraduate students registered under him/her pursuing for
NMC/NBEMS approved courses can have:
iii) As a Guide-not more than five (5) candidates registered at any point of time.
iv) As a Co-guide- not more than three (3) candidates registered at any point of time.
4. Change of Guide/Co-Guide:
i) In case of non-availability of Guide (due to superannuation/resignation),
Co-Guide, from the relevant specialty, may be appointed as Guide for the
candidate by the Dean. The change of status shall be informed and permission
obtained in this regard from NIEC by the Guide.
ii) The Guide and at least one of the Co-Guide shall be able to take over each
other’s responsibilities in the event of protracted absence of any one of them to act
as a Guide.
6. Course Requirement:
90-
i) The candidate shall familiarize with the work and research projects being
conducted in the department.
ii) Decide the hypotheses and methodology of the proposed research project in
consultation with the Guide.
iii) Guide shall initiate constitution of the Doctoral Committee (DC) for the
candidate (as per Point No.2)
2) Within Six (6) months of registration –
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ii) The candidate shall prepare Protocol of the thesis related to the proposed
project work which should include:
- Objectives of the project work
- Methodology to be employed
- Review of the relevant published literature
- Lacunae in existing knowledge on the subject
- Formulation of the experimental design, with the advice of a competent
biostatistician.
iii) The candidate shall submit protocol of the thesis related to the project work
to the Institutional Scientific Research Committee (ISRC), Project
Budget Approval Committee (PBAC) and the NIMS Institutional
Ethics Committee (NIEC) and seek mandatory approval.and
committees.
Note: The candidate shall submit soft copy of the thesis for plagiarism check to the concerned
Academic Section (AC3). The thesis may be submitted for printing only after
obtaining “Plagiarism Check Certificate”.
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Associate Dean R&P Dean
8. Publication:
It is mandatory for the candidate to have at least one publication related to the
topic as first author, in a Pub-Med indexed journal before submission of the
thesis.
iii) In case during the 1 1/2 years of the registration period, the Doctoral
Committee reports to the Dean, in three consecutive reports, that the
candidate is incapable of continuing the work of the desired standard, the
Dean may then warn the candidate and give one more chance to improve
his/her work during the next six months. In case at the end of this period, the
work of the candidate is still unsatisfactory, his/her registration may be
cancelled by the Dean with the approval of the Director.
The duration of the course will be the time period from the date of registration
to submission of the thesis. The minimum period for the submission of the
thesis is
3 years and maximum period shall not exceed 5 years. However, further
extension for not more than 3 years may be given by the Dean upon
recommendation by the Doctoral Committee, explaining the need for
extension.
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examiners for thesis evaluation and viva course, to the Dean at least one month
before the expected date of submission of the thesis.
i) Two National Level Scientist
ii) One State level Scientist
iii) One internal examiner (other than Guide and Co-Guide)
3. The panel of reviewers shall include scientists who, on the basis of their
published work are acknowledged experts in the field of study undertaken by
the candidate, which should be indicated in their bio-data.
4. A copy of ‘Synopsis’ of the thesis shall be sent by the Academic Section (AC3)
to all the four external reviewers for their willingness to review the full thesis
and acceptance to act as reviewers.
5. A copy of the thesis shall be forwarded to the reviewers following their
acceptance to review the thesis in full.
6. The reviewer shall be requested to submit a detailed and critical analysis on the
thesis as per the standard evaluation proforma.
7. Their recommendations towards acceptance or rejection of the thesis with
precise reasons must be specified in the proforma.
8. If the report from an external reviewer is not received within three months, a
copy of the thesis shall be sent to another external reviewer from amongst the
panel after approval of the Dean.
i) The thesis has to be unanimously approved by all the four reviewers on the
board.
ii) In the event that the thesis is rejected by only one reviewer, it will be referred
to another reviewer from the approved panel. In case the thesis is approved
by this reviewer, it will be considered as unanimously approved.
iii) If the thesis is rejected by more than one reviewer, it will stand rejected and
shall not be referred to any other reviewer.
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Associate Dean R&P Dean
ii) The candidate shall be entitled to appear at the defense of thesis viva-voce
examination only after the ‘revised thesis’ is unanimously approved by the
Board of Reviewers for the thesis.
1. After the thesis has been unanimously approved by the board of reviewers the
candidate shall be entitled to defend the thesis at a public viva-voce
examination.
2. The viva - voce examination shall be conducted by the same reviewers, who
reviewed the thesis.
3. The External and Internal Reviewers shall be invited by the Dean to conduct
the Viva-voce on the set date at NIMS.
4. In the event of non-availability of one of the external examiners who evaluated
the thesis, another examiner from the panel will be called for the viva -voce
examination at the discretion of the Dean with the approval of the Director.
5. The topic, date and the time of the defense of thesis shall be announced
within NIMS and to the collaborating and other allied Institutes and
Organizations by the Academic Section (AC3) well in advance so that the
faculty members and scientists interested in the research project can attend
the viva.
i) The general proficiency of the candidate in the subjects related to the field
of his/her study shall be evaluated.
ii) Any faculty and scientist attending the public defense, but is not a member
of the Board of Examiners, can also participate by posing relevant
questions to the candidate.
iii) The Board of Examiners shall take into consideration the view and
criticism if any, of the faculty members and others participating in the
public defense of the thesis.
iv) However, the result of the examination shall be decided solely by the members of the
Board of Examiners.
16. Reappearance:
In case the examiners are not satisfied with the performance of the
candidate in the above examination, the candidate shall be required to
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re-appear for another viva-voce examination after a period of two months,
provided such specific recommendations are made by the Board of
Examiners.
The candidate shall be declared eligible for the award of the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy, only on the unanimous recommendation of the members of the Board of
Examiners.
ii) PhD Degree certificate shall be issued to the candidate during the next
scheduled Institute's convocation. However, the candidates can obtain the
degree certificate from the AC-3 Section before the convocation, by
remitting a prescribed fee.
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Rules for admission to the PhD Program at NIMS
1. Call for applications:
Applications to the course leading to the award of the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy at the Institute shall be made once in a year preferably in the month of
July, on the date notified by the Institute by way of advertisement.
2. Application for the PhD course:
i) Candidate shall apply for PhD in one subject only.
ii) Candidates may obtain the application forms ‘Online’ from the Institute
website www.nims.edu.in by accessing the link____________________.
iii) Duly filled applications with necessary documents as an attachment
(prescribed in the prospectus for admission) shall be uploaded on the
portal. Application fee shall be remitted online through RTGS/NEFT
(account details as mentioned in the application form).
iv) Please note that only ‘Online’ applications shall be accepted with scanned
copies of the necessary original certificates (as prescribed) to be uploaded as
an attachment. However, original certificates are required for verification
during the admission process.
v) Applications received after the prescribed date and time shall not be
considered. The Institute will not be responsible for non-receipt of
applications due to network related issues.
vi) For any further clarifications, you can contact the concerned Academic
Section (AC3) at 040-23489193 and the Associate Dean (AC3).
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Associate Dean R&P Dean
iv)MD/MS qualification recognized by the National Medical Commission
(NMC) or DNB awarded by the National Board of Examinations in Medical
Sciences (NBEMS).
4. PhD Entrance Test:
NOTE: The fee paid at the time of admission shall not be refundable under any
circumstances.
6. Closure of Admission: The admissions shall stand closed by the prescribed date
and the courses shall commence from the notified date. Due to any unforeseen
reasons if a seat falls vacant within six (6) months from the date of commencement
of the course, the candidate next in the order of merit as per the rules will be
considered for admission.
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7. Verification of Original Certificates & payment of fee at the time of
Admission – Candidates are required to submit original certificates for
verification and pay the required fee at the time of admission. Failure to submit
the required certificates or pay the fee shall render the candidate forfeit his/her
seat. The certificates, submitted at the time of admission, will remain in the
custody of the Institute till the completion of the PhD program.
8. Post admission withdrawal from the course - The candidates who are selected
and admitted to the PhD program are not permitted to withdraw from the
same after the last date as notified by the University.
10. Attendance: PhD program is a full-time course. The candidates shall register
their attendance in the biometric attendance of the institute as well as the
departmental register. The Guide shall send monthly attendance of the
candidate to the Dean for forwarding to the AC3 section without fail by the 5th
of every month.
11. Leave Eligibility - The candidates are eligible for 30 days all-purpose leave in an
academic year. The entitlement includes leave for sickness and attendance of
professional conferences etc. Maximum duration of leave permitted at a time
shall be 10 days. The balance of leave in a year, if any, shall not be carried
forward to the next academic year. The candidate is not eligible for special
casual leave during the course period.
12. Maternity Leave - Women candidates can avail maternity leave up to maximum
duration of 180 days in their period of study. The study period, however, will be
extended to the extent of maternity leave availed.
13. Extraordinary Leave – Extraordinary leave for additional periods beyond leave
eligibility will be considered in case the candidate is sick and the Institute’s
medical board considers that his/her illness requires rest.
14. Leave beyond Eligibility - In case of the candidate availing medical leave/any
other leave or un-authorized absence is beyond 30 days in a year, the course
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period of the candidate shall be extended to the extent of such period. No
other leave is permitted.
15. Cancellation of Admission – Unauthorized absence for more than one year,
unsatisfactory progress as under point no. 11(iii) (Assessment of the work of the
candidate) shall lead to cancellation of admission into the course and
re-admission is not permitted.
DIRECTOR
NIMS
SOURCE DOCUMENTS:
i) Gazette of India, July 11, 2009, University Grants Commission (minimum standards and procedures for the
awards of MPHIL /PhD degree regulation 2009)
ii) Regulations for PhD program at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
iii) Rules for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of NIMS - 2008
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Annexure – I
Letter of Intent
Date:_____________
To,
The Director
Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences,
Hyderabad
Sub: Permission to appoint External Co-guide for PhD Thesis work -Reg.
Sir,
I wish to inform you that Mr. /Ms_________________________, has joined for
PhD under my guidance. In this connection, I request you to permit to appoint
Dr._______________________ working in __________________ (department),
at ____________________________(University/Institute)____________(Place)
as Co-Guide (External), as this work requires his/her expertise.
For your kind information, he/she has accepted to be the Co-Guide (External).
Yours Sincerely,
(Dr. )
PhD Guide
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Associate Dean R&P Dean
Annexure – II
Letter of Consent
(Duly forwarded by the Head of the respective Institution)
Date:____________
To,
The Director,
Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences,
Hyderabad
Sir,
With reference to the above mentioned subject, I wish to express my willingness
to act as Co-Guide for the research project work of Mr/Ms
__________________________, leading to the award of PhD degree by the
Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad.
I further assure you that I shall supervise and extend guidance to the candidate as
Co-guide throughout the research process for the entire duration of his/her
research work.
Yours Sincerely,
(Dr. )
Name of the Institute/University: _______________________Place__________
Date:_______________
Forwarded by