HYDERABAD: Research scholars across universities are unhappy at the long time taken by external adjudicators of Ph.D theses. The University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of M.Phil./Ph.D. Degrees) Regulations, 2016 clearly mention, “The institutions shall develop appropriate methods so as to complete the entire process of evaluation of M.Phil dissertation/Ph.D thesis within a period of six months from the date of submission of the dissertation/thesis.”
Universities send two copies of a Ph.D thesis to external examiners, who are teachers at universities outside the state, sometimes even at foreign universities. However, in most of the cases, research scholars have to wait for more than the prescribed six months. One research scholar from the University of Hyderabad said, “Waiting for seven to eight months for the report of an external examiner of thesis is common. At times, the waiting time is more than that. While the foremost blame is on external examiners, sometimes universities also take a lot of time in sending thesis to external examiner. In UoH, research scholars are not allowed to stay in hostels once they submit their theses.”
A research scholar from the English and Foreign Languages University says, “External examiners take too much time in reviewing Ph.D thesis. There are cases wherein students had waited for even one year and more for viva-voce. As PhD is awarded after viva voice, the entire time a scholar spends waiting for external examiner’s report is added to the time spent on completing Ph.D. Students miss out on job opportunities where PhD is compulsory or where there are special points for those who have completed PhD. The UGC should frame strict rules on how long an examiner can take to examine a thesis.”
When contacted, Prof Battu Satyanarayana, president of OU Teachers Association, says, “The external examiners are faculty members of universities and research institutions who voluntarily agree to review a PhD thesis. They have to take time out of their schedule for the work and, as a result, the work gets delayed. The honorarium is also low. We do send reminders when the examiners delay the work too much.”
Prof Vinod Pavarala, spokesman of UoH, said, “The university sends reminders to external examiners when they take a lot of time in reviewing thesis. Sometimes, if they take too much time, the thesis is sent to someone else who is on the panel of external examiners authorised by the university. Usually, within six or seven months most of the examiners send their reports and only a few examiners take more time than that.”