Scrutiny of PhD topics, synopses gets tough

Tribune News Service

Patiala, September 4

The task of scrutiny and clearance of PhD topics and synopses would have never been so tough for deans of various faculties, heads of department and supervisors of PhD candidates, presented for their registration following their enrolment, as it was during the current meeting of the Board of Postgraduate Studies And Research (BPSAR). It was the first-ever meeting of the board, chaired by Vice-Chancellor Prof BS Ghuman, who had already given indications to the production of quality PhD works, during his first formal interaction with the deans and HoDs on the very next day of taking over of his office on August 16 last.

He pointed out and shared the ‘visible’ drawbacks and deficiencies in case of various presentations and asked them to be ‘careful’ in future while approving synopses presented in the Departmental Research Board (DRB) meetings. He advised to involve stakeholders from the market or profession to make the topics more relevant to the needs of the market and society.

Prof Ghuman also cautioned the faculty as members of the DRB to ensure their presence in the meetings to give suggestions for improving the quality of synopses. He also recommended to design a standard format for writing of synopses so that PhD candidates and their supervisors do not come up with their own different and subjective formulations. He also called upon desisting from frequently repeating the names of the same experts every time as examiners from within and outside the region also refer to the Shodh Ganga software to avoid repetition in selection of topics.