NEW DELHI: With the idea to create a quality research ecosystem in India and to identify high-quality PhD work among young research scholars, the University Grants Commission plans to establish a PhD Excellence citation.The UGC, which took this decision in its meeting on October 3, has made the guidelines public for feedback.Speaking with this paper, UGC Chairperson Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar said, “This initiative is set to recognise outstanding doctoral research across various disciplines. In alignment with the National Education Policy 2020, which emphasises the creation and exploration of new knowledge as vital to India’s future, the PhD Excellence Citation is an effort to identify and commend exemplary research work in Indian universities.”UGC will award ten Ph.D. Excellence Citations – two citations from each discipline – every year on September 5, on Teacher’s Day.The need to establish such a citation was felt after the UGC conducted a study on the Ph. Ds awarded from 2011 to 2018. It found a growing trend in students opting to pursue research degrees. The study found that the total PhD admissions doubled from 77,798 in 2010-11 to 1,61,412 in 2017-18.“The implicit growth rates in these numbers show that the overall PhD admissions increased at the rate of 10 per cent per annum during the period,” the guidelines said.While the maximum research work was done in science (30 %), it was followed by engineering and technology (26%). The other topic for PhD research work was in social sciences (12%), Indian Languages (6%), management (6%), Agricultural Sciences (4%), Medical Sciences (5%), Education (5%), Commerce (3%), Foreign Languages (3%).“Innovation and creating new knowledge are essential to a country’s development. Institutions of higher learning play a crucial role in generating new knowledge and innovation. The generation of new knowledge, in turn, largely depends on the quality of doctoral degrees. As envisaged in the National Education Policy 2020, exploring new frontier knowledge is the central doctrine to make India a knowledge superpower,” the guidelines said.Research Scholars who have successfully defended their thesis in Indian universities, such as state universities, central universities, private universities, and those deemed to be universities, are eligible to apply.As per the guidelines, those universities recognised under 2(f) of the UGC Act and accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) are eligible to participate.Students can also participate. They have to upload the URL of the recommended thesis on the INFLIBNET website; necessary research Publications/Patents from the PhD work; and PhD theses awarded by UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of PhD Degree) Regulations, notified from time to time.Also, those who have obtained Ph.D. degrees through a convocation from January 1 to December 31 in a year can participate in the Ph.D. Excellence Citation.
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