In a move aimed at improving research standards, the Centre for Research (CFR), Anna University, has issued a circular requiring the inclusion of an external subject expert during the confirmation of provisional registration of PhD scholars in all affiliated colleges.
According to the circular, issued by M Kanthababu, director, CFR, and addressed to all supervisors and research scholars, any Doctoral Committee (DC) meeting held to confirm provisional registration must now include one external subject expert if none of the existing DC members belong to centrally-funded institutions such as IITs, NITs, IIITMs, IIMs or other centrally-funded universities, or from Anna University and its regional campuses. The external expert must be of the rank of associate professor or professor and be sourced preferably from these institutions. The provision is effective immediately from October 27.
Varsity officials said the move will help in enhancing the quality of research work of PhD scholars.
PhD scholars are presently given confirmation almost a year after registration, after the DC approves their research topic, and the external expert is included only during thesis submission.
A faculty member said that, as per the current practice, the DC members can be from the university, although it is not compulsory. They can also be from affiliated colleges of the university or research laboratories.
The supervisor is instructed to propose a panel of three external experts via their login on the CFR website, and the faculty chairperson of Anna University will select one from the panel and inform the supervisor, the circular said.
The DC meeting must be held offline (in-person), and the external member, along with other DC members, will critically assess the scholar’s progress and make a recommendation on whether provisional registration should be confirmed. In cases where a scholar’s performance is deemed unsatisfactory, they may be permitted to repeat the evaluation within three months, provided the overall confirmation process is completed within the stipulated period, it added.
