JNU introduces paperless PhDs

JNU introduces paperless PhDs

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:16.06.2020

Are you a PhD scholar or an MPhil student at Jawaharlal Nehru University? Then you will no longer have to submit a printed copy of your thesis/ dissertation or wait for a long time for the final result.

Introducing far-reaching changes in the way MPhil and PhD theses are evaluated, JNU recently decided to ask scholars to submit their theses via email as PDF documents and get the work evaluated in a time-bound manner. Even vivavoce will be conducted online. The examiners will get auto-reminders about the dates and in case of a delay, the task will be passed on to the next examiner.

Close to 55% of the 8,800 JNU students are MPhil/PhD scholars. Research itself is a time-consuming process requiring a scholar to collect and analyse data/information before writing and submitting the dissertation. Till now even after the physical submission, hard copies were sent by post to external examiners who usually took from six months to a year to submit their reports. This was followed by vivavoce, the final academic condition a scholar needs to fulfil for the degree.

Vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar said, “The process used to take almost eight months to more than a year for various reasons. But now with the new process, we aim to complete this evaluation process, including the viva-voce, in a few months, but not exceeding six months.”

JNU has decided to come out with a timeline for every step in the process of evaluation and viva-voce. As a first step, the university has switched to the submission of soft copies. Auto-reminders will be sent to ensure that the thesis report is submitted within the specified deadline. Examiners can also email their evaluation reports. For viva-voce, videoconferencing tools will be used to enable the examiner, candidate and the research committee members participate remotely in the process.

“We hope that because of the elimination of all paperwork and the need for physical presence during evaluation, the research scholars will now be able to complete their evaluation process smoothly and efficiently,” said Kumar.

As per the timeline, a school/special centre will upload a thesis/dissertation and a system-generated SMS will go to the designated examiner within seven days. If the examiner doesn’t give consent within seven days, the same will be passed on to the next examiner and within six weeks from the date of receipt of consent, the evaluation report will have to be emailed back. Viva-voce will have to be completed within a month of the school/centre receiving the report.

VICE-CHANCELLOR SAYS

We hope that because of the elimination of all paperwork and the need for physical presence, research scholars will be able to complete the evaluation smoothly