Ph.D.

• Ph.D. Programme shall be for a minimum duration of three (3) years Full-time, including course work, and a maximum duration of six (6) years from the date of admission to the Ph.D. programme.
• A maximum of an additional two (2) years can be given through a process of re-registration as per the Statute / Ordinance of the University; provided, however, that the total period for completion of a Ph.D. programme should not exceed eight (8) years from the date of admission in the Ph.D. programme.

      Provided further that, female Ph.D. scholars and Persons with Disabilities (having more than 40% disability) may be allowed an additional relaxation of two (2) years; however, the total period for completion of a Ph.D. programme in such cases should not exceed ten (10) years from the date of admission in the Ph.D. programme.

• Female Ph.D. Scholars may be provided Maternity Leave/Child Care Leave for up to 240 days in the entire duration of the Ph.D. programme.

   Ph.d. Policy

The admission shall be based on the criteria notified by the institution, keeping in view the guidelines / norms in this regard issued by the UGC and other statutory / regulatory bodies concerned, and taking into account the reservation policy of the Central / State Government from time to time. Admission will be based on candidate satisfying the requirements of minimum qualifications as laid down in 2.

         AND   

        Performance in the Ph.D. Entrance Test conducted by Symbiosis Skills and Professional University, Pune which shall test their knowledge in the domain of business and management, general awareness, research methodology, mental aptitude, skill development and teaching aptitude. The test shall be computer based and objective.

• Admission to the Ph.D. programme shall be made using the following methods:

1. The University may admit students who qualify for fellowship / scholarship in UGC-NET / UGC- CSIR NET / GATE / CEED and similar National level tests based on an interview and/or;
2. The University may admit students through an Entrance Test conducted at the level of the individual the University. The Entrance Test syllabus shall consist of 50% of research methodology, and 50% shall be subject specific.
3. Students who have secured 50 % marks in the entrance test are eligible to be called for the interview.
4. A relaxation of 5% marks will be allowed in the entrance examination for the candidates belonging to SC / ST / OBC / differently-abled category, Economically Weaker Section (EWS), and other categories of candidates as per the decision of the Commission from time to time.
5. The University may decide the number of eligible students to be called for an interview based on the number of Ph.D. seats available.

• The University shall:

1. Notify a prospectus well in advance on the institution’s website specifying the number of seats for admission, subject/discipline-wise distribution of available seats, criteria for admission, the procedure for admission, and all other relevant information for the candidates;
2. Adhere to the National/State-level reservation policy, as applicable.
3. Maintain a list of Ph.D. supervisors (specifying the name of the supervisor, his or her designation, and the department/school/centre), along with the details of Ph.D. scholars (specifying the name of the registered Ph.D. scholar, the topic of his/her research and the date of admission) admitted under them on the website of the institution and update this list every academic year.

• Every candidate desirous of taking admission to the PhD programme should:
• a) apply in the prescribed format along with the fees in the institution’s website.
• b) submit a tentative research proposal of 500-1000 words along with the application and the same shall be discussed in the interview.
• c) Number of Scholars to be admitted shall be at the discretion of the university, based on the availability of the resources and academic profile of the candidates.
• d)  Preference will be given to working professionals from industry and those having interest in applied research aligned to the skill development mission of the university.
• e) All candidates selection shall be with the discretion of the university.
• f) The selection shall be made once in a year
• g) The selection will be based on the following criteria and the weightages assigned to them are as follows.

* Research Proposal will carry 30% weightage and interview will carry 10% weightage. Alignment to Industry based applied research and alignment to skill development mission of the University should be emphasised in the research proposal and presentation.

The eligibility documents must be submitted alongwith the application form or within 7 days from receipt of provisional admission letter, whichever is earlier.

a) Eligibility Documents

Certified copies of School and University degrees.

Certified copies of mark sheets or transcripts of grades obtained during the course of study for the qualifying degrees. Transcripts in languages other than Hindi and English must be submitted along with certified translations.

Copies of Work Experience Certificates (if any)

• Research Proposal (refer Clause 4(b))
• b) In addition to above, the candidate will be required to be submit an Undertaking as prescribed in the policy.
• c) All working professionals must submit NOC from their employer. (Refer Clause 3)
• d)  Faculty/employees working with Symbiosis Open Education Society/Symbiosis Skills & Professional University should obtain NOC from the management/ appointing authority before applying for PhD/higher education.

• Skill Development
• Engineering and Technology
• Management
• Public Policy, Administration & Management
• Architecture
• Beauty, Wellness & Nutrition Sciences
• Information Technology
• Science (Data Science and Computer Science)
• Media, Journalism and Communication
• Interdisciplinary Sciences

1. The student shall report to the admissions office on the appointed date and complete the registration formalities that will include filling up of the requisite forms and verification of academic and other credentials. Upon completion of the same the student will be provided with a registration number which shall be his primary identity during the program
2. The Dean Research will conduct an induction program which shall be attended by all the Research Scholars.
3. The Dean Research shall allot the candidate a guide anytime during the coursework or upon the completion of the same. The Dean Research may initially allot an academic advisor with whom the scholar shall work closely during such allotment and the arrangement will be converted to thesis supervision unless decided otherwise by the concerned.
4. The guide shall, in consultation with Dean Research, constitute the scholar’s Research Advisory Committee (RAC); during a subsequent date after the completion of the coursework.
5. The guide shall allot the course work to the student which shall be completed in the specified period obtaining the minimum required grades.
6. The scholar shall be in constant communication with the guide and shall appraise the guide of his / her academic progress and take the necessary inputs to improve the same.

The Ph.D. Program has the following four components:      

• Mandatory Course Work
• Comprehensive Examination
• Thesis Proposal Formulation
• Thesis Submission and Defense.
• Mandatory Course Work

(i) In partial fulfillment of the requirement of the PhD Program, a minimum number of Course credits are required to be earned as prescribed below. The academic calendar shall follow a semester system and each academic year will be divided into 2 semesters, in normal circumstances. The objective of the course work is to provide essential exposure to various areas of research. This basic input is followed by a series of doctoral level courses to enable the scholar to take up doctoral level independent research.

(ii) In addition to the course work the student shall undergo training/ or are expected to attend suitable MOOCs or faculty development programs (FDP) in the following areas

• Academic and Scholarly writing
• Pedagogy course in management teaching
• Course on case writing

(iii) In addition the research scholar may also undertake any course recommended by the respective guide and Research Advisory Committee (RAC) which may be beneficial to the Scholar’s area of research.

Completion of Course Work    

Scholars must finish all requirements of the courses within the term in which the courses are offered. If for any reason, one is not able to complete a module or a part of it, he will be allowed to complete the same by next year. No further extension shall be granted after 2 years and failure to complete the course work in the maximum allotted time of 2 years will lead to automatic cancellation of PhD registration. However, the program duration of three years (extendable to a maximum of 5 years) will remain as it is even in case of extension is provided for the course work.  

Comprehensive Examination   

On completion of the course work, the scholar will appear for the comprehensive examination. The comprehensive examination at the end of the first year tests whether the scholar has obtained a satisfactory level of knowledge in his/ her field of specialization and whether s/he has satisfactorily integrated the various courses taken by him/her in the area.

Thesis Proposal Formulation

After passing the comprehensive examination, the scholar enters the thesis writing stage. The scholar first develops a thesis proposal, for which s/he identifies a research topic, gives a seminar on the thesis proposal to RAC, and gets the thesis proposal approved by the RAC.

The presentation of the proposal is to be completed within 9 months of the completion of the coursework and the comprehensive evaluation (which will be conducted within 90 days of the completion of coursework). Once accepted, the thesis proposal gets frozen. The scholar will not be allowed to change the topic of research approved in the thesis proposal. However, minor changes to the title might be effected with the permission of the RAC. The scholar is expected to complete the Introduction, Literature review and the Methodology chapters of his thesis during the submission of the thesis proposal.

Thesis Submission and Defense

On approval of the thesis proposal, the scholar works closely with the RAC on his/her thesis work. When the candidate’s guide judges that the thesis is complete and meets the publication criteria, the scholar gives a seminar on the thesis work and subsequently defends the thesis orally before a thesis examination committee. The University shall appoint the research review committee, in consultation with Dean – Research, comprising the thesis guide and other members. For a thesis to be submitted for the final evaluation the scholar has to ensure high academic standards. The minimum publication requirement for thesis submission will be 2 publication in SCOPUS indexed journals. The publication has to be related to the thesis and the same has to be certified by the research guide.

Other Issues            

The respective RACs will be responsible for the monitoring of the research scholars enrolled in the area. This includes issues such as periodic performance appraisal, continuation of the fellowship, scholarship, and comprehensive examination. 

The decision of the University in matters of interpretation of the rules will be final and binding on all concerned.

Symbiosis Skills and Professional University

Syllabus for Ph.D. (PET) Entrance Test

Paper: Research Aptitude

• Fundamentals of Research:

Meaning and Objectives of Research, different types of research, characteristics of good research, framing research problem, various fundamental steps in research process, Need of research proposal and Content of research proposal.

• Research Design:

Need of research design, criteria for good research design, various types of sampling, Various types of research designs: Descriptive research design, Experimental research design, Exploratory research design, what is Hypothesis, framing different types of Hypothesis.

• Research data collection:

Types of Data (Primary Data & Secondary Data), Methods of collecting different types of data, Concept of Scale, Rating Scales: Likert Scales, Semantic Differential Scales, Constant Sum Scales, Graphic Rating Scales. Ranking Scales: Paired Comparison & Forced Ranking, normality of data.  

• Sampling Techniques:

Specifying the concept of Sampling Universe, Concept of Statistical Population, Sample, and Good Sample Characteristics. Sampling Frame, Sampling Errors, Non-Sampling Errors, and Error Reduction Techniques.

Non-probability sampling: Judgement sampling, convenience sampling, purposive sampling, and quota sampling. Sampling and snowballing techniques.

probability sampling: Simple random sampling, systematic sampling, stratified random sample, area sampling, and cluster sampling.

• Analysis of Data & Interpretation:

Importance of data analysis & Interpretation, statistical tools available for data analysis, measurement of central tendency, graphical presentation of data, concept of hypothesis testing, parametric tests, non-parametric tests.

• Preparing research report:

Concept of referencing, various styles of referencing, difference between reference and bibliography. Concept of plagiarism, plagiarism testing tools, research report ethics, structure of research report, citation and report writing.