Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Ph.D. Programme shall be for a minimum duration of three (3) years, including coursework, 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 procedure; 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.

The admission shall be based on the criteria notified by SSPU, 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 from time to Admission will be based on candidate satisfying the requirements of minimum qualifications as laid down in this policy.

AND

Performance in the Ph.D. Entrance Test conducted by Symbiosis Skills and Professional University, Pune. The test shall be computer-based and shall contain multiple-choice questions.

• Admission to the Ph.D. programme shall be made using the following methods:
  1. SSPU 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. SSPU may admit students through an Entrance Test conducted at the University level. The Entrance Test syllabus shall consist of 50% of research methodology, and 50% shall be faculty/subject specific. The entrance test shall consist of multiple-choice questions for 100 marks (50 marks for each section of Research Aptitude and faculty/subject-specific).
  3. Students who have secured 50% or more 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 number of Scholars to be admitted shall be at the discretion of SSPU, based on the availability of the resources and academic profile of the
  6. Provided that for the selection of candidates based on the entrance test conducted by the SSPU, a weightage of 70 % for the entrance test and 30 % for the performance in the interview/viva-voce shall be given.
  7. SSPU may decide the number of eligible students to be called for an interview based on the number of Ph.D. seats available.
  8. The final merit list for admission shall be declared on the basis of the weightages given to different criteria in this policy.
  9. Admission to a Ph.D. in any faculty shall be subject to the availability of Research Supervisor(s) in the relevant field.
  10. Based on the merit lists and a number of seats, candidates shall be provisionally admitted to the program. After payment of the prescribed fees by the due date, provisional admission would be communicated to the student by the PhD cell.
• SSPU shall
  1. Notify well in advance on its website specifying the number of seats for admission, subject/discipline-wise distribution of available seats, expected areas/domains in which research is expected, 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
  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 and update this list every academic year.
• The supporting documents at the time of admission will consist of:

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

• Other Documents (if any)

1. Copies of Work Experience Certificates (if any)
2. Research Proposal as per the prescribed format in the Ph.D. policy

• In addition to above, the candidate will be required to submit an Undertaking as prescribed in the policy.

1. All working professionals must submit a NOC from their employer. ( as per prescribed format in the Ph.D. policy)
2. Faculty members /employees working with Symbiosis Open Education Society/Symbiosis Skills & Professional University should obtain NOC from the management/ appointing authority before applying for a Ph.D.

Areas of research specializations:

• Skill Development
• Industrial Automation
• Robotics
• Industry 4.0
• E-Mobility
• Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
• Cyber Security
• Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
• Data Science
• Nutrition and Dietetics

1. The selected 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 provisionally admitted and be provided with a registration number which shall be his primary identity during the program
2. The Dean/Director Research will conduct an induction program which shall be attended by all the Research Scholars.
3. The Dean/Director Research shall allot the candidate a guide anytime during the coursework or upon the completion of the same. The Dean/Director 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/Director Research, constitute the scholar’s Research Advisory Committee (RAC), during a subsequent date after the completion of the coursework.
5. The supervisor shall allot the course work to the student which shall be completed in the specified period obtaining the minimum required grades.
6. Research Scholars who undergo Course Work shall submit a Research Proposal, duly recommended by the Research Supervisor(s) within the period specified.
7. Research Scholars who have been exempted from Ph.D. Course Work shall submit a Research Proposal within six months of the date of provisional admission, duly recommended by the Research Supervisor(s).
8. In case of non-submission of the Research Proposal within the prescribed period, the Research Scholar may apply for extension. The Dean of the concerned Faculty or Ph.D. cell, on the recommendation of Research Supervisor(s) may grant an extension for a maximum period given in this policy according to the full-time or part-time status of the student. If the candidate fails to submit the Research Proposal even during the extension period, the provisional admission shall be cancelled.
9. The Research Proposal to be presented before the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) shall consist of the following:

• Introduction depicting the need and relevance of the proposed work towards skill development
• Possibilities of IPR generation and innovations from the study
• Review of the literature
• Scope and statement of the problem
• Objectives of the study
• Research questions and Hypotheses (if applicable),
• Methodology, tools, and techniques
• Schedule of the proposed work

10. The Research Scholar shall submit 6 copies of the Research Proposal to the University.
11. The Research Scholar shall make a presentation of the Research Proposal to the Research Advisory Committee (RAC). The presentations of the Research Proposals shall be organized in the University.
12. The RAC shall give one of the following recommendations after the presentation of the Research Proposal:

• Approved
• Approved with minor modifications
• To be resubmitted and presented after major modifications
• Not approved

In case of (a) and (b), the date of the confirmation of registration shall be the date of the presentation, provided the Research Scholar submits the revised proposal through the Research Supervisor and the Dean of the concerned Faculty within 15 days of presentation (in case of (b)). In case of (c) a maximum period of six months may be granted by the RAC for the resubmission of the proposal. The registration will be effective from the date of the subsequent presentation. In case of (d) the provisional admission shall be cancelled.

13. The title and the Research Proposal will be finalized by the RAC.
14. The recommendations of the RAC shall be forwarded to the Research and Recognition Committee (RRC).
15. This must be noted that the approval given by the Research Advisory Committee to the research proposal of the scholar leads to the confirmation of Ph.D. registration of the scholar and happens much later than the provisional admission given after the payment of the admission fee (after getting shortlisted for the admission).
16. The scholar shall be in constant communication with the guide and shall apprise the guide of his / her academic progress and take the necessary inputs to improve the

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

• Course Work
• Comprehensive Assessment and  Mid-Review Presentation
• Thesis Proposal Formulation and pre-submission presentation
• Thesis Submission and Defense Viva-voce

Course Work

In partial fulfillment of the requirement of the Ph.D. Program, a minimum number of Course credits are required to be earned as prescribed below. The objective of the course work is to provide essential exposure to various areas of This basic input is followed by a series of doctoral level courses to enable the scholar to take up doctoral level independent research.

• 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
• 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.

(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.