6. Supervisor for Research

Every scholar registered for the Ph.D. program shall work under the continuous supervision of a recognized Research Supervisor. For inter-disciplinary research, a co-guide may be included, if necessary.

7. Research in Inter Disciplinary Subjects

Candidates shall normally be eligible for admission to Ph.D. program in the discipline based on the candidate's Master Degree. He / She shall normally be allowed to join Ph.D., program only in that department which is named after the subject of his/her Master's Degree. It shall, however, open to a candidate to apply for admission to a doctoral programme in another discipline other than the subject in which he/she has obtained Master's Degree. When a candidate is admitted for a Ph.D. in a discipline different from his/her Master's Degree, the candidate would be given Ph.D. in that Inter-disciplinary field mentioning both the candidates' subject and the department in which he/she has done research.

8. Allocation of Research Supervisor (Eligibility criteria for Research Supervisor, co-supervisor, number of Ph.D Scholars permissible per supervisor etc.)

8.1. Any regular Professor in the Departments / Schools / Centres of VISTAS with atleast five research publications in refereed journals and any regular Associate/Assistant Professor of the VISTAS with a Ph.D. degree and atleast two research publications in refereed journals may be recognized as Research Supervisor.
Provided that in areas/disciplines where there is no or only a limited number of refereed journals, relaxation in the above condition for recognition of a person as Research Supervisor will be provided by the expert committee and the reasons will be recorded in writing.

8.2. Only a full time regular teacher of VISTAS can act as a supervisor. The external supervisors are not allowed. However, Co-Supervisor will be allowed in inter-disciplinary areas from other departments of the same institute or from other related institutions with the approval of the Research Advisory Committee.

8.3. The allocation of Research Supervisor for a selected research scholar will be decided by the Department concerned depending on the number of scholars per Research Supervisor, the available specialization among the Supervisors and research interests of the scholars as indicated by them at the time of interview/viva voce.

8.4. In case of topics which are of inter-disciplinary nature where the Department concerned feels that the expertise in the Department has to be supplemented from outside, the Department may appoint a Research Supervisor from the Department itself, who shall be known as the Research Supervisor, and a Co-Supervisor from outside the Department/ Faculty/College/Institution on such terms and conditions as may be specified and agreed upon by the consenting Institutions/Colleges.

8.5. A Research Supervisor/Co-supervisor who is a Professor, at any given point of time, cannot guide more than Eight (8) Ph.D. scholars. An Associate Professor as Research Supervisor can guide up to a maximum of six (6) Ph.D. scholars and an Assistant Professor as Research Supervisor can guide up to a maximum of four (4) Ph.D. scholars.

8.6. In case of relocation of Ph.D. woman scholar due to marriage or otherwise, the research data shall be allowed to be transferred to the institution/University to which the scholar intends to relocate provided all the other conditions in these regulations are followed in letter and spirit and the research work does not pertain to the project secured by the parent institution/ supervisor from any funding agency. The scholar will however give due credit to the parent guide and the institution for the part of research already done.

8.7. The Research Supervisors, serving as teachers, would be permitted to register candidates up to the age of 65years.

8.8. The faculty members who are desirous of getting themselves recognized as Research Supervisors must apply to the office of Dean-Academic Research, VISTAS in the prescribed application form, along with required documents for obtaining recognition. The Institution reserves the right to accept or reject the applications for recognition as Research Supervisors. Such recognition shall normally be given only for the subject in which the individual has obtained his/her doctoral degree, and after getting the opinion of an expert committee in the discipline concerned nominated by the Vice-Chancellor. Further, a faculty member already recognized as a Research Supervisor in the field in which he/she has obtained his/her doctoral degree, but working as a regular member of faculty in a different but related Department, can guide scholars for Ph.D. in the discipline of the Department only and need not obtain recognition again as a Research Supervisor for this purpose.

8.9. A supervisor shall not guide his/her immediate or close relative and to this effect he/she shall furnish a declaration.

8.10. The Supervisor shall declare the number of candidates (details of name, registration, date of provisional registration etc.) currently registered with him/her at the time of registration of each new candidate.

8.11. While assessing the number of vacancies under a supervisor, the actual submission of the thesis by the candidate registered shall be taken into account.

8.12. The number of candidates for Research Supervisors who are Eminent Scientists or great academicians can be increased at the discretion of the Vice-Chancellor of VISTAS. However, the same shall be submitted to Board of Research Studies (BoRS) for approval.

8.13. If any Research Supervisor resigns his/her job and leaves VISTAS, the Ph.D candidates under his/her supervision has to be re-allocated to another Research Supervisor(s), in the same department of VISTAS.

8.14. In confirmation to the UGC Regulations, VISTAS do not approve any persons as external supervisors.

8.15. If a Supervisor is found to involve in plagiarism, moral turpitude with fraudulent academic accomplishments and other activities prejudicial to the reputation of the Institution, etc., his/her the recognition of ‘Research Supervisor’ will be summarily withdrawn without assigning any reason thereof.

9. Change of Supervisor and Transfer of Scholars

9.1. Transfer of Ph.D. Scholars from one supervisor to another supervisor serving within the department(s) of VISTAS can be effected, if mutual willingness is given by both the original and the proposed supervisors.

9.2. In case, change of supervisor or transfer of candidate is proposed without the consent of any one of the parties concerned, the matter shall be referred to the Board of Research Studies, whose decision shall be final.

9.3. The supervisors who wish to avail leave / lien / deputation beyond a period of six months shall nominate co-guides in the subject concerned for the candidates registered with them and the fact should be intimated to the authorities, in advance for approval.

10. Course Work Examination and Evaluation

10.1. Every candidate provisionally registered for the Ph.D. program shall undergo a coursework in the first year and submit himself / herself to written and oral examinations to be conducted by the doctoral committee. The course work consists of the following:

* Exempted for candidates completed M.Phil programme.
# Applicable only for candidates provisionally registered for Ph.D under Faculty of Engineering.

A candidate who is approved by the Research Advisory Committee (RAC), on the basis of these examinations will be registered as a candidate for the Ph.D. Degree thereafter confirming his/her provisional registration. He/ She shall be permitted to proceed with his/her research work and submit the thesis at the expiry of the minimum total period of research prescribed after provisional registration. The research work of the candidates possessing M.Phil qualifications will be subject to monitoring by the RAC as in the case of other candidates and they are exempted from writing Paper: I in the above mentioned course work examination. However, they have to appear for the Paper-II & III The candidates provisionally registered for Ph.D under faculty of Engineering alone have to write an additional paper ( Paper: IV).

10.2. Grades in the course work, including research methodology courses shall be finalized after a combined assessment by the Research Advisory Committee and the Department and the final grades shall be communicated to the candidate.

10.3. The Ph.D. scholar has to obtain a minimum of 55% of marks or its equivalent grade in the UGC 7-point scale (or an equivalent grade/CGPA in a point scale wherever grading system is followed) in the course work in order to be eligible to continue in the programme and submit the dissertation/thesis.

11. Cancellation of Ph.D Registration

In case of candidates who do not possess a M.Phil Degree, who have not taken the above course work examination and the minutes of the meeting of the Research Advisory Committee for them are not forwarded to the University for confirmation of provisional registration on completion of one year of provisional registration their registration shall be cancelled by the VISTAS.

In case of recommendation for cancellation of the registration by the supervisor, the candidates shall be intimated about the grounds on which the registration is being proposed for cancellation.

Candidates fail to pay the prescribed research fee every year, by default the registration stays cancelled.

In case of any representation from the candidate, the matter shall be referred to then Board of Research Studies, which may either suggest cancellation or change of supervisor depending upon the merit of the case. The decision of the Board of Research studies shall be final.

12. Research Advisory Committee and its Functions

12.1. The Research Supervisor will propose a panel consisting of 4 members; those are expert in the topic of Research of the candidate, out of which two members will be appointed as members of the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) for a Ph.D., Scholar. The nominated members in the panel for RAC should be:

12.2. The Head of the School/Department concerned himself/herself or a senior faculty authorized by him/her will act as Research Co-ordinator to facilitate the conduct of RAC meetings in their Department/School. The Research Supervisor of the scholar will be the Convener of this Committee. The Committee will be constituted by the Research Supervisor for each candidate. It is mandatory that all the members of RAC must be present during the conduct of each RAC meetings and before the committee the candidate has to present the details of the research work.

12.3. The following are the responsibilities of the Committee: To review the research proposal and finalize the topic of research To guide the research scholar to develop the study design and methodology of research and identify the course(s) that he/she may have to do. To periodically review and assist in the progress of the research work of the research scholar.

12.4. In case the progress of the research scholar is unsatisfactory, the Research Advisory Committee shall record the reasons for the same and suggest corrective measures. If the research scholar fails to implement these corrective measures, the Research Advisory Committee may recommend to the Institution with specific reasons for cancellation of the registration of the research scholar.

12.5. In case the progress of the research scholar is unsatisfactory, the Research Advisory Committee shall record the reasons for the same and suggest corrective measures. If the research scholar fails to implement these corrective measures, the Research Advisory Committee may recommend to the Institution with specific reasons for cancellation of the registration of the research scholar.

13. Submission of Synopsis

The candidate is permitted to submit the synopsis of the thesis at least three months prior the submission of thesis, however the submission of thesis is permitted only after the completion of minimum duration of course indicated in clause 2.2 of this regulation.

13.1. Completed course work and Earned eight credits, if he/she had completed M.Phil degree
Or

Earned twelve credits in Arts and Science streams, if he/she had NOT completed M.Phil degree

Earned sixteen credits in Engineering streams

13.2. Published at least two papers in SCOPUS/ SSCI/SCI/WoS indexed journals and produce evidence for the same in the form of reprints.

13.3. Presented at least two papers in conferences and produce evidence for the same in the form of presentation certificates and/or reprints.

13.4. Cleared all the fee dues to the institution

13.5. Prepared a draft thesis as per the specifications in clause (14.1a)
The presentation can be conducted after receiving a formal approval from the office of Dean - Academic Research. An e.mail request along with the consent of the Research co-ordinator and Dean/Director/HOD of the concerned department may be submitted by the Research Supervisor to the Dean - Academic Research at least 7 workings days before the proposed date.
Prior to the submission of the synopsis, the scholar shall make a presentation in the Department before the Research Advisory Committee of the Institution which is also be open to all faculty members and other research scholars. The feedback and comments obtained from them may be suitably incorporated into the draft thesis and in the synopsis, in consultation with the Research Advisory Committee.
The Synopsis approved by the Research Advisory Committee(6 copies) not exceeding 10 printed pages in 12 font size of Verdana/Times New Roman in 1.5 line spacing (one side only of A4 size) along with a soft copy (in Compact Disc).

After approval of the synopsis by the RAC, the Research Supervisor shall certify that,

• a) The research scholar has submitted the draft copy the entire thesis for correction and he/she is permitted to submit the synopsis.
• b) The Research scholar has published as the first author two articles in SCOPUS /SSCI/SCI indexed journal on or before the submission of the synopsis / thesis (of which atleast one of them should be in SSCI/SCI indexed journal with impact factor). There-print of the articles (duly certified by the Research Supervisor and IQAC Coordinator) should be enclosed.

The Research Supervisor have to submit a panel of examiners under 3 different category viz., a) Foreigners b) Outside Tamilnadu c) within Tamilnadu, each category consisting of 3 examiners, to evaluate the thesis dully signed by Supervisor in a separately sealed cover. Foreign examiners can be excluded for the Indian Languages like Tamil, Hindi etc. The above mentioned documents have to be submitted by the supervisor to the office of Dean-Academic Research, and the same will be forwarded to the office of Controller of Examinations.

14. Submission of Thesis

14.1 A research scholar is allowed to submit thesis, fulfilling the following condition:

• (a) After 3months and within 6 months from the date of submission of synopsis, provided he / she has completed the minimum duration of research(in clause 2.2). The Ph.D. synopsis and thesis in general should be submitted in English except for Language subjects where the thesis can be in that language.
  The Research Scholar have to submit 3 copies of the thesis in book form (printed on one side of A4 size sheet in 12 font size of Verdana/ Times New Roman with 1.5 line spacing) after getting the thesis approved and signed by the Research Supervisor and forwarded by the concerned Head of the Department /Dean/Director of the School concerned.

• (b) Thesis should contain (i) the declaration by the candidate and (ii) certificate by the research supervisor and co-supervisor (if any) with regard to the originality of the thesis work.(iii) certificate of Dean/Director of the School/ HOD of the department where the research work has been carried out.

• (c) List of publications/paper presentations and their reprints/certificate of presentation should be included in the thesis at the end.

• (d) The doctoral candidate shall also submit the Plagiarism Report tested by the authorized co-ordinators in their respective Department/ School of VISTAS, using the licensed version of the software provided to them by VISTAS (duly certified by the research supervisor and IQAC Coordinator) along with the thesis (Not to be included in the thesis) and it should not exceed 10%.

• (e) A soft copy in a CD containing the contents of the full thesis and supplementary materials, like reprints of published papers, etc. should also be submitted along with the thesis.

After verification and confirming the above items, the candidate will be permitted to pay the thesis submission fee. A copy of the chellan of the submission fee paid has to be submitted along with the thesis to the office of the Dean-Academic Research. The submitted thesis will be forwarded to the office of Controller of Examinations for further processing.

14.2 The Board of Research Studies may permit a candidate to submit the thesis earlier by a period of not exceeding six months provided such request for earlier submission from the candidate is accompanied by

• (a) The recommendation of the Research Advisory Committee for relaxation based on the satisfactory completion of research work for the thesis topic with evidence that the candidate has been working consistently even prior to his/her provisional registration for the Ph.D degree on the topic of research

• (b) Evidence of having completed the required work for the thesis by way of at least four publications in the topic of Ph.D. research in SSCI/SCI-SCOPUS indexed journal.

• (c) Any other relevant information and evidence in support of his /her request.

14.3. For each extension of time to complete the research work, the scholar has to apply for the same in writing and pay an additional fee. No candidate shall be permitted to submit his / her thesis after the completion of the maximum permissible period.

15. Panel of Examiners

The Research Supervisor should also submit the Phone numbers and e-mail ID of the examiners for enhancing the communication of the office of Controller of Examination with the examiner.

The Research Supervisor shall provide a certificate stating that all the examiners suggested are experts and qualified to adjudicate the thesis. If the acceptance is not received from the first panel, the Controller of Examinations shall call for an additional panel of 6 names from the Research Supervisor as the case may be. NB: The following are the basic criteria for inclusion of examiners in the panel for evaluation of thesis

• 1. Should be a person actively engaged in research that is relevant to the entitled thesis./p>

• 2. Should have sufficient experience in the specified area of research to be able to judge the quality of the research and the thesis.

• 3. Should not be a recent or current collaborator of the supervisor (or the student).

16. Adjudication of the Thesis

16.1. The thesis shall be referred by the institution for evaluation to a Board of examiners, consisting of 3 experts of whom one expert shall be from outside India and another expert from within India, but outside Tamilnadu (subject to the Regulation)and third one shall be the Research Supervisor.

16.2. In the case of titles and subjects where Indian Examiners are more suitable, the Vice-Chancellor may appoint both the external examiners within India.

16.3. As soon as the synopsis and panel of examiners are received, the Office of Controller of Examinations shall take steps to fix the board of examiners.

16.4. Each examiner appointed by the VISTAS to adjudicate the thesis shall be requested to send his/her report within 2 months from the date of receipt of thesis to the Controller of Examinations.

16.5. The report of the examiner should include:

• A detailed report with a critical survey of the work carried out by the candidate as expressed in the thesis.


• A definite recommendation as to whether the thesis attains the standard for Ph.D degree or not.


• Questions, if any, to be asked or points to be clarified at the public viva-voce Examination.

If all the three examiners have recommended the award of Ph.D. Degree, the candidate shall be permitted to attend the viva-voce Examination. The date of viva-voce examination will be fixed by the Research Supervisor in consultation with the viva-voce Examiner. If one of the examiners gives a definite recommendation against the award of the Degree, the thesis will be referred to a fourth examiner of the same category for adjudication. In total, if two examiners give definite recommendations against the award of the Degree, the thesis will be rejected. The report of the two examiners on the thesis as received by the Controller of Examinations will be sent to the supervisor concerned for consolidating the reports and then the supervisor concerned may send all the three reports including the report of the supervisor along with the proforma for adjudication of all the three together with a consolidated report to the Controller of Examinations.

16.6. The public viva-voce of the research scholar to defend the dissertation/thesis shall be conducted only if the evaluation report(s) of the external examiner(s) on the dissertation/thesis is/are satisfactory and include a specific recommendation for conducting the viva-voce examination. If one of the evaluation reports of the external examiner in case of Ph.D. thesis, is unsatisfactory and does not recommend viva-voce, the Controller of Examinations shall send the thesis to another external examiner out of the approved panel of examiners and the viva-voce examination shall be held only if the report of the latest examiner is satisfactory. If the report of the latest examiner is also unsatisfactory, the thesis shall be rejected and the research scholar shall be declared ineligible for the award of the degree.

17. Re-submission of Thesis

A candidate whose Thesis has not been commended for the award of degree may be permitted to resubmit the thesis on second occasion within a period of one year from the date of declaration of results with a specific statement from the candidate and supervisor concerned about the additional research work carried out and revision done in the thesis. The resubmitted thesis shall be referred to the same examiner(s) concerned who have originally valued the thesis for re-evaluation.

18. Public Viva-Voce

18.1. A Public viva-voce examination shall be arranged if all the examiners who adjudicated the thesis have recommended the award of the Degree.

18.2. The public Viva-voce examination shall be normally conducted in the place where the Research Scholar has carried out his / her Ph.D. research by a two member board viz., guide and external examiner. A change in place could be considered if necessary with the approval of the Vice- Chancellor.

18.3. In the case of Research scholars under categories of full- time & part-time, one of the members of the Board for conducting Public Viva-voce shall be the supervisor who will also be the Convener of the Board. The other member shall be chosen by the Vice- Chancellor from a panel of names of three examiners proposed by the Research Supervisor.
The viva-voce examination shall be open to be attended by Members of the Research
Advisory Committee, all faculty members of the Department, other research scholars and other interested experts/researchers.

18.4. The Viva-voce shall primarily be designed to test the understanding of the scholar on the subject matter of the thesis of the competence in the general field of study. The scholar shall be asked to make a brief presentation before the audience and when all the questions raised by the examiners and the audience are answered he/she would be declared to have passed the Viva-voce examination.

18.5. A pass in the Viva-voce is compulsory. If a scholar fails in the examination, he/she shall be allowed to re-appear before a panel constituted for this purpose by the Vice Chancellor once again after 3 months from the date of the first Viva-voce. If he/she fails again, his/her thesis for the award of the Ph.D. degree will be rejected.

19. Consolidated Recommendation

If the candidate passes the viva-voce, the viva-voce board shall consolidate the recommendations for the award of the Degree based on the following:

19.1. The reports of the examiners who adjudicated the thesis and

19.2. The evaluation of the candidate's performance in the viva- voce examination. The Board shall then forward the minutes of the viva-voce examination with the signatures of the external examiner and the supervisor mentioning the performance of the candidate in the viva-voce with regard to the answers provided for the questions posed and the answers provided by the candidate and classifying the thesis as "Highly commended /commended" to the Controller of Examinations, along with the list of participants with their addresses and signatures. For placing the thesis under the "Highly Commended" category, it should have been so recommended by all the examiners.

20. Certificate of Research Degree

Each candidate and the Supervisor shall furnish a certificate in the thesis that the thesis submitted is a record of research work done by the candidate during the period of study under the Research Supervisor and that the thesis has not been submitted earlier for the award of any Degree anywhere. If the thesis forms a part of any previous research Degree it must be spelt out accordingly (Candidates who are permitted to do research work without a Research Supervisor shall also submit a certificate to this effect).

21. Depository with Inflibnet

Following the successful completion of the evaluation process and before the announcement of the award of the Ph.D. degree(s), the Institution concerned shall submit an electronic copy of the Ph.D thesis to the INFLIBNET, for hosting the same so as to make it accessible to the public.

22. Issue of Provisional Certificate

The provisional Certificate shall include a certification that the Ph.D. degree has been awarded in accordance with the provision of the UGC regulations.

23. Fee to be Paid

Fee is to be paid at the time of admission and subsequently the research scholars have to pay the Research, Internet & Library fees in the starting of every year till submission of thesis. As on July 2020.

23.1 Fees Structure for Ph.D. program per year

Fees Structure for Ph.D. program per year

23.2 Late Submission of Thesis

24. Applicability of the Provision

These regulations will come into effect from July 2016 session. However, in the case of candidates registered for the Ph.D. programme prior to July 2016, the previous regulations with appropriate modifications shall be applicable wherever necessary.

25. Publication of the Thesis

A thesis, whether approved or not, shall not be published in full without the permission of VISTAS and the Vice-chancellor may grant permission for the publication under such conditions as it may impose; Provided that a candidate may during the course of his/her research, publish papers in standard and research journals, as advised by his/her Supervisor, but the thesis as a whole shall not be published without obtaining permission of the competent authorities mentioned supra. Permission for publication of the thesis should be obtained only after the award of degree.

26. Power to Modify

Notwithstanding all that has been stated above, the Board of Research Studies has the right to modify any of the above Regulations from time to time and recommend the same to the Academic Council for approval.