Committee Formed To Recommend Changes In Research
A sub-committee has been set up by the Syndicate of Bharathiar University to make a comparative study of other universities and make recommendations about evaluation of Ph.D. thesis. According to Vice-Chancellor G. Thiruvasagam, the committee will look into regulating the appointment of foreign examiners to evaluate the thesis of university students. The other issue that the members will deal with is selecting research guides. “The universities in India have a practice of sending research thesis abroad for evaluation by examiners of universities there. The system needs to be streamlined,” Mr. Thiruvasagam said.
The committee would weigh certain options. Whether the system should be continued would be decided after comparing the practice in other universities with the one here. If the system of overseas evaluation were to be continued, the examiners should not be of Indian origin. The Vice-Chancellor also said that there was a point of contention regarding the overseas examiners not being aware of the Indian scenario to evaluate relevant topics.
Also, theses from overseas were not being sent to India for evaluation. “The underlying fact is that whether the thesis will be sent abroad or not, the university will ensure that it turns out to be a work of quality,” Mr. Thiruvasagam said. Regarding selection of guides, he said, instead of accepting the names of guides from the candidates, it would be selected from a common pool.
Weightage would be given to those who have published papers. The university would shortlist 20 standard Indian and international journals in which the papers of the aspiring guides should have been published. The four-member sub-committee would submit their recommendations to the Syndicate after which vital decisions regarding the above mentioned issues would be taken, Mr. Thiruvasagam said.
