Ph.D. in Commerce

• A candidate shall be eligible for admission to the Ph.D. programme, if she/ he has a Master’s degree or a professional degree declared equivalent to the Master’s degree by the corresponding statutory regulatory body, with at least 55% marks in aggregate or its equivalent grade ‘B’ in the UGC’s 7-point scale (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever the grading system is followed), or an equivalent degree from a foreign educational institution accredited by an assessment and accreditation agency which is approved, recognised or authorised by an authority, established or incorporated under a law in its home country or any other statutory authority in that country for the purpose of assessing, accrediting or assuring quality and standards of educational institutions.
• A relaxation of 5% of marks, from 55% to 50%, or an equivalent relaxation of grade, may be allowed for those belonging to SC/ ST/ OBC (non-creamy layer)/ differently-abled and other reserved categories of candidates as per the decision of the University Grants Commission (UGC) from time to time, or for those who had obtained their Master’s degree prior to 19^th September, 1991. The eligibility marks of 55% (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed) and the relaxation of 5% to the categories mentioned above are permissible based only on the qualifying marks without including the grace mark procedures.
• Candidates possessing Degree considered equivalent to M.Phil. Degree of an Indian institution or from a foreign educational institution accredited by an assessment and accreditation agency which is approved, recognised or authorised by an authority, established or incorporated under a law in its home country or any other statutory authority in that country for the purpose of assessing, accrediting or assuring quality and standards of educational institutions, shall be eligible for admission to Ph.D programme.
• A person, whose M.Phil. dissertation has been evaluated in ASBM University and the viva voce is pending, may be admitted to the Ph.D. programme of the University.

• A candidate desirous of pursuing Ph.D. programme under ASBM University shall apply in the prescribed format. A candidate in regular service should submit a “No Objection Certificate” from the employer.
• Selection for admission shall be done through a two-stage process, viz.,
• Written entrance test called ASBM Research Aptitude Test (ASBM-RAT),

• Interview/ Viva-voce.
  • Fifty percent of the questions for ASBM-RAT shall be from research methodology, while the rest shall be subject specific. The qualifying marks for ASBM-RAT shall be 50%.
  • Candidates qualified in the UGC-NET (including JRF) / UGC-CSIR NET (including JRF) / SET / SLET / GATE or passed M.Phil. or holding Teacher-fellowship are exempt form ASBM-RAT.
  • All candidates qualifying ASBM-RAT (with minimum 50% of marks in the test), and those exempted from ASBM-RAT as above, shall appear for interview/ viva-voce to discuss their research interest/ area through a presentation before the School Research Committee (SRC). The interview/ viva-voce shall consider the following aspects:
• (a) whether the candidate possesses the competence for the proposed research;
• (b) whether the research work can be undertaken at the University; and
• (c) whether the proposed area of research can contribute to new/ additional knowledge;
  • For selection of candidates, weightage of 70% shall be given to the qualifying test (i.e., ASBM-RAT or UGC-NET or UGC-CSIR NET or SET or SLET or GATE or M.Phil. or Teacher-fellowship test, as the case may be) and 30% to performance in the interview/ viva-voce, and the final merit list shall be notified after approval by the Vice-Chancellor.
  • The selected candidates shall thereafter be admitted to the Ph.D. programme on payment of the prescribed fee.

• Only a full-time regular teacher of the University can act as a Supervisor. The external supervisors are not allowed. However, Co-Supervisor can be allowed in inter-disciplinary areas from outside the University on recommendation by the SRC.
• A regular Professor of the University with at least five research publications, a regular Associate Professor/ Assistant Professor with a Ph.D. degree and at least two research publications in refereed journals/ UGC approved journals may be recognised as Research Supervisor.
• A Supervisor/ Co-supervisor who is a Professor cannot guide at any given point of time more than eight (8) Ph.D. research scholars. An Associate Professor as Supervisor can guide up to a maximum of six (6) research scholars at a time and an Assistant Professor as Supervisor can guide up to four (4) research scholars at a time.
• Allocation of Supervisor for a research scholar shall be decided by the SRC, with the approval of the Vice-Chancellor, depending on the number of scholars per Supervisor, the available specialisation among the Supervisors and research interests of the scholars as indicated by them at the time of interview/ viva-voce.
• In case of relocation of a woman scholar due to marriage or otherwise, the research data shall be allowed to be transferred to the University to which the scholar intends to relocate provided all the other conditions in this policy are followed in letter and spirit and the research work does not pertain to the project secured by the University/ the Supervisor from any funding agency. The scholar will however give due credit to the parent Supervisor and the University for that part of research already done.
• If a research scholar desires to change the Supervisor/ Co-Supervisor or include a Co-Supervisor, she/ he shall submit an application along with the consent of the proposed Supervisor/ Co-Supervisor, a certified draft research proposal and a “No Objection Certificate” from the existing Supervisor/ Co-Supervisor, and pay the requisite fee. In case of disability/ death of a Supervisor / Co-Supervisor, the scholar shall propose the name of an alternate Supervisor / Co-Supervisor from her/ his area of research with the consent of the proposed Supervisor. In both the cases, the request for change/ addition shall be recommended by the SRC and shall be placed before the Vice Chancellor for approval.

• There shall be a Research Advisory Committee (RAC) for each research scholar with the following members, viz.,

1. The Supervisor of the research scholar, who shall be the Convenor;
2. The Co-Supervisor, if any;
3. Two faculty members of the School (One, if there is a Co-Supervisor) having doctorate degree to be nominated by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor.
   • The RAC shall have the following responsibilities –
4. To review the research proposal and finalise the topic of research;
5. 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;
6. To periodically review and assist in the progress of the research work of the research scholar.

• After registration into the Ph.D. Programme, every research scholar is required to undertake research work under the guidance and monitoring of her/ his Supervisor(s).
• Every research scholar shall submit half-yearly progress reports to the RAC and shall appear before it to make a presentation of the progress in her/ his research work for evaluation and further guidance. The RAC shall review such reports and then submit, with its comments, if any, to the SRC for consideration.
• In case the progress of the research scholar is not satisfactory, the RAC shall record the reasons for the same and suggest corrective measures. If the research scholar fails to implement these corrective measures, the RAC may recommend to the SRC with specific reasons for cancellation of the registration of the research scholar.
• The research scholar shall present a seminar in the School on her/ his research at the completion of each year after her/ his registration till submission of the dissertation.
• Every research scholar shall publish at least one (1) research paper in a refereed journal and make two paper presentations in conferences/ seminars relating to her/ his area of Ph.D. topic before submission of the dissertation for adjudication.

• The Supervisor shall submit to the COE a list of eight external examiners from the subject area of the Ph.D. dissertation, who shall be from outside the state/ country, to be presented before the Board of Studies for consideration and recommendation to the Vice-Chancellor.
• The Vice-Chancellor shall appoint two external examiners out of such panel for evaluation of the dissertation, provided that she/ he may at her/ his discretion add any name to the panel or reject the entire panel and return it to the Board of Studies for re-submission.
• The dissertation shall be sent by the COE to all the examiners, including the Supervisor(s), after obtaining consent from the external examiners.
• Each Examiner, after examining the dissertation, shall submit a report to the COE in the prescribed format containing a clear recommendation whether, in her/ his opinion:
• The dissertation as such is acceptable and the viva-voce examination of the candidate may be held; or
• The dissertation should be referred back to the research scholar for revision and resubmission; or
• The dissertation should be rejected.
• The examiner shall not recommend conducting of viva-voce examination unless she/ he is satisfied that the dissertation constitutes a contribution to the discipline characterised either by development of new knowledge and/ or techniques or by re-interpretation of known facts, that the methodology pursued by the research scholar is sound, and that its literary presentation is satisfactory.
• The COE shall act as per the recommendation of the external examiners. If she/ he is satisfied that the external examiners have unanimously recommended that the viva-voce examination of the candidate be held, she/ he shall, with the approval of the Vice-Chancellor, constitute the Board for Viva-Voce examination comprising the following members, viz.,

1. The Research Supervisor, who shall be the Chairperson;
2. One of the external examiners to be nominated by the Vice-Chancellor;
3. The Co-Supervisor, if any.
   • In case the COE finds that the recommendation of one external examiner is positive and that of the other one is negative, she/ he may recommend to the Vice-Chancellor for appointment of a third external examiner and act according to the recommendation of such third examiner;

Provided that a recommendation is not to be considered negative, if a revision is recommended and the revised dissertation is accepted by the concerned examiner;

Provided further that if the dissertation after revision is not accepted by the concerned examiner, the original and the revised versions of the dissertation shall be sent to a third external examiner and the opinion given by such third examiner shall be considered to be final.

• The viva-voce examination shall be conducted on a date suggested by the Supervisor in consultation with the other members of the Viva-voce Board and shall be open to be attended by the other members of the RAC, all faculty members of the School, other research scholars and other interested experts/ researchers. The COE shall issue necessary notification in this regard.
• At the viva-voce, the Board shall satisfy itself that the dissertation submitted by the candidate is her/ his own work, that her/ his grasp on the field of her/ his study is satisfactory and that the critiques, if any, given in the evaluation report by any external examiner are satisfactorily explained by her/ him.
• In case the Board recommends that the candidate be awarded the Ph.D. degree, the COE shall place such recommendation before the President through the Vice-Chancellor for approval.
• The Degree of Ph.D. shall be awarded to the candidate after due approval of the President and the University shall, along with the diploma certificate, issue a certificate stating that the degree has been awarded in accordance with the UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Awards of M.Phil./ Ph.D. Degree) Regulations, 2016 as amended from time to time.