NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, WARANGAL

Ph.D. PROGRAM

RULES AND REGULATIONS

1. INTRODUCTION:

1.1 The Institute provides facilities for research leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). Ph.D. Program is offered in the following departments:

a)	Civil Engineering	h)	Biotechnology
b)	Electrical Engineering	i)	Mathematics
c)	Mechanical Engineering	j)	Humanities and Social Sciences
d)	Electronics and Communication Engineering	k)	Physics
e)	Metallurgical and Materials Engineering	l)	Chemistry
f)	Chemical Engineering	m)	School of Management
g)	Computer Science and Engineering

2. ADMISSIONS

2.1 Student Categories: This program is offered in two different types and are categorized as follows:

	Full Time		Part Time
a)	Full-time student on institute fellowship.	g)	Permanent faculty and other permanent staff of NIT, Warangal
b)	Full-time Government/ Semi-Government Fellowship awardees / QIP / FIP (UGC) / CSIR / UGC / DOE / DST / DBT / NBHM etc	h)	External scholars from National Research Laboratories, PSUs having MOU with NIT Warangal, R&D Organizations approved by the Senate having necessary and required research facilities
c)	Full-time project fellows/JRF/SRF appointed in R&D projects being carried out in NITW
d)	Full-time Sponsored student from Industry/R&D organizations
e)	Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) fellowship awardees (Foreign students)
f)	Full-time External (CSIR/ JRF/ SRF Fellows) working in National Research Laboratories/ R&D Organization having necessary facilities

NOTE:

i) A student of category (a) will receive the institute scholarship for a duration of three years, which may be extendable by one more year, based on the

recommendations of Doctoral Scrutiny Committee (See Appendix-I for more information and Appendix - VI for the constitution of DSC)

ii) Student of Category (d) shall be sponsored and financed by the sponsoring organization: (See Appendix-II, for more information)

iii) Student of category (f) shall produce a no objection certificate from the organization wherever he/ she is having fellowship and also acceptance from a possible supervisor along with bio data from the organization. There will not be any financial commitment from NITW for students under category (f) (See Appendix-III, for more information)

iv) A part-time student of category (g) shall produce a sponsorship-cum-clearance certificate from the Director, NITW. (See Appendix - IV, for more information)

v) A part-time student of category (h) shall produce a no objection certificate from the present employer and also acceptance from a possible supervisor along with biodata from the organization. (See Appendix-V, for more information)

vi) Change of status from one category to another category or from full-time to part time will be subjected to approval of the senate based on recommendations of DSC and DAC-PG & R (See Appendix VII, for constitution of DAC-PG&R). Students should have submitted the synopsis for getting permission to convert from full-time to part time.

vii) No student can receive scholarship/fellowship from more than one source, either Government or Private.

2.2 ELIGIBILITY:

2.2.1 (Eligibility Criteria for Category (a) Students):

Engineering Departments:

Masters/M.S. (by Research) degree in Engineering / Technology in the appropriate branch of study with minimum 60% aggregate marks (CGPA 6.5/10) in UG and PG for admission under OC / OBC category and minimum 55% aggregate marks (CGPA of 6.0) for candidates under SC/ST/PWD category. All candidates must have qualified in GATE.

OR

Bachelors in Engineering / Technology with valid GATE score and at least CGPA of 8.0/10 or 75% of marks under OC/OBC category and at least CGPA of 7.5/10 or 70% for candidates under SC/ST category.

Sciences Departments:

Masters degree in the relevant discipline of Science (Maths/ Physics/ Chemistry)/ B.Tech or equivalent degree/ M.Tech or equivalent degree with minimum of 60% aggregate marks (CGPA 6.5/10) in PG for candidates under OC/OBC category and minimum of 55% aggregate marks (CGPA of 6.0) in PG for candidates under SC/ST/PwD category. All candidates must have qualified in GATE/UGC/CSIR/INSPIRE/ NET.

Humanities:

Masters degree in the relevant discipline of English with minimum of 60% aggregate marks (CGPA 6.5/10) in PG for candidates under OC/OBC category and minimum of 55% aggregate marks (CGPA of 6.0) in PG for candidates under SC/ST/PwD category. All candidates must have qualified in GATE/UGC/CSIR/INSPIRE/ NET.

School of Management:

Masters degree in Business Administration with minimum of 60% aggregate marks (CGPA 6.5/10) in PG for candidates under OC/OBC category and minimum of 55% marks (CGPA of 6.0) for candidates under SC/ST/PWD category. All candidates must have qualified in UGC/NET.

2.2.2 As per AICTE / UGC norms, students of category (a) must have passed GATE / UGC / CSIR exam / DAE-JEST. In case of students with M.Sc./M.Sc(Tech)/MBA/MA qualification, GATE / UGC - CSIR NET qualification is necessary.

2.2.3 In case of students of category (d), (e), (f) and (g), GATE / UGC-CSIR NET, qualification is relaxed. However, they will be selected through an institute entrance test and/or an interview, as per the discretion of the department.

2.2.4 Written test is exempted to a permanent faculty/staff member who wishes to register for Ph.D. in the department where he/she is working. If the permanent faculty / staff member wishes to work for his/her Ph.D. in some other department, then the written test and/ or interview are necessary.

2.2.5 Admission under the category (h) is open to:

i) JRFs / SRFs in CSIR / DST / Defence laboratories / Government R&D Organizations

ii) Scientists / Engineers with ME / M.Tech who have put in at least five years of experience in PSUs, National Research Laboratories, R and D organizations having MOU with NIT, Warangal.

See Appendix- V for more information. The selection of candidates under this category is based on interview.

2.2.6 Candidates of all categories must appear for interview.

3. PROGRAM STRUCTURE:

3.1 The Ph.D. Degree Program Structure consists of the following stages:

i) Ph.D. Course work and evaluation

ii) Research proposal submission and assessment

iii) Comprehensive Examination

iv) Periodic assessment of research progress

v) Pre-synopsis seminar and synopsis submission

vi) Submission of Ph.D. thesis and adjudication

3.2 The minimum course credit requirement for candidates getting admitted with different qualifications is as follows.

Minimum Qualification	Credit Requirement
M.E. / M.Tech. / M.Phil. / M.S. / M.Sc. (Tech.) of 3 years	12
M.Sc. / M.A. / MBA / M.Sc. (Tech.) of 2 years	16
B.E./ B.Tech	20

If the DSC recommends more courses of study, then the candidate has to do those courses as per the directions of the DSC.

3.3 Higher level courses appropriate for research scholars may be introduced into the curricula by all Departments. Research Scholars may enroll for these courses on self-study mode. The candidates can also enroll for any appropriate PG course (provided he/ she has not undergone that course during M.Tech program). For self-study courses, the DAC(PG&R) will allot a teacher to evaluate the candidate in the course. It is advisable that the supervisor(s) of the candidate are not allotted as teacher for self-study courses for more than one course in a semester.

Candidates must complete all the assigned course works with a grade not lower than C in each of the courses. If candidate gets a grade less than C, he/ she may be permitted to do the same course in self-study mode in the subsequent semester.

In addition, the full time candidates are required to complete one of the following audit courses: (Part-time candidates are not required to do the audit courses)

1. Research Methodologies

2. English for Scientific Communication

3. History of Science & Technology

4. Professional Ethics

3.4 The syllabi for all the courses to be offered to a Ph.D student must be approved by the DSC.

3.5 The course work should be completed in the first three semesters after admission. If a candidate fails to complete the course work in the first three semesters, the DSC may recommend for an extension of one more semester with proper justification.

3.6 Every Ph.D. scholar shall perform satisfactorily in a Comprehensive Examination in his/ her Department. The Comprehensive Examination Committee should consist of DSC members and two other faculty members of the Institute nominated by the Chairman, DSC. Comprehensive Examination will test the general capability of the research scholar and the breadth of his/ her knowledge in the area related to his/ her field of research. The Comprehensive Examination will be an oral examination. It will be based on the research proposal submitted by the student.

If the performance of the candidate in the comprehensive examination is not satisfactory in the first attempt, he/ she may be given another two opportunities to appear for comprehensive examination within 6 months. There must be a minimum gap of two months between two successive attempts of Comprehensive Examination.

The comprehensive examination may be taken any time after the successful completion of the course work but within two years after registration for Ph.D. If a candidate is unable to successfully complete the course work and Comprehensive Examination within two years, his/ her admission will be cancelled.

4. EVALUATION SYSTEM:

4.1. Ph.D. Course Work and Evaluation: The Ph.D. course work evaluation shall be similar to that of other PG courses.

4.2. Comprehensive Examination: Every Ph.D. student is required to submit his research proposal at least by the time of Comprehensive Examination. The research proposal must contain details including problem identification, state of the art technology, plan of research work etc. The DSC will assess the proposal at the time of Comprehensive Examination and communicate the recommendations for approval to the Dean-Academic.

4.3. Research Progress Assessment:

4.3.1 After the approval of the research work proposal, assessments are made periodically, through seminars (at least one seminar per semester before DSC), to ensure satisfactory progress. The research scholar shall submit through his/her supervisor(s), a progress report of his/her research work, to the concerned DSC twice a year. The DSC will communicate to the Dean-Academic, through DAC-PG & R, about the periodic progress. The continuance of registration of all research scholars is subject to satisfactory progress made by them.

4.3.2 Prior to pre-synopsis seminar, the scholar is required to have at least two papers published or accepted for publication, in reputed SCI/ Scopus/Web of Sciences indexed journals.

4.4. Pre-Synopsis Seminar and Synopsis Submission:

4.4.1 Prior to submission of the synopsis of the thesis, a comprehensive assessment of the research work should be made by DSC by a Pre-Synopsis Seminar. The candidate can submit the synopsis only if DSC is satisfied about the adequacy of work for submission as a Ph.D. Thesis.

4.4.2 Details of the Pre-Synopsis seminar shall be notified well in advance, so as to enable the interested faculty members and students to attend the same.

4.4.3 The Chairman of the DSC shall send the assessment report on the Pre-Synopsis Seminar to the Dean-Academic.

4.4.4 The synopsis must be submitted at least one month before submitting the thesis. At least three printed copies and one soft copy of the synopsis shall be submitted to the Dean- Academic through the DSC and DAC-PG & R. The synopsis must be a maximum of 15 pages, including references of research work, with the following certificates. (See Schedules C and D in Appendix -IX)

a) Certificate from the Chairman, DSC that the Pre-Synopsis Seminar has been completed satisfactorily (Schedule C, Appendix-IX).

b) Declaration by the Research Supervisor in a prescribed proforma stating:

i) the bonafide nature of the work

ii) that the thesis does not contain any work which has been previously submitted for the award of any degree, and

iii) the extent of collaboration, if any.

4.4.5 On successful completion of the Pre-Synopsis Seminar the DSC will recommend to the Chairman of the Senate a panel of ten experts, five from India and five from abroad, to examine the thesis. Two experts from the panel shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Senate as external examiners. The supervisor(s) will be the internal examiner(s). The thesis shall be forwarded to, these examiners who shall report separately on the thesis and forward their recommendation to the Dean-Academic.

4.5. Ph.D. Thesis Submission and Adjudication

4.5.1 The Ph.D. thesis must be submitted within three months after the submission of the synopsis. A candidate shall submit three copies of the thesis in case of single supervisor and four copies if there is a joint supervisor, neatly typed or printed and bound (Refer to guidelines for submission of thesis given in Appendix-X). The copy of the thesis should be accompanied by originality report generated by the Plagiarism checking software suggested by the Institute. The similarity should not exceed 20% excluding the papers published by the candidate.

4.5.2 The examiners can recommend that

a) the thesis is accepted

b) the thesis is accepted with minor modifications suggested, without need for resubmission to the reviewer

c) the thesis is to be resubmitted with suggested modifications, for reassessment by the reviewer

d) the thesis is rejected

4.5.3 The reports of the examiners shall be examined by the Dean-Academic and the Chairman of the Senate. There may be four possible situations arising out of the nature of the reports, and the steps to be taken appropriate to the circumstances shall be as laid down below:

a) The examiners are unanimous in recommending for the award of the degree on the basis of the thesis without any modification. This is a clear case for the final requirement of viva-voce.

b) The external examiners are unanimous in recommending for the award of the degree but have suggested modification and / or have asked for clarifications. The candidate in that case shall make modifications and provide the clarifications as suggested, within a time prescribed by the DSC, which in no case shall exceed 3 months. These may be sent to the examiners if so desired by them. Otherwise, the DSC would evaluate the clarifications and recommend for conducting the Viva Voce Examination.

c) One of the external examiners does not recommend for the award of the degree and rejects the thesis while the other external examiner recommends the award of the degree. The DSC in such a case may either ask the candidate to modify the thesis as suggested, within a given time, not exceeding six months and send the modified thesis to the same examiner again, or, recommend to the Chairman of the Senate, for appointment of another external examiner and send the thesis to him/her in its original form. If the examiner who rejected the

thesis is an Indian examiner then the third examiner shall be an Indian examiner. If the examiner who rejected the thesis is a foreign examiner then the third examiner shall be a foreign examiner. The recommendation of this third examiner, at this stage, shall be taken as final and binding.

d) Both the external examiners reject the thesis.

4.5.4 In the event of a thesis being rejected by both the external examiners, the Senate may, on the recommendation of the DSC, permit submission of a revised thesis on an additional payment of the prescribed fee, after a suitable time to be fixed by the Senate. Copies of the observations and comments of the examiners, if any, may be given to the candidate on request. However, the names of the examiners are not to be disclosed. In no case should a resubmission of the thesis without modification along the lines of criticism made by the earlier examiners be allowed. The revised thesis shall be referred for assessment to two external examiners selected from a new panel of ten experts (five from India and five from abroad) recommended by the DSC.

4.5.5 Once the reports of the examiners have been accepted as satisfactory, the candidate will have to defend his thesis before a viva-voce board consisting of at least three DSC members including the supervisor(s), and an external examiner. Copies of the reports of the examiners are to be shown to the candidate through the DSC. The external examiner may either be one of the experts who have already adjudicated upon the thesis or be another expert appointed for the purpose. The Chairman of the senate, at his/her discretion may advise that a faculty from an allied Department / Centre of the institute be appointed as the additional examiner to conduct the viva-voce examination. In such a case, the DSC recommends a faculty member of the institute having knowledge in the area of the thesis topic, to be appointed as the additional examiner. If the viva-voce board is not satisfied, the candidate has to appear again before the board within the next three months. If the viva voce is satisfactory and all other requirements have been fulfilled, the viva-voce board shall recommend to the Senate for the award of the Ph.D. degree.

4.5.6 After the recommendations of the viva-voce board, either for acceptance of the thesis for the award of Ph.D. degree or for its rejection, a copy of the reports of the examiners may be issued to the candidate at his request.

4.5.7 Nothing contained in these regulations shall preclude a candidate from publishing / patenting with the supervisor and/or others, the results of the work incorporated in the thesis, at any time.

5. RESEARCH SUPERVISOR:

5.1 The candidates selected for PhD program in a Department have to report to the Head of the Department two weeks before the date of the registration. During this time the candidates will be given an opportunity to discuss with the faculty members on proposed research areas and indicate their choice in the order of preference. DAC-PG&R will allot one faculty member of the Department as research supervisor. The Head of the Department in consultation with the research supervisor will constitute the DSC and finalize the course work before the registration and commencement of the semester.

5.2 A permanent faculty member of the Institute possessing Ph.D. degree shall be recognized as Research Supervisor.

5.3 Each research student shall be allotted one faculty member of the department, as research supervisor, on the recommendations of the DAC-PG & R.

5.4 Depending on the research requirements, additional research supervisor either from the other departments of the institute, if the problem is of inter-departmental nature, or from industry, may be considered as co-supervisor(s). The recommendation for a co-guide shall be made with valid reasons and justification by DAC(PG&R) of the Department. There shall not be any co-supervisor from same specialization. (See Appendix-VIII, for guidelines for appointment of joint supervisor)

5.5 Change of research supervisor(s)/ withdrawal of co-supervisor or DSC member (if any), under exceptional circumstances shall be permitted by the senate, on recommendation of DAC-PG & R. after consulting (i) the research scholar (ii) the allotted supervisor(s) and (iii) the proposed supervisor(s).

5.6 At any given time, the total number of research students (including JRF/ SRF or other fellowship holders and part-time students) registered with a faculty member shall not exceed six.

5.7 The individual department will formulate the guidelines for the allotment of supervisor(s) for the students with institute fellowship.

5.8 In case of part time external Ph.D. candidates (Category (g) in 2.1), one guide from NIT Warangal and another supervisor(s) from the parent organization of the candidate, are mandatory.

5.9 When a faculty member, who has guided a candidate for at least 3 years, retires, he/she will continue to be a guide. However, a faculty who is in service will be appointed as co-supervisor.

5.10 When a supervisor proceeds on leave/deputation/ lien for more than 6 months, a joint supervisor will be appointed and in case the period of leave/ deputation/ lien is less than 6 months a care-taker supervisor will be appointed by the DSC. However, if the leave/ deputation/ lien is for 2 years or more the person shall cease to be a supervisor.

6. RESIDENTIAL REQUIREMENT:

6.1 Unless there is an explicit permission from the Chairman, Senate to any candidate to stay outside the campus, all candidates admitted to the Ph.D. program will be required to stay in the institute till they complete all assigned work and submit thesis. (See Appendix-XII for rules related to residential requirement)

6.2 In the case of part-time external candidates from organizations having R&D facilities, the residential requirement may be reduced to at least one semester if he is under self-study, or at least two semesters out of which one semester at a stretch, if he/she is registering for the course work.

6.3 In case of part-time external candidates with at least 10 years of research experience in R&D Organizations, with the special permission of the DSC and approval of the senate, the residential requirement may be waived completely. Nevertheless, it is mandatory for such candidates also to complete the course work for the prescribed number of credits on self-study mode, following all steps like assignments, examinations etc., as prescribed for any regular course at NIT, Warangal. However at least one seminar per semester before DSC is mandatory to review his/her progress.

7. MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM PERIODS OF THESIS SUBMISSION

7.1 Normally, a candidate devotes at least three years for study and research and then only becomes eligible to submit the thesis. The period will be counted from the date of enrolment. However, for a candidate who has a degree of Master of Technology, Master of Architecture, Master of Regional Planning, Master of City Planning, M. Phil. or an equivalent qualification, this period shall be a minimum of 2 years.

Qualification at the time of	Minimum Period
admission into Ph.D. program	for thesis
	submission
Full time candidates with M.E./M.Tech./
M.Phil.	2 Years
Full time candidates with M.Sc./M.A./MBA/
M.Sc. (Tech.) of 2 years	3 Years
Part time candidates	4 Years

7.2 Registration of a candidate for the PhD degree shall be effective, normally, from the date of joining unless on account of unsatisfactory progress in work deferred for a later date and shall remain valid for a period of eight years before the expiry of which he/she will be required to submit the thesis. In the event of a candidate failing to submit his/her thesis within the period, his/ her registration shall lapse automatically.

8. AWARD OF THE DEGREE

8.1 On the recommendation of the Viva-Voce Board, the Senate shall decide whether the candidate should be recommended to the Board of Governors for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

8.2 The Senate may authorize its Chairman to recommend to the Board of Governors, a candidate for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, if he/she has completed all the requirements successfully and has been recommended by the Doctoral Scrutiny Committee. Any action taken by the Chairman under the provisions of this section shall be reported to the Senate at its subsequent meeting.

APPENDIX - I

INSTITUTE FELLOWSHIP

(For candidates belonging to category (a), described in section 2.1)

1.1 All full time scholars admitted under Institute fellowship are eligible for scholarship. Part-time candidates and full-time faculty members of the Institute admitted as part- time scholars shall not be eligible for any kind of fellowship.

1.2 A person who is employed in the institute temporarily under a project or a scheme or who enjoys an outside scholarship other than QIP/TF, and who has been registered for the Ph.D. degree may be granted, the Institute Research Scholarship on the recommendation of the DSC and DAC-PG & R, subject to the conditions of the rules. However, the period of the fellowship in the project/scheme together with the period of institute scholarship should not exceed 5 years.

Transfer from CSIR/UGC etc., individual fellowships and research projects, to the institute scholarship, will be guided by the following:

i) One must have completed at least 2 years in a research project/ scheme.

ii) Individual research scholars from external funding agencies like CSIR/UGC etc. must have completed at least two years as individual fellows.

iii) The candidates will present their work done so far for their Ph.D. at an open seminar with the DSC and DAC-PG & R. The DAC-PG & R must satisfy that the case is deserving.

iv) The candidate must be GATE/NET qualified.

v) All other rules applicable for selection of regular institute scholars would apply.

2. SCHOLARSHIP

2.1 The value of the Institute Research Scholarship for scholars possessing the stipulated qualification at the time of admission to the research program shall be as per the AICTE guidelines under instructions of MHRD, Govt. of India. The Board of Governors may revise the rates of Scholarship from time to time.

2.2 For a registered candidate, on completion of two continuous years of research work, there will be an evaluation by the DSC, for considering and recommending through DAC-PG&R, for enhancement of the value of scholarship.

2.3 In the event of the DSC being not satisfied with the progress of a scholar during the preceding two years, it may recommend suspension of enhancement in the value of the scholarship for such period, as it deems appropriate. The committee will reassess the candidate's work after the period so fixed. If satisfied, the committee will recommend the enhancement of the scholarship. The committee should also indicate the date from which the enhanced value will be effective.

3. TENURE:

3.1 The Scholarship shall be payable from the date the scholar joins the Institute. At the initial stage the order for payment of scholarship shall, however, be issued when the scholar is enrolled formally.

3.2 The tenure of a research Scholarship shall be three years counted from the date of joining. The initial award shall however, be released for one year and then renewed from year to year up to the third year, subject to satisfactory progress. On the recommendation of the DSC, the tenure may be extended for a further period of two more years, granting the extension for not more than six months at a time subject to the satisfactory performance of the scholar, at seminar lecture delivered embodying the progress of the work. Grant of a six-monthly instalment of the tenure is subject to actual requirement of the scholar's work to be certified by the DSC, after assessing the progress of the work presented through Seminar lectures.

3.3 Normally the tenure of the scholarship awarded to a scholar will terminate with effect from the day following the date of submission of thesis, provided he has not left the institute earlier and has been working in the Department/Centre till that date. However, a scholar may be allowed to draw scholarship for a further period of 3 months after the date of submission in view to complete any unfinished part of experiment undertaken relating to his research work, subject to the overall limit of 3 years, on the recommendation of the Supervisor.

3.4 The scholarship for the last month shall be payable subject to foregoing conditions up to the actual date of the scholar's leaving the institute. The disbursement of last monthly instalment of scholarship shall be made, on production of a No Dues Certificate, from the hostels, library and the Department/Centre.

3.5 Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing sub-paragraphs, continuation of scholarship from month to month is subject to candidate's good conduct and continuous progress of research work to the satisfaction of the supervisor(s), the Head of the Department/centre and other authorities.

4. CONCESSION OF LEAVE:

4.1 An Institute Research Scholar is required to carry out his research work regularly under the guidance of the Supervisor(s), without any interruption during the period he enjoys the scholarship.

4.2 A scholar shall be entitled to i) casual leave of 15 days and (ii) medical leave of 15 days, in a year counting from the date of joining the program. Any leave not availed of shall not accumulate.

4.3 Married Research scholars admitted to the research program of the institute shall, in addition to casual leave and medical leave prescribed by foregoing sub-para, be entitled to maternity/paternity leave as per rules of the Government of India, if the request for the leave is supported by a medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner.

4.4 Any absence over and above the admissible leave as prescribed above shall be without scholarship which shall be, deducted on pro rata basis for the days of such absence.

4.5 A research scholar may be granted leave by the Dean-Academic, on the recommendation of the supervisor and the Head of the Department without scholarship for a total period not exceeding three months, during the entire tenure of Scholarship.

4.6 A research scholar may be given special leave to collect data for his research/ carry out part of his research in an Industry/ R&D Lab or to present papers in conferences.

5. GENERAL:

5.1 No Research scholar shall be permitted to accept or hold any appointment paid or otherwise or receive any emoluments, salary, stipend or any other scholarship during the tenure of the award. In the event of scholar being awarded another scholarship of the institute or of any external organization/institution, he will have the option to retain any one of the awards, according to his choice, which he will communicate immediately in writing to the Dean-Academic.

5.2 A research scholar may be a assigned academic responsibilities up to six hours per week (like tutorial classes. laboratory demonstration work, conduct of seminar/symposia, running and maintenance of equipment, computer etc.) as may be decided by the Head of the Department.

5.3 A research scholar shall maintain, besides satisfactory academic progress, good conduct, behaviour and discipline in the institute. In the event of a scholar being found to be involved in any act of misconduct, misbehaviour, indiscipline or use of unfair means at an examination, the scholarship is liable to be suspended with immediate effect. (See Appendix-XI for students conduct and disciplinary code)

5.4 If a research scholar wishes to relinquish the fellowship during the tenure, it should be done with the prior approval of the supervisor(s), the Head of the Department and the Dean-Academic. He should also obtain prior permission from the same authority for appearing in any examination conducted by any institution, university or public body.

APPENDIX- II

ADMISSION OF SPONSORED

CANDIDATES TO Ph.D. PROGRAM

[For categories (b) and (d) described in section 2.1]

1. The Institute may admit self-supporting candidates and persons who are in gainful employment as 'Sponsored Scholars' to the research program subject to the following conditions:

1.1 Category b: Qualified teachers of recognized Engineering Colleges selected under the Quality Improvement Program (QIP) of the Govt. of India and of Science Colleges who are awarded Teacher fellowship of the University Grants Commission shall be eligible for admission to the program.

1.2 Category-d: Persons who possess the minimum prescribed qualifications and are in service in any of the following establishments, as may be recognized by NIT Warangal, for the purpose, from time to time, shall be eligible for admission to the Ph.D. program as sponsored scholars:

i) Defence or other Ministries of the Government of India or any other government organizations.

ii) Established industrial research and development organizations.

iii) Autonomous bodies/industries.

2. The prescribed minimum qualification for admission to the Ph.D. program is:

M.Tech. / M.E. / M.S. / M.Phil. or equivalent degree or M.Sc./ M.Sc. (Tech)/ M.A. / MBA or equivalent degree.

Admission to a Ph.D. program shall be open to candidates who passed the prescribed qualifying examination in first class with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of at least 6.5 / 10 (6.0 / 10 in the case of SC/ST candidates), or not less than 60% marks in the aggregate (55% marks in the case of SC/ST candidates).

3. An intending sponsored candidate must submit his application in prescribed form for admission through his employer, who will forward the same to the institute with suitable endorsement so as to reach the institute by the date stipulated in the notification for the semester.

4. A sponsored scholar selected for admission shall be required, at the time of joining the institute:

a) to submit evidence of having passed the qualifying examination and such other documents as the institute may require,

b) to produce certificate from the employer to the effect

i) that he/she has been officially relived from his/her duties for purpose of joining the program and has been granted the leave for the required period

ii) that his/her services shall be retained with the employer.

The proforma for Sponsorship cum clearance certificate from the employer, is given in Schedule B in Appendix-IX.

5. a) In the case of a sponsored candidate [Category (d)] admitted as such to the Ph.D. program, the minimum residential requirement is one year. However, it may be reduced to one semester to be completed at a stretch, preferably immediately after joining, if the organization in which he/she is employed has R&D facilities, and subject to conditions laid down in Section 3.4 of the Regulations as well as the following sub sections (b), (c) and (d).

b) A candidate sponsored by an industry, an R&D Organization, or a Government Organization [Category (d)] having adequate research facilities may be allowed to work externally subject to his fulfilling all such conditions prescribed by these Regulations as are applicable. Permission to carry out the research work partially or entirely at the organization shall be granted by the Chairman of senate, only if the DSC recommends after it is satisfied about availability of research facilities there and fulfilment of all requirements. Such permission is to be obtained in advance.

c) In such a case a joint supervisor from the sponsoring organization with adequate research experience may be appointed. When a sponsored candidate has been granted permission under these provisions to work externally at the parent Organization he/she will be required to maintain frequent contact with the supervisor in the institute.

APPENDIX - III

GUIDELINES FOR ADMISSION OF SRFs JRFs IN

CSIR / DST / DEFFENCE LABORATORIES /

GOVERMENT R&D ORGANZATIONS / IIMs

1. They will have to be permitted by the organizations, they are attached to, for admission to this institute for pursuing Ph.D. program.

2. Applications from such candidates will be received twice a year, against advertisements in the newspaper(s).

3. Selection will be made as per the normal procedure of the institute.

4. The candidate must have qualified in GATE / NET as the case may be.

5. They must be SRF's / JRF's or of equivalent position attached to CSIR / DST / Defence Laboratories / Government R&D Organizations / IIMs.

6. No scholarship or financial assistance be provided to such candidates.

7. Minimum residential requirement for such candidates for course work etc. shall be one year.

8. In case of candidates from such institutions, certificate from the Director of the Institute will be required confirming that such candidates, have not / will not, register for any other academic programs of any Institute while pursuing Ph.D. program at NIT Warangal.

9. All conditions including minimum qualifications for admission to the Ph.D. program prescribed for other categories of scholars would apply to these candidates as well.

APPENDIX - IV

RULES RELATING TO ENROLMENT OF MEMBERS OF

TEACHING AND NON-TEACHING STAFF

[For category (f) described in section 2.1]

1. Members of teaching and non-teaching staff of NIT Warangal, may be permitted to join the Ph.D. program of the Institute provided; prior permission has been obtained from the Director, NIT Warangal before applying for admission to the program.

2. For admission to the Ph.D. program staff member must fulfil the prescribed norms at the qualifying examination (See section 2).

3. All common rules laid down in the Ph.D. regulations relating to course work, execution of research work under the supervision of a faculty member (guide), etc. shall be applicable to all the staff members, when being enrolled.

4. The staff members, who are permitted to join research program, must pay the prescribed admission cum registration fee.

5. The staff members enrolled for Ph.D. Degree shall be exempted from payment of tuition and any other fee except admission fee.

6. The other conditions for permission to the two categories of staff shall be as follows:

A. For members of Teaching Staff

i) A faculty member must hold a permanent post (inclusive of contractual appointments) in the Institute.

ii) The Doctoral Scrutiny Committee constituted in respect of a member of teaching staff applying for registration may recommend exemption from doing the necessary course work in view of the qualification he possesses or his teaching experience.

B. For members of Non-Teaching Staff

i) A member of non-teaching staff seeking permission to join the research program must hold a permanent post in the institute and must have a standing of at least three years of service in the post.

ii) The application for administrative permission to join a research program by a member of non-teaching staff must be submitted through the Head of the Department/Centre/section in-charge, as the case may be. While submitting the application, he must give an undertaking in the form appended hereto (Schedule-A in Appendix-IX) to the effect that he will abide by all the rules and regulations.

If the exigencies of the institute work so require, the permission granted to a member of non-teaching staff under these rules, can be withdrawn by the institute at any time.

iii) Every application for permission under these rules, shall be examined by the DAC-PG & R, taking into account whether the proposal for joining the program for which permission is sought, is out of genuine interest and ability.

iv) After the permission is granted he/she will submit his/her application on prescribed form together with the prescribed admission-cum-registration fee. On the receipt of

this application, the Head of the Department / Centre concerned will place the same before the DAC-PG & R, for composition of the Doctoral Scrutiny Committee. The minimum period to be spent in the research work by a member of non-teaching staff registered for the Ph.D. degree shall be 5 years. The maximum period admissible for completion of the work and submission of the thesis shall, however, remain to be eight years, as in the case of regular candidates.

APPENDIX-V

Ph.D. PROGRAM -EXTERNAL REGISTRATION

(For category (g) described in section 2.1)

1. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

Scientists / Engineers working in National Research Labs / PSUs having MOU with NIT Warangal / R&D organizations with research facilities with the following qualifications are eligible.

i) ME / M.Tech with at least 5 years of experience and having at least two publications in journals of repute.

ii) BE / B.Tech. with at least 10 years of experience or having at least 4 publications in journals.

2. RESEARCH SUPERVISORS:

In the case of part time external Ph.D. candidates one guide from NIT Warangal and another guide from the parent organization are mandatory.

3. RESIDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:

i) In the case of part time external candidates (category 'g' in section 2.1) from industry / R&D organizations/educational institutes of higher learning having R&D facilities, the residential requirement may be, subject to other conditions, reduced to one semester to be completed at a stretch preferably immediately after joining.

ii) In case of part-time external candidates with 10 years (or more) research experience in R&D Organization, with the special permission of the DSC and approval of the senate, the residential requirement may be waived completely. Nevertheless, it is mandatory for such candidates also to complete the course work for the prescribed number of credits on self-study mode.

NOTE:

All other rules and regulations including the evaluation of Ph.D. thesis are same as those applicable for full time Ph.D. scholars.

APPENDIX -VI

DOCTORAL SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (DSC)

The Head of the Department in consultation with the supervisor shall constitute a Doctoral Scrutiny Committee for each candidate admitted to the Research Program leading to Ph.D. degree.

1.	Head of the Department/ Any Senior faculty from the Department/ Allied Department	Chairman
2.	Research Supervisor	Member/ Convenor
3.	Co-supervisor (if any)	Member
4.	Two faculty members of the Department	Member
5.	One faculty member of the allied Department	Member

FUNCTIONS:

1. To formulate the course work of the candidate.

2. To scrutinize syllabi of courses of self-study (if any) prepared by the Research Supervisor(s) and send the same to the Dean (Academe Affairs).

3. To finalize and forward the grades of the Candidate in each of the courses to the Dean-Academic.

4. To review the progress of the candidate once in every six months and send the progress report to the Dean-Academic.

5. To asses and approve the research proposal of the candidate.

6. To asses and approve the adequacy of the work in the Pre-synopsis seminar and communicate the same through DAC-PG & R, Dean-Academic.

7. Panel of examiners consisting of 5 National and 5 International examiners, must be sent to the Dean-Academic.

8. To act as members of the Viva-Voce Board along with the external examiner and Dean-Academic, and submit the Viva-voce report.

APPENDIX-VII

DEPARTMENTAL ACADEMIC COMMITTEE

POSTGRADUATE & RESEARCH (DAC-PG&R)

Head of the Department Chairman

All Professors of the Dept. having Ph. D. Members

All Associate Prof. of the Dept. having Ph. D. Members

Two Assistant prof. of the Dept. having Ph. D. Members

(by rotation for two years)

NOTE:

1. The Head of the department will nominate one of the members as secretary.

2. There shall be one DAC-PG&R for every Department, which is involved in the teaching for any of the PG degree program.

FUNCTIONS:

1. To monitor the conduct of all postgraduate courses and course work of Ph. D. program.

2. To ensure academic standards and excellence of the courses offered by the Department.

3. Review and approval of the grades.

4. To consolidate the registration of the Post Graduate and Ph.D. students and communicate to the course instructors and Dean-Academic.

5. To consider any matter related to the postgraduate program(s) and Ph.D. program of the Department and make a suitable recommendation to the Senate.

6. To monitor the progress of research of all the candidates of the Department.

7. To forward the recommendations of the Doctoral Scrutiny Committee and the panel of External Examiners as recommended by the DSC to the Dean-Academic.

8. To take up any responsibility or function assigned by the Senate.

APPENDIX-VIII

GUIDELINES FOR APPOINTMENT OF JOINT SUPERVISOR

1. All candidates admitted for the Ph.D. program are required to carry out their research work under the guidance of supervisor unless otherwise permitted by the Chairman of the Senate. There can be two supervisors, at most, for any Ph.D. student.

2. For cases where the supervisor has guided the candidate for 2 years or more

a) If the supervisor proceeds on long leave for more than a year, a joint supervisor should be appointed, and if the leave is for less than a year, a caretaker supervisor is to be appointed by the DSC.

However, on the recommendation of the DSC, a supervisor can be allowed to continue as sole supervisor on case-to-case basis, depending on the state of progress of the thesis work.

b) A supervisor, who is superannuating, will continue to be the sole guide, if the thesis is submitted within 6 months. If the thesis is not ready for submission within 6 months, a joint supervisor must be appointed by the DSC.

3. For a case where guidance has been given for less than 2 years:

a) When a supervisor proceeds on leave for more than 6 months, a joint supervisor be appointed and in case the period of leave is less than 6 months a care-taker supervisor be appointed by the DSC. However, if the leave is for 2 years or more the person shall cease to be a supervisor.

b) A supervisor, who is superannuating, will continue as the guide, if the thesis is submitted within 6 months. If the thesis is not ready for submission within 6 months, a joint supervisor must be appointed by the DSC.

4. After superannuating from service of this institute, if the supervisor joins the institute as an Emeritus Scientist Professor or in any other capacity, he may continue to be the sole supervisor or as joint supervisor if the DSC so recommends. A person re-employed after superannuation shall continue to hold the same status in the matter till the end of the period of re-employment.

5. Persons from outside the Institute, Joining as Emeritus Scientists or Professors or as Chair-Professors, can be appointed as guide for new scholars, only jointly with a regular faculty member and not alone.

NOTE:

The above points are only guidelines. The recommendation of DSC of a candidate will be given due consideration in making a decision in a particular case.

APPENDIX-IX

APPENDIX-X

GUIDELINES FOR PREPARATION OF THESIS

Preamble

While utmost attention must be paid to the content of the thesis which is being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the respective degree, it is imperative that a standard format be prescribed. The same format shall also be followed in preparation of the final soft copies to be submitted to the Library in future.

1. Organization of the Thesis

This thesis shall be presented in a number of chapters, starting with Introduction and ending with Summary and Conclusions. Each of the other chapters will have a precise title reflecting the contents of the chapter. A chapter can be subdivided into sections, subsections and sub-subsection so as to present the content discretely and with due emphasis.

When the work comprises two or more mutually independent investigations, the thesis may be divided into two or more parts, each with an appropriate title. However, the numbering of chapters will be continuous right through, for example Part 1 may comprise Chapters 2-5, Part 2, Chapters 6-9.

1.1 Introduction

The title of Chapter 1 shall be Introduction. It shall justify and highlight the problem posed, define the topic and explain the aim and scope of the work presented in the thesis. It may also highlight the significant contributions from the investigation.

1.2 Review of Literature

This shall normally form Chapter 2 and shall present a critical appraisal of the previous work published in the literature pertaining to the topic of the investigation. The extent and emphasis of the chapter shall depend on the nature of the investigation.

1.3 Report on the present investigation

The reporting on the investigation shall be presented in one or more chapters with appropriate chapter titles. Due importance shall be given to experimental setups, procedures adopted, techniques developed, methodologies developed and adopted.

While important derivations/formulae should normally be presented in the text of these chapters, extensive and long treatments, copious details and tedious information, detailed results in tabular and graphical forms may be presented in Appendices. Representative data in table and figures may, however, be included in appropriate chapters. Figures and tables should be presented immediately following their first mention in the text. Short tables and figures (say, less than half the writing area of the page) should be presented within the text, while large table and figures may be presented on separate pages. Equations should form separate lines with

appropriate paragraph separation above and below the equation line, with equation numbers flushed to the right.

1.4 Results and Discussions

This shall form the penultimate chapter of the thesis and shall include a thorough evaluation of the investigation carried out and bring out the contributions from the study. The discussion shall logically lead to inferences and conclusions as well as scope for possible further future work.

1.5 Summary and Conclusions

This will be the final chapter of the thesis. A brief report of the work carried out shall form the first part of the Chapter. Conclusions derived from the logical analysis presented in the Results and Discussions Chapter shall be presented and clearly enumerated, each point stated separately. Scope for future work should be stated lucidly in the last part of the chapter.

1.6 Appendix

Detailed information, lengthy derivations, raw experimental observations etc. are to be presented in separate appendices, which shall be numbered in Roman Capitals (e.g. "Appendix IV"). Since reference can be drawn to published/unpublished literature in the appendices these should precede the "Literature Cited" section.

1.7 Literature Cited

This should follow the Appendices, if any, otherwise the Summary and Conclusions chapter. The candidates shall follow the style of citation and style of listing in one of the standard journals in the subject area consistently throughout his/her thesis, for example, IEEE in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Materials Transactions in Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science. However, the names of all the authors along with their initials and the full title of the article/monogram/book etc. have to be given in addition to the journals/publishers, volume, number, pages(s) and year of publication. Citation from websites should include the names(s) of author(s) (including the initials), full title of the article, website reference and when last accessed. Reference to personal communications, similarly, shall include the author, title of the communication (if any) and date of receipt.

1.7.1 Publications by the candidate

Articles, technical notes etc. on the topic of the thesis published by the candidate may be separately listed after the literature cited. This may also be included in the contents. The candidates may also include reprints of his/her publications after the literature citation.

1.8 Acknowledgements

The acknowledgments by the candidate shall follow the citation of literature, signed by him/her, with date.

2. THESIS FORMAT

2.1 Paper

2.1.1 Quality:

The thesis shall be printed / photocopied on white bond paper, whiteness 95% or above, weight 70 gram or more per square meter.

2.1.2 Size :

The size of the paper shall be standard A 4; height 297 mm, width 210 mm.

2.1.3 Type Setting, Text Processing and Printing:

The text shall be printed on both sides of the page employing Laser jet or Inkjet printer, the text having been processed using a standard text processor. The standard font shall be Times New Roman of 12 pts with 1.5 line spacing.

2.1.4 Page Format: The Printed Sheets shall have the following written area and margins:

Top Margin 15 mm

Head Height 3 mm

Head Separation 12 mm Bottom Margin 22 mm Footer 3 mm

Foot Separation 10 mm Text Height 245 mm Text Width 160 mm

When header is not used the top margin shall be 30 mm. Left and Right Margins

Single sided

Left Margin 30mm Right Margin 20 mm

2.1.5 Pagination

Page numbering in the text of the thesis shall be Hindu Arabic numerals at the centre of the footer. But when the candidate opts for header style the page number shall appear at the right and left top corner for the odd and even number pages, respectively. Page number "1" for the first page of the Introduction chapter shall not appear in print, only the second page will bear the number "2". The subsequent chapters shall begin on a fresh page. When header style is chosen the first page of each chapter will not have the header and the page number shall be printed at the centre of the footer. Pagination for pages before the Introduction chapter shall be in lower case Roman numerals, e.g., "iv".

2.1.6 Header

When the header style is chosen, the header can have the Chapter number and Section number (e.g., Chapter 2, Section 3) on even numbered page headers and Chapter title or Section title on the odd numbered page header.

2.1.7 Paragraph format

Vertical space between paragraphs shall be about 2.5 line spacing. The first line of each paragraph should normally be indented by five characters or 12mm. A candidate may, however, choose not to indent if he/she has provided sufficient paragraph separation. A paragraph should normally comprise more than one line. A single line of

a paragraph shall not be left at the top or bottom of a page (that is, no windows or orphans should be left). The word at the right end of the first line of a page or paragraph should, as far as possible, not be hyphenated.

2.2 Chapter and Section Format

2.2.1 Chapter

Each chapter shall begin on a fresh page with an additional top margin of about 75mm. Chapter number (in Hindu-Arabic) and title shall be printed at the centre of the line in 6mm font size (18pt) in bold face using both upper and lower case (all capitals or small capitals shall not be used). A vertical gap of about 25mm shall be left between the Chapter number and Chapter title lines and between chapter title line and the first paragraph.

2.2.2 Sections and Subsections

A chapter can be divided into Sections, Subsections and Sub-sub Sections so as to present different concepts separately. Sections and subsections can be numbered using decimal points, e.g. 2.2 for the second section in Chapter 2 and 2.3.4 for the fourth Subsection in third Section of Chapter 2. Chapters, Sections and Subsections shall be included in the contents with page numbers flushed to the right. Further subsections need not be numbered or included in the contents. The Section and Sub-Section titles along with their numbers in 5 and 4mm (16 and 14 pt) fonts, respectively, in bold face shall be flushed to the left (not centered) with 15 mm space above and below these lines. In further subdivisions character size of 3 and 3.5 with bold face, small caps, all caps and italics may be used for the titles flushed left or centered. These shall not feature in the contents.

2.2.3 Table / Figure Format

As far as possible, tables and figures should be presented in portrait style. Small size table and figures (less than half of writing area of a page) should be incorporated within the text, while larger ones may be presented on separate pages. Table and figures shall be numbered chapter wise.

For example, the fourth figure in chapter 5 will bear the number Figure 5.4 or Fig 5.4 Table number and title will be placed above the table while the figure number and caption will be located below the figure. Reference for Table and Figures reproduced from elsewhere shall be cited in the last and separate line in the table and figure caption, e.g. (after McGregor [12]).

3. Auxiliary Format

3.1 Binding

The evaluation copies of the thesis/dissertation/report may be spiral bound or soft bound. The final hard bound copies to be submitted after the viva-voce examination

will be accepted during the submission of thesis/dissertation/report with the following colour specification:

Ph.D. Thesis Black

3.2 Front Covers

The front covers shall contain the following details:

Full title of thesis in 6 mm 22 point's size font properly centered and positioned at the top. Full name of the candidate in 4.5 mm 15 point's size font properly centered at the middle of the page. A 40 mm dia replica of the Institute emblem followed by the name of department, name of the Institute and the year of submission, each in a separate line and properly centered and located at the bottom of page.

3.2.1 Lettering

All lettering shall be embossed in gold.

3.2.2 Bound back

The degree, the name of the candidate and the year of submission shall also be embossed on the bound (side) in gold.

3.3 Blank Sheets

In addition to the white sheets (binding requirement) two white sheets shall be put at the beginning and the end of the thesis.

3.4 Title Sheet

This shall be the first printed page of the thesis and shall contain the submission statement: the Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Ph.D. Degree, the name and Roll No. of the candidate, name(s) of the Supervisor and Co-supervisor(s) (if any), Department, Institute and year of submission.

Sample copy of the 'Title Sheet' is appended (Specimen 'A').

3.5 Dedication Sheet

If the candidate so desires(s), he/she may dedicate his/her thesis, which statement shall follow the title page. If included, this shall form the page 1 of the auxiliary sheets but shall not have a page number.

3.6 Approval Sheet

In the absence of a dedication sheet this will form the first page and in that case shall not have a page number. Otherwise, this will bear the number two in Roman lower case "ii" at the centre of the footer. The top line shall be:

1. Thesis Approval for Ph.D.

The Approval Sheets are to be included only in the hard bound copies which are submitted after the successful Ph.D. viva voce examination.

A sample copy of the Approval Sheet is appended (Specimen B').

3.7 Abstract

The 500 word abstract shall highlight the important features of the thesis/dissertation/report and shall correspond to the electronic version to be submitted to the Library for inclusion in the website. The Abstract in the thesis, however, shall have two more parts, namely, the layout of the thesis giving a brief chapter wise description of the work and the key words.

3.8 Contents

The contents shall follow the Abstract and shall enlist the titles of the chapters, section and subsection using decimal notation, as in the text, with corresponding page number against them, flushed to the right.

3.8.1 List of Figures and Tables

Two separate lists of Figure captions and Table titles along with their numbers and corresponding page numbers against them shall follow the Contents.

3.9 Abbreviation Notation and Nomenclature

A complete and comprehensive list of all abbreviations, notations and nomenclature including Greek alphabets with subscripts and superscripts shall be provided after the list of tables and figures. As far as possible, generally accepted symbols and notation should be used.

Auxiliary page from dedication (if any) to abbreviations shall be numbered using Roman numerals in lower case, while the text starting from the Introduction shall be in Hindu Arabic. The first pages in the both the cases shall not bear a page number.

3.10 A Declaration of Academic Honesty and Integrity

A declaration of Academic honesty and integrity is required to be included along with every thesis/dissertation/report after the approval sheet. The format of this declaration is given in Specimen 'C' attached.