Since the start of the pandemic, University Grants Commission (UGC) Extending the thesis submission deadline for MPhil and PhD students. While the commission claims that this is a step adopted to help students in their PhD and MPhil courses and to take the stress off their shoulders, scholars and researchers claim otherwise.
The Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS), in its recent report, has claimed that major concerns in the minds of research scholars include closure of laboratory work, fellowship disruption and experimental work pending for manuscripts. For the longest time, researchers did not have access to laboratories or limited access due to the pandemic.
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Experiments that are important for addressing all purposes of their thesis or revisions asked by the reviewers are all running as of late. Some researchers have even submitted thesis without completing their work. As per the report, most of the students are of the opinion that the pandemic has affected their post-PhD plans.
Although detail may help, most research scholars believe that it is actually the lack of funding that has caused the most problems for researchers, with 42.8 percent of researchers claiming that lack of funds is the major issue. According to the report, among those who received the money, 14.6 per cent received the money partially, and 28.2 per cent claimed that they did not receive the money during the pandemic.
Vicky, a research scholar at IIT-Delhi, told News18.com that the biggest disadvantage for the research scholar was the lack of exposure. “Scholars used to travel to other countries for international conferences and research before the Covid/pandemic. Interaction with foreign researchers in the same subject was extremely beneficial for research. Because of the pandemic, that part is absent. I hope it happens soon.”
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Even as the pandemic takes a long time for a researcher to earn his PhD, scholars are getting funding or fellowships for a five-year tenure, as they were before. However, after the pandemic, the government should consider extending the fellowship. He said that this would undoubtedly help scholars to conduct research without stress.
As of the current deadline, a further six months beyond 30 June for submission of M.Phil or PhD thesis on a case-to-case basis after review of the student’s work by the University and Higher Educational Institution Research Advisory Committee can give detail. and on the recommendation of the supervisor and the head of the department.
The first extension was given in June, and was further extended every six months due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation.
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