Indore: Aspiring researchers could get a wider choice of doctoral seats at Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV) this year, with the university preparing to offer more than 700 PhD seats in its upcoming admission cycle.
The number could cross 800 once the process of adding new research guides and assessing the availability of existing guides is completed by the end of Nov.
Online registrations for the PhD admissions are expected to begin in the first week of Nov, with the admission process scheduled for Dec. The university will continue with two routes for admission, Doctoral Entrance Test (DET) for engineering-related subjects and the non-DET route for other disciplines.
Around 150 seats are expected to be available across 13 subjects under DET, while the non-DET category is likely to have more than 550 seats across 27 subjects. Candidates applying under the non-DET category must have qualified UGC National Eligibility Test (NET). Engineering aspirants will have to appear for the entrance examination, tentatively scheduled for the third week of Dec.
PhD cell in-charge Ashesh Tiwari said the university will begin the formalities in Nov. Candidates applying through either route will also have to appear before Research Advisory Committee (RAC) for an interview.
The upcoming cycle could help fill several seats that remained vacant in the previous round. As many as 451 seats in non-DET subjects and around 50 seats in engineering-related disciplines are currently vacant. The university expects the engineering vacancy count to rise to around 150, while the addition of new research guides could create further opportunities.
However, the number of eligible applicants remains a concern in some disciplines. Political science already has around 170 NET-qualified candidates waiting for seats, while management, commerce and sociology have several times more aspirants than available seats. Yet, many applicants in these subjects do not qualify NET, leaving seats vacant despite demand.
The university is also considering offering one or two seats in subjects such as data science, energy and environment, statistics, geography, history, dance and music, which had no seats in the previous admission cycle.
