Jaipur: The University of Rajasthan has begun preparations for PhD admissions for the current session, dropping the written entrance exam this year. Admissions will be conducted through interviews in line with UGC regulations.Vice-chancellor Prof Alpana Kateja has set up a committee to oversee the process, which has asked all departments to submit details of vacant PhD seats.University officials said that this year, the total number of seats across all departments is expected to exceed 400. The entire process of identifying vacant seats in the university will be completed in April before applications are invited. “Admissions for PhD will be conducted soon, a committee is assessing how many seats are vacant and accordingly the admission process will be started. We are aiming to complete admission by June so that research work can start from the new academic session. This year admissions will be conducted based on NET score and interview,” said the vice-chancellor.Under the new regulations, only candidates who have qualified in the UGC or CSIR NET/JRF examinations will be eligible for admission. Admissions are expected to be offered for over 1,000 seats.Candidates will be called for an interview based on their percentile in UGC NET (National Eligibility Test) / UGC-CSIR NET / GATE / CEED and similar national-level tests. The number of candidates invited for the interview will be twice the number of notified PhD seats in the respective department or centre. The interview will carry 100 marks.“Due to the delay in the admission process since two years, the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) eligibility lapsed for many students. Waiting for the admission process, many were compelled to seek admission in private universities instead. The academic sessions for 2024 and 2025 now stand on the brink of being declared ‘Zero Sessions’,” said Sajjan Saini, a post-doctoral fellow at RU.In Aug last year, the university’s academic council recommended that research scholars be allowed to teach regular classes alongside their doctoral studies. This was seen as an initiative to address faculty shortages, with over 60% of teaching posts currently vacant and enhance the academic experience at the university.
