Thesis Submission

The thesis submitted by a candidate for the PhD degree must comply with the following conditions:

1. It must form a distinct contribution to knowledge and afford evidence of originality either by the discovery of new facts or by the exercise of independent critical judgment duly certified by the concerned supervisor. It must not include research work for which a degree has been already conferred.
2. It must be written in English language and the writing quality of the dissertation must be at par with the standards of publications in a peer-reviewed ISI indexed journal in the field of research.
3. For any part of the thesis, which has been published before the submission of the thesis, a list of published work should be appended at the end of the thesis.
4. The thesis must meet the similarity index requirements as per HEC policy.
5. The thesis must be formatted and bound in accordance with the specifications mentioned in the most recent version of Thesis Guidelines .
6. Upon completion of all PhD study / research requirements, the candidate shall submit to Dean (Research), through the HoD, four soft-bound copies and one soft copy (pdf format) of the thesis on a CD along with an application form duly approved by her / his PhD Supervisor / co-supervisor for the evaluation of his / her thesis.

Thesis Evaluation

1. The Rector shall appoint a panel of external reviewers on the recommendations of the Head of Department and supervisor from the comprehensive list of reviewers approved by CGSR. This panel will include three external reviewers, preferably from technologically / academically advanced countries.
2. Controller of Examinations will send the thesis to the approved reviewers with the request of thesis evaluation within a period of six weeks after sending the thesis to the reviewers. A copy of the letter shall also be forwarded to Dean Research, relevant Department Head / Director of the affiliated institute.
3. Controller of Examinations will receive the evaluation reports and forward it to Dean Research for further processing. A copy of the evaluation reports shall also be sent to the relevant Department Heads / Director of the institute.
4. The relevant Department Head / Director of the institute shall also keep track of the report received. In case of a delay of more than six weeks, the Department Head / Director of the institute, under intimation to Dean Research, shall initiate a request to the Controller of Examinations (PIEAS) for a reminder of the evaluations.
5. After a thesis has been sent to a reviewer, any query / request with the reviewers regarding the thesis evaluations shall be communicated through the Controller of Examinations (PIEAS) only.
6. In case, an external reviewer does not respond within 3 months, and two satisfactory reports have been received, the student will be allowed to defend her / his thesis in front of the panel of thesis examiners.
7. In case two or more evaluation reports are not received within a period of three months, the procedure from claus 6-b(i) will be repeated for appointing new reviewer(s).
8. Each reviewer in the panel will assign one of the three categories to the thesis given below. The reviewer will also be required to provide a detailed evaluation and critique of the thesis on the prescribed pro forma.
   • Satisfactory (S): The thesis meets the degree requirements in scope, contribution to knowledge and research methodology. Some minor improvements in one or more of the following may also be suggested: presentation and analysis of results, layout and quality of writing.
   • Major Revision required (M): The research problem considered in the thesis satisfies the requirements of a PhD degree but the thesis requires major changes in one or more of the following: scope, contribution to knowledge and research methodology. A re-evaluation of the thesis would be required in this case.
   • Unsatisfactory (U): The thesis does not satisfy the expectations and requirements for a PhD degree.
9. The following table describes the action in response to thesis evaluation reports:

   Only two reports have been received

   Evaluation	Action
   SS	Schedule the PhD Defence if the third report is not received within three months, otherwise proceed to get the third report as per defined procedure.
   UU	Failure in obtaining the PhD degree.
   SM, SU, MM, MU	Proceed to get the third report as per defined procedure.

   Three reports have been received

   Evaluation	Action
   SSS	Schedule the PhD Defence.
   SSM, SSU	Revise the thesis. Thesis review by a Re-evaluation Committee (see sub clause ).
   SMM, SMU,MMU, MMM	Revise the thesis. Re-evaluation of the thesis by the external reviewers. Two or more Satisfactory reports of the re-evaluations are required in order to continue the PhD studies,otherwise failure in obtaining the PhD degree.
   SUU, MUU, UUU	Failure in obtaining the PhD degree

10. In case of thesis major revision, the candidate will be required to resubmit a revised thesis within one year. In case of thesis re-evaluation by the external reviewers, the student has to pay the thesis evaluation fee again.
11. A three-member thesis Re-evaluation Committee to review a thesis, if required, shall be constituted by Dean Research in consultation with the relevant HoD.
12. Any minor modifications / revisions shall be incorporated without referring again to the external reviewers, and supervisor shall make sure that appropriate changes have been done in the thesis by the student before scheduling the final defence. The student will prepare and submit a point by point summary of the changes incorporated in the thesis.
13. In case, an external reviewer does not respond within 3 months, and two satisfactory reports have been received, the student will be allowed to defend her / his work in front of the panel of thesis examiners for final open defence.
14. In case two or more evaluation reports are not received within a period of three months, the procedure from step '6-b(i)' will be repeated for appointing new reviewer(s).