Osmania University, one of the oldest universities in the country, has decided to do away with its entrance tests for PhD admissions.
Students seeking to pursue PhD programmes from the university will henceforth have to qualify in the University Grants Commission (UGC) – National Eligibility Test (NET). The move by the university comes following the UGC issuing a notice to the universities asking them to use the NET scores for the PhD admissions in the place of entrance tests.
“As per the instructions from the UGC, the PhD admissions will be done via NET scores only and PhD entrance tests will not be conducted. The university has already rolled out PhD admissions under category – I JRF,” said Prof. P Laxminarayana, Registrar
OU.
Starting June 2024, the UGC has decided to declare NET eligibility in three categories. In the first category, candidates will be eligible for PhD admission with JRF and appointment as an assistant professor.
In the second category, candidates are given PhD admission without JRF and appointment as an assistant professor. As for the third category, candidates will be eligible for only PhD admission without the JRF and assistant professor position.
Earlier, the OU admitted students into PhD programmes under three categories – Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), NET/SET qualified and PhD entrance test. On several occasions, the university’s PhD entrance test ran into rough weather with students demanding lowering the qualifying mark to as low as 15 for the PhD admission.