Duration and eligibility

Objectives

Learning outcome

The overall aim of this course is to establish a common basis for the Ph.D. research education within the field of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Linguistics, Sanskrit and Lexicography as well as to provide insight into the historical, methodological and theoretical framework of concerned subjects, qualitative and quantitative research methodology and research ethics.

The student should have insight both into the theoretical and practical aspects of research methodology, research ethics as well as the quality criteria for research. Students are expected to acquire the following;

1. Develop skills to formulate research goals and a plan to reach these goals within the subject area of the candidate, and especially prepare the research plan for his/her Ph.D. thesis
2. Carrying out the literature search and acquiring knowledge from previously published research articles.
3. Understanding the peer review process for regular and scientific articles.
4. Gaining general competence into the understanding of quality in research as well as his/her ability to reason critically and utilize this ability to ensure quality control and further development of the knowledge present in the literature.

Learning methods and activities

Lectures, group discussions, assignments, and self-study. Lectures to be announced and independent projects work will be encouraged. Mandatory attendance and preparation of an approved research plan.

Syllabus

Course content

The course contents are;

Theoretical and Practical information about different phases of research, an overview of research planning, time management, and supervisor’s role, and others;

Research methods: Criteria for literature review, critical use of existing knowledge, generalising and defining limits for generalization of new findings;

Publication: Various aspects related to publications in various national and international journals, books, and conference proceedings such as the structure of the article, keywords, referencing, and others;

Theorising: Scientific method, innovation, systemizing and classifying, hypothesis development and testing, establishing models, evaluating own work, and others;

Ethics: Ethics in the field of the concerned subjects, avoid research that causes the unjustified risk to people, striving for objectivity (in the research process and the presentation of results), handling uncertainty, plagiarism, and copyright information.

Fee Structure

No tuition and exam fees will be charged for the PhD students of Deccan College (Those who have registered for PhD with Deccan College) Outside PhD students and Post-Graduate students will be charged Rs.5000/-. This includes the tuition fees and exam fees for the course. Library facility will be provided to the outside PhD students as per the university library rules.

• Registration letter issued for PhD by the College/University.
• Post-Graduate degree certificate by the College/University
• A letter of confirmation of the admission will be issued to the candidate after the documents specified above have been submitted, verified and found in order.

As part of continuous assessment, the pattern of Evaluation is designed as follows;

1. Out of the 75 sessions planned for the course, 30% of sessions will be conducted commonly for the students of all the disciplines and 70% of sessions will be conducted by the respective departments for the Subject-specific Research Methodology. Students should have 75% attendance.
2. Students, who complete the assignments and have 75% attendance, will be considered eligible for the test and presentation.
3. The procedure of assessment will be divided into four sections :
   1. Consists of a descriptive written test of 30 marks based on the part of the syllabus covered in the General Sessions on RM Course.
   2. Mid-Term Tests (I & II) Consist of 40 marks. The Course Coordinator may organise these two tests in two to four instalments giving multiple options of questions (MCQ, fill in the blanks, yes/no, true/false, research article and book review, quiz, and even a discussion session to approve or disapprove a hypothesis or a premise, etc.).
   3. Consists of a PowerPoint Presentation given by the student on the topic of research of his or her interest. 10 Marks are assigned for this presentation. This presentation will be evaluated by a panel of experts on the basis of following parameters; Topic selection, aims, and objectives, research methodology, content, structure, and defence.
   4. Consists of the Research paper the student has to prepare during these six months’ time and has to be submitted after the written examination. This research paper will be evaluated by the experts for 20 Marks.

Individual passing in all four components is compulsory for every student.

1. Thus, written tests (30 marks), Mid Term Tests (40 marks), presentations (10 marks), and Research Paper (20 marks) will be scored out of 100 marks.
2. To be eligible to pass in the examination of the course a student should secure minimum passing percentage of 50% i.e., 50 marks out of 100 marks (Written test and presentation marks taken together. However, minimum 7 marks in the written test are required).
3. The grade will be assigned to the students on the basis of marks they secure out of 100. The grade will appear on the certificate