In a significant change in eligibility criterion, the University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman has announced that students with 4-year undergraduate degree with minimum 75% marks can now appear for National Eligibility Test (NET) and pursue a PhD.
UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar told news agency PTI that students having passed eight semester or 4-year undergraduate degree programme with minimum of 75% marks in aggregate or it’s equivalent grade on a point scale were now elegible to appear for NET and directly pursue for PhD.
The candidates are said to be allowed to appear for any subject they want to pursue a PhD in irrespective of the discipline of their 4-year undergraduate programmes.
‘A relaxation of 5% marks or it’s equivalent grade maybe allowed for those belonging to SC, ST, OBC (non-creamy layer), differently abled, economically weaker sections and other categories of candidates as per the decision of the UGC from time to time’, reported PTI quoting UGC Chairman.
Earlier, only candidates with a master’s degree with a minimum 55% marks were allowed to appear for National Eligibility Test (NET).
NETs are conducted twice a year in the month of June and December with it’s scores used for awarding Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and as an eligibility criterion for appointment as an assistant professors in various universities.
The UGC has already announced that NET scores were also to be valid for PhD admissions from 2024-2025, scraping the need for multiple entrance examinations conducted by various universities for candidates pursuing a PhD.
“Candidates qualifying under different categories will have their NET scores contribute significantly to their admissions, with scores remaining valid for one year”, ToI had reported.
