The Ph.D. Programme in collaboration with National Law University (NLU), Jodhpur, aims at providing high quality training to the students to become distinguished, pioneering and innovative teachers, trainers, consultants and researchers. This collaborative venture will ensure that its Ph.D. students are equipped as to meet the global standards of quality learning.

The Ph.D. Degree shall be awarded by NLU in collaboration with IMT

Areas of Research

Tentative prospective areas of research for this collaborative programme shall be in the field of Management, Science and Technology, Law, Humanities and other emerging and interdisciplinary areas such as IPR and Cyber Law & Security, etc.

Specifications of Research Programme

a. This 2-year  Ph.D. Programme comprises of four semesters that may be extended up to four years (another four semesters). One semester is approximately for 6 months. The minimum period after which a candidate can submit his/her thesis shall be minimum two years and maximum four years from the date of registration.

b. Research can be conducted at either of the two institutions but the presentation of research synopsis and public defense of the thesis will be before the statutory body jointly constituted by the NLU and IMT.

c. In this collaborative programme, IMT will provide technical support to the Ph.D. candidates and faculty for online interaction through video conferencing.

Eligibility

Minimum eligibility for this Ph.D. Programme shall be Post Graduation in the concerned discipline or subject, from an Indian or a foreign University, with minimum 55% marks in aggregate or equivalent grade in the Post Graduate examination.

Residential Requirement for Research

For this Ph.D. Programme, a candidate shall be in residence at NLU or any campus of IMT for at least for 60 days in total in the four semesters of his research period. Here, each academic year comprises of 2 semesters.

Admission Procedure

The admission to this Ph.D. Programme will be through an Entrance Test followed by a   Personal Interview. This may be conducted either at NLU or IMT. The question paper will be multiple choice for 100 marks. There will be 4 marks allotted for each correct answer and 1 mark deducted for each incorrect answer. The questions will be broadly set on communication skills, mental ability/reasoning and research
aptitude.

The Successful candidates  would then be called for Personal Interview on the same date in the afternoon session. Appearance in Personal Interview will be determined by the score of the Entrance test whose result will be declared on the same date at 2 pm.

Final admission will be declared after personal interview depending on the marks scored in the Entrance Test and Personal Interview. Vice-Chancellor, NLU may constitute the board for personal interviews comprising of faculty members of NLU. Director, IMT may constitute the board for personal interviews comprising of in-house faculty members of IMT.

Evaluation Parameters for Personal Interview.

Following may be the evaluation parameters and weightage for the Personal Interview:

i. The total score including all the parameters will be 100.

ii. Subject awareness (includes awareness of contemporary developments in the subject): Weightage of this parameter will be 50.

iii. Research Credentials (includes publication of books, text, etc.): Weightage of this parameter will be 15.

iv. Motivation for research (includes preparedness i.e. topic identification, synopsis development, etc.): Weightage of this parameter will be 15.

v. Relevance of work profile to topic of research: Weightage of this parameter will be 10.

vi. Communication plus behavioural skills: Weight age of this parameter will be 10.
Other Modalities for Admission

Other modalities regarding admission procedure are as follows:
a. A candidate should score at least 60% in the Personal Interview to qualify for this programme.

b. The broad field of research in which the candidate is interested shall be identified and recorded in the Personal Interview.

c. Candidates qualifying for the admission are required to pay the prescribed fees for provisional registration. The period of registration will be counted from the date of payment of fees.

d. The fee for each semester will be Rs. 25,000/- . The fees may be revised from time to time by the mutual consent between the NLU and IMT.

e. While staying at NLU or IMT  campus to fulfill the residential requirement, the candidate shall bear boarding and lodging charges on his/her own.

f. At the time of admission, a Research Supervisor either from NLU or IMT, with mutual consent, will be allocated to the candidate as per the field of research in which the candidate is interested.

g. It will be optional for the candidate to choose one Co-Supervisor in consultation to Research Supervisor. The Co-Supervisor may be from NLU/IMT/Industry/University or any other reputed institutes like IITs, IIMs, etc.

Other Technicalities During the Tenure of Research

a. After the admission, the Research Scholar shall remain in constant communication with Research Supervisor and Co-Supervisor as allocated to them.

b. The Research Scholar shall finalise his research synopsis in consultation with his Research Supervisor and Co-Supervisor (if any) within six months of admission.

c. A Research scholar shall make a presentation of synopsis of the research proposal in front of the Research Board. On the acceptance of the research proposal, the registration of the scholar shall stand confirmed. If the Board is not satisfied by the research proposal, the scholar shall revise the proposal and present it again before the Board.

d. The registration must be confirmed within one year of the provisional registration.

e. After registration, a research scholar must submit progress report at the end of each Semester (after every six months) indicating the extent of research work completed. This progress report shall be submitted to the Research Committee through the Research Supervisor with appropriate comments.

f. Meeting of the Research Committee may be held at the end of each semester to review the progress reports.

g. A Research Scholar admitted for this  Ph.D. Programme shall take one compulsory course of Research Methodology. A Research Scholar is required to attend minimum of 30 classes of this course. Classes will be conducted online by the faculty members of NLU or

IMT, the schedule of which will be communicated in advance. Each Research Scholar shall score minimum 60% marks in the examination held for this paper. The examination for this paper will be scheduled at the end of each semester. A Research Scholar shall take this examination at NLU or any of the Centres of IMT. A Research Scholar has to compulsorily clear this paper within one year from the date of provisional registration.
Submission of Ph.D. Thesis

(i) 6 Months prior to the submission, the Research Supervisor shall forward a panel of 12 external examiners, who are competent to evaluate the thesis, with full particulars of each to the Research Committee.

(ii) The Chairman of the Research Committee in consultation with the Co-Chairman shall appoint three examiners amongst the list submitted by the Supervisor.

(iii) A Research Scholar shall send 4 copies of the abstract of the thesis to the Registrar, NLU through the Research Supervisor, at least two months prior to the submission of the thesis. The abstract will be sent to the examiners along with the request to accept the work for evaluation.

(iv) A Research Scholar shall submit the thesis within a period of six months from the date of submission of Panel of Examiners. The Chairman and Co-chairman of Research Committee in consultation, may, on the recommendation of the Research Supervisor, grant an extension up to a maximum period of six months.

(v) A Research Scholar shall not be allowed to submit the thesis for the Degree unless the Supervisor is satisfied that the thesis is worthy of consideration for the award of the Ph.D. Degree.

(vi) The Research Supervisor forwards the thesis with the following certificate 
a) That this research work has not been carried out earlier in its present shape.
b) That this research work is original based on doctrinal/empirical/factual/experimental/survey study or an analysis/ evaluation of existing facts or principles.
c) That the Research Scholar has fulfilled the residential requirements as per the rules.
(vii) Such a certificate shall be countersigned by either the concerned Dean of the Faculty of NLU to which Research Supervisor belongs or by the Director IMT in case if Research Supervisor belongs to IMT.

(viii) A Research Scholar must submit four printed or typed copies of the thesis to the examinations branch of NLU.

(ix) The Research Scholar may incorporate in the thesis the contents of any work, which he/she may have published on the subject but shall not submit in the thesis any work for which a Degree has been conferred on him/her by NLU or any other University.

(x) The Chairman of the Research Committee in consultation with Co-Chairman will appoint members of the Board of examiners for thesis defense for each thesis submission within one month of the appointment of the examiners.