>> Programs > Ph.D. with Course Work SECTION I – PLAN 'A' DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D.) WITH COURSE WORK 1.  Definition of the Terms and Phrases used in the Bulletin 1.1.  Academic year: a period of one year beginning in the month of Shrawan  (July-August) each year. 1.2.  Semester: a period covering start of classes till end of the final exams. It covers a period of 90 effective days of teaching plus two weeks for final examinations. 1.3.  Curriculum: a series of courses designed to provide learning opportunities to meet the requirements for a degree. 1.4.  Course: a unit of instruction to be covered. 1.5.  Credit hours (or course credit or credits): each credit hour represents one hour of lecture or 3 hours of field or lab work per week throughout a semester. 1.6.  Course load: the number of credit hours a student registers in a semester. 1.7.  Postgraduate: usually includes both M.Sc. and Ph.D. unless stated otherwise.  2.   Degree Name 2.1. Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Agriculture with major in  (name of the major subject) and minor in (name of the minor subject). 2.2.  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Animal Science with major in  (name of the major subject) and minor in (name of the minor subject).     3.   Duration of Ph.D. Degree  The normal duration is three years.  4.   System of Education   4.1.    Semester system. 4.2.    There will be two semesters, the 1st and the 2nd, per academic year. 5.   Number of Seats     Based on available human resource and facilities. 6.   Admission Requirements   6.1.   Open Competition  6.1.1.  For Ph.D. degree an applicant must have earned an M.Sc. Agric. or equivalent degree in the related field 6.1.2.  The candidate must have graduated from an Institution where undergraduate and postgraduate teaching medium is English. 6.1.3.  The candidate must have graduated in the 1st division or equivalent at the master level. 6.1.4.  The candidate must have published at least two research articles in the journal as a senior author. 6.1.5.  Must produce confidential letters of recommendation from two referees who would be in a position to judge academic and research capabilities of the candidate to undertake the Ph.D. study successfully.  At least one of the letters must be from a university professor. 6.1.6.  Must produce and present orally a concept research proposal for Ph.D. dissertation before the Ph.D. Committee. 6.2.    In-service Candidates from IAAS  6.2.1.  Must meet the requirements stated in the Sections 6.1.1, 6.1.2, 6.1.4, 6.1.5 and 6.1.6. 6.2.2.  Must have graduated with a minimum of the second division or equivalent at the master level. 6.2.3.  Must be officially nominated 6.3.  Sponsored/In-service Candidates from an Agency within Nepal  6.3.1.  Must meet the requirements stated in the Sections 6.1.1, 6.1.2, 6.1.4, 6.1.5, 6.1.6 and 6.2.2. 6.3.2.  Must have a letter of financial sponsorship 6.4.  Candidates from Other Countries  6.4.1.  Must meet the requirements stated in the Sections 6.1.1, 6.1.2, 6.1.4, 6.1.5, 6.1.6 and 6.2.2. 6.4.2.  Must have a proof of financial support. 7.   Admission Procedure  7.1. Properly filled out applications forms, required fees and the certified copies of the academic certificates and transcripts along with three copies of recent passport size photo of the candidate should be sent to the Postgraduate Program, IAAS, Rampur, Nepal, prior to the deadline. 7.2. The candidate must defend the concept research proposal in presence of the Admission Committee. 7.3. For open competition, the deadlines for application and admission will be advertised each year. The list of the selected candidates will be posted at the Institute. The selected candidates should submit their original transcripts, certificates and other documents at the time of admission. The candidates who have not been previously registered in the Tribhuvan University are required to submit their migration certificate for their registration at the Tribhuvan University. 8.   Qualifying Examination All students willing to enroll in the Ph.D. program must take a written qualifying examination. It consists of two parts; Part A: English test, Part B: Subject test. The Ph.D. Program Committee will conduct this examination. To pass the qualifying examination, a student must obtain 50% marks in each part. A student failing the qualifying examination will not be admitted in the Ph.D. program. However, if a student produces TOEFL score of 500 or above need not to take English test for Ph.D. admission but qualifying examination Part B: Subject test must be taken by the end of the 1st semester.  9.   Residential Requirement and Time Limit  All the students must meet the residential requirement of at least two-years. Maximum time allowed for the completion of the Ph.D. degree from the date of the first enrollment is seven academic years. The postgraduate students must sign up the daily student attendance register in the department. A student must enroll in each semester till his/her degree requirements are completed or till the acceptance of final hardbound dissertation. If a student fails to do so, he/she will automatically be dropped from the academic program. 10.  Type of Courses 10.1.  Departmental courses: These are the courses offered primarily by the major department or closely related departments. 10.2.  Basic courses: These are the courses in Statistics, Plant/Crop Physiology, Biochemistry and Technical Writing. 10.3.  Interdepartmental courses: These are the same courses taught by more than one department. 10.4. Seminar: There will be two seminars, each weighing 1 credit hour. The first seminar will be on dissertation research proposal while the second seminar will be on research findings. 10.5. Dissertation research: This refers to development of research proposal, planning and conducting experiments, data analysis, and interpretation of the findings. A student will receive Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grade for thesis research.  11.  Course Code The numbers assigned in each course code represent the followings.            700 series in general           :           Postgraduate courses            899                                 :           Ph.D. seminar            900                                 :           Ph.D. dissertation 12.   Credit Hour Requirement 12.1. All students admitted to Ph.D. program must enroll and pass a minimum of 45 credit hours including 15 credit hours of dissertation and 2 credit hours of Ph.D. seminar. 12.2. All students must complete a minimum of 12 credit hours postgraduate courses, 2 credit hour seminar and 15 credit hours dissertation from major department, and a minimum of 8 credit hours from the department of minor subjects. The remaining 8 credit hours can be taken from any relevant department. 12.3. All students majoring in Crop Science (Agronomy, Horticulture, Plant Breeding, Soil Science, Plant Pathology, Entomology and Environmental Science) are also required to complete Agricultural Statistics, Crop or Plant Physiology and Biochemistry courses. The students majoring in Animal Science are required to complete Agricultural Statistics and Biochemistry. The students majoring in Social Sciences are required to complete Statistics for Social Sceinces and Research Methodology. These requirements can be exempted if a student has completed such courses at the M.S. level. However, exemption doesn't mean the reduction in the total 45 required credit hours. 12.4. All students must enroll in 9-16 credit hours per semester except for the last semester of final graduation where credit hours may be lower.   13.  Dissertation 13.1. The research proposal for the dissertation submitted by the student will be reviewed by the members of the Advisory Committee and forward to IAAS Research Committee through PG Coordinator. The Dean upon the recommendation of the Research Committee will approve the proposal. The suggestion of the sponsoring/funding agencies may be considered, if timely made. 13.2. All students must get the research proposal approved by the end of the 2nd semester. However, dissertation research may be initiated in the second semester if a student passes all the courses enrolled in the first semester. 13.3.  The student must conduct the research, write a report, and successfully defend it through an open seminar in the presence of the members of his/her advisory committee who will evaluate the performance and recommend if the student has successfully defended the dissertation. The Advisory Committee members may ask the student to modify, change or rewrite the report, if necessary. The student will be allowed only two chances to defend  the dissertation. If the student fails twice, he/she will be automatically dropped from the program. 13.4. Eight copies of a well-written dissertation approved by the Advisory Committee must be submitted to the Dean for final approval. Dissertation must be prepared according to the guidelines provided in the dissertation preparation bulletin. 13.5.  The Dean will send the student's dissertation for the external evaluation either in country or outside the country. The external examiner must approve the dissertation for degree award. The student may be asked to incorporate the comments of external examiner(s) before accepting for degree award.  In case of disapproval of a dissertation, a second opinion would be sought from a second examiner. If the second examiner also rejects the dissertation, the student will be automatically dropped from the Ph.D. program. 13.6. Six copies of the full explanatory abstract, both in English and in Nepali, must be submitted. 14.  Advisory System  14.1. An Advisory Committee consisting of a Major Advisor and a minimum of two other members will academically guide a student throughout the Ph.D. course. One of the two members will come from the major department and another from the minor department.  The Major Advisor will serve as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee. 14.2. The Major Advisor will be assigned by the Dean usually prior to the acceptance of a student for admission. 14.3. If the Major Advisor is not assigned prior to the admission, the Assistant Dean of the Postgraduate Program will serve as a temporary Major Advisor till a regular Major Advisor is assigned. The Major Advisor will assist the student in setting up an Advisory Committee. 14.4. The Major Advisor must be a Ph.D. from among the faculty members of the related department at the rank of Reader or Professor, have served as the Chairman of the advisory committee at M.Sc. level, and have published 5 articles with a minimum of 3 as the senior author.  14.5. Senior Ph.D. scientist from outside IAAS within T.U., other universities, NARC, Department of Agriculture, or from any related national/international institutions may serve on the Advisory Committee as Co-advisor or as a member if agreed upon by the Major Advisor and the approved by the Dean. For such a member, prior approval must be taken from the Dean by completing the required form.  The role of such a member must be specified in preparation of the student’s dissertation. 14.6. The members of the Advisory Committee from IAAS must be a Ph.D. and have 3 research articles published in the journal as a senior author. The non-teaching member from outside IAAS must be a Ph.D. with proven records of research experience and published at least 3 research articles in the journal as a senior author. 14.7.  For being appointed as a Co-advisor, the person must be directly supervising the student in conducting thesis research. 15.  Attendance Requirement Same as Section 15 of M.Sc. Program 16.  Evaluation and Grading  Same as Section 16 of M.Sc. Program 17.  Comprehensive Examination 17.1.  After successful completion of at least 80% of the courses approved on the Plan of Study, there will be a written comprehensive examination conducted by the examination section followed by a verbal examination conducted by the students Advisory Committee.  The student will be graded on the basis of both written and verbal examinations. The written and verbal examinations will carry 75% and 25% points, respectively. For successful completion of this examination, the student must secure cumulative 50% marks. In case of failure, a second chance will be given to the student only after at least one month from the first examination. The student, failing even in the second examination will be automatically dropped from the program. 17.2.  A student will be declared a candidate for Ph.D. degree only after his/her successful completion of the Comprehensive Examination. 17.3. A student can submit dissertation to the Postgraduate Program for examination only after passing the comprehensive examination. 18.  Seminar                18.1   A student must enroll and present two graduate seminars of one credit each. The    first seminar will be usually on the dissertation proposal and second on the findings    of thesis research. However, only one credit will be registered in a semester.     18.2 The student seminar will be evaluated jointly by the seminar teacher and the   external examiner. The passing score is 50% in aggregate. 19. Completion of the Degree Program 19.1.   For completion of the Ph.D. degree program, a student must have: i)        passed all the courses with a minimum of 50% in each course, and ii)       successfully conducted the doctoral dissertation research, written an acceptable dissertation, incorporated the comments of external examiner and passed all the required examinations. 19.2. A student enrolled in a semester who intends to graduate must submit the final hardbound dissertation signed by all members of his/her advisory committee, to the postgraduate program by the last working day before admission date for the following semester. The student failing to do so must enroll in the following semester. 20. Dropping a Semester    Once admitted, a student shall not be allowed to drop the semester or course(s). If a student does not appear in the final examination, he/she will be considered as failed in the subject(s) registered in a given semester.   A student cannot differ the admission. For valid reasons, if a student must misses out a complete semester of instruction with enrollment, the Postgraduate Program Committee may allow re-admission, if prior approval is obtained by the student. Once admitted, no fees, whatsoever, will be refunded if a student decides to quit the academic program.