Post Graduate Studies - Admissions and Examination

 

MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY - MPhil

The minimum duration of studies for the M.Phil. degree shall be two years.
Admission (provisional) in M.Phil. degree shall be given at the beginning of each academic year.

1. Nature of Degree
The degree shall be a research degree with prescribed courses of 24 credit hours approved by the Departmental Boards of Studies. The course worked 24 Cr. hrs will be distributed as follows:

First Year: First semester 15 Cr. hrs. to be distributed as 5 courses of 3 Cr. hrs. each.
Second semester 9 Cr. hrs. to be distributed as 3 courses of 3 Cr. hrs. each.
Lectures and seminars shall be arranged by the department concerned to acquaint students with the technique of research and recent developments in the field.
Lecture on any other relevant topic may also be arranged by the department concerned.
The thesis shall be a piece of work embodying either a discovery of new facts or a fresh interpretation of facts or theories. In either case the work should show the candidate's capacity for critical examination and judgment.
The standard for the degree which indicates the standard of thesis submitted may be lower than the standard of the Ph.D. degree of this University.

2. Eligibility for admission
Candidates of the following categories shall be eligible for admission. The candidates shall be admitted strictly on merit.

Category A - B.Pharm. (4 years course from Karachi University).

Category B -B.Pharm. (3 years course + completion of one year deficiency courses of Karachi University as prescribed by the faculty, prior to their application for admission).

Category C -M.Sc. In allied subjects ( Biochemistry, Physiology) of the University of Karachi or of any other University of Pakistan or of a recognized foreign university or Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (M.B.B.S.) or equivalent degree holders.

The distribution of total seats for M.Phil. degree in four departments of the faculty shall be as under:

i Pharmaceutical Chemistry 10
ii Pharmaceutics 10
iii Pharmacology 04
iv Pharmacognosy 04

Interviews of the candidates qualifying for admission according to the merit list will be held to check the physical fitness, original certificates and to finalize the choice of the subject. Candidates who remain absent from the interview shall be dropped from the merit list.

3. Admission requirements
In admission, priority shall be given to B.Pharm. (4 years courses and 3 years courses + one year deficiency courses) candidates of Karachi University. Courses of 15 credit hours shall be completed by each candidate in the first semester.

Admission in M.Phil shall be given to the candidates of M.Sc. in allied subjects of the University of Karachi or of any other University of Pakistan or of a recognized foreign University or Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (M.B.B.S.) or equivalent degree holders. They should have to complete and pass courses as prescribed by the Board of Studies of the concerned department in addition to the 15 credit hour courses for M.Phil.

This policy shall not be applicable to teachers of Karachi University.

Each candidate after completion of courses offered by the department shall submit the outlines of the subject of thesis, synopsis and bibliography to the Board of Advance Studies and Research (BASR) for approval.

Candidates shall, in the first instance, be admitted as research probationers for a period of 6 months and at the end of this period their eligibility for admission in M.Phil. course as regular student will be determined by the research advisor.

The M.Phil. students will be required to submit a certificate to the effect that they were fully conversant with one of the foreign languages concerned with the subject of their thesis or they must have passed the Bachelor Examination in that language.

Application for enrollment shall be made to the Registrar in the prescribed form.

Every student shall pursue his research at Karachi University.

No student shall undertake any employment during the period of his/her work without the previous permission of the BASR. This rule shall not be applicable to teachers or employees of the recognized government semi-government research organizations.

No student shall, without the previous permission of BASR join any other course of studies or appear a any other examination conducted by any University or public body.

N.B.
All recent amendments made by Academic Council regarding attendance requirement, admission and promotion will be implemented.

No student shall, without the previous permission of the Board of Advanced studies and Research join any other course of studies or appear at any other examination conducted by any University or Public body.

4. Submission of Thesis
The candidate shall be eligible to submit his/her thesis after completing 2 calendar years from the date of admission, he/she not be allowed to submit thesis after the end of 5th year from the date of admission.

5. Modification of Subject
A candidate may, within two terms of his/her admission, modify the topic of research with the approval of the board on submitting an application recommended by the Supervisor of Research through the Chairman of the Department concerned. In such cases the Board shall determine the minimum number of terms after which the thesis may be submitted.

6. Guidance of Research
a The Board of Advanced Studies and Research shall appoint a Supervisor of Research on the recommendation of the Chairman of the Department concerned.
b Once a person is enrolled for a M.Phil. he/she shall always have a supervisor till he/she submits his/her thesis within the prescribed maximum period. In case of a Supervisor being not available for 6 months or more, alternative arrangements should be made.
c At the end of each term the supervisor shall submit a report to the Board of Advanced Studies and Research through the Chairman of the Department concerned on the progress of the students working under him.

7. Examination
a Seven typed copies of the thesis shall be submitted by the candidate for examination.
b On the recommendation of the Board of Advanced Studies and Research, the Academic Council shall appoint three examiners to examine the thesis of the candidate. One of these examiners shall be the supervisor of research, the other two shall be external examiner, not in the service of the University.
c If two of the three examiners give an adverse opinion about a thesis, it shall be rejected if, however, two of them recommend the thesis for the award of the degree and one disagrees, a fourth examiner shall be appointed by the Board and the opinion of the fourth examiner shall be final.
d The Board on receipt of report of the examiners shall arrange for a viva voce examination to be conducted by at least two examiners, one of whom shall be the supervisor of research.
e After receiving the report of examiners and the report of viva voce examination, the board shall make recommendation to the Academic Council, which shall finally decide about the conferment of the Degree.
f In case viva voce report is not found satisfactory another viva voce examination be held not before six month and not after one year and that will be the final examination.
g Copies of Examiners reports will be supplied to the supervisor after publication of results.

8. Transfer to Ph.D.
a If at the end of the two years, the Chairman of the department, on the recommendation of the supervisor of research, recommends to the Board, then the candidate may be transferred to Ph.D. cadre, However candidates admitted for M.Phil. only will not be eligible to apply for transfer to Ph.D.
b In case a student is transferred to Ph.D. the terms already kept by him shall be counted toward the total terms to be kept by him/her for Ph.D. Degree.
c A candidate already admitted for Ph.D. only on the recommendation of the Chairman of the Department and the Supervisor concerned, be transferred to M.Phil. by the Board of Advanced Studies and Research.

9. Grant of M.Phil. instead of Ph.D.
In case a thesis submitted for Ph.D. degree is found only up to M.Phil. standard, the Board of Advanced Studies and Research may on the recommendation of Examiners, confer M.Phil. degree on a student.

10. Publication of Results
Research probationers for M.Phil. degree may publish the results of part of their research work prior to submission of their thesis, to avoid the risk of losing priority. Information to this effect should be communicated to the Registrar of the University before the submission of research papers for publication. Inclusion of the reprints of published work may be optional, but the thesis must be self-contained and over the whole of the subject matter presented for M.Phil. degree.

11. Exemption
Research students migrating from other universities may be given exemption of terms upto a minimum period of one year by the Board of Advanced Studies and Research on the recommendation of the supervisor of Research and Chairman of the Department concerned. In such a case the board shall determine the maximum number of terms after which his/her thesis can be submitted. Exemption of terms will also apply to cases re-admitted as a result of first admission having lapsed.

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY - PhD

Following departments of the Faculty are eligible to award M.Phil./Ph.D. degrees in their respective discipline.
a Pharmaceutics b Pharmaceutical Chemistry
c Pharmacology d Pharmacognosy

1. Duration
The minimum duration of studies for the Ph.D. degree shall be two years.

2. The Requirement for a Degree
a Successful completion of the research project under the supervision of the research director and the presentation of the results in the form of the thesis as per prescribed requirements.
b The defence of the thesis before the examiners appointed by the University.

3. Eligibility for Admission
The Ph.D. course shall be open to such candidates who have passed the M.Phil./M.Pharm./M.Sc. examination at least in second division in an allied subject, provided that if the board of advance studies and research is satisfied as to the suitability of a candidate for doing research in subject, it may in special circumstances, relax the condition of having passed the M.Sc. examination in at least second Class in the subject/allied subject, but the candidate must possess master's degree in other faculty and have already done some research to the satisfaction of the Board of Advanced Studies and Research, Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (M.B.B.S) or equivalent degree holders are eligible for admission to Ph.D. (Pharmacology) studies.

4. Enrollment and Conditions
a Admission will in the first instance, be given as research probationers in the M.Phil./Ph.D. program. Candidates will apply on the prescribed from together with the outlines of the subject of their thesis, bibliography and synopsis. At the end of the period of probation their eligibility for admission to the M.Phil./Ph.D. course as regular students will be determined.
b The Ph.D. students are required to submit a certificate to the effect that they were fully conversant with one of the foreign languages concerned with the subject of their thesis.
c Every student shall normally pursue his research at Karachi, provided that the Board of Advanced Studies and Research may, on the recommendation of the supervisor through the Chairman of the Department and the Dean of the Faculty concerned, allow him to stay outside Karachi for a specified period not exceeding six months.
d No student shall undertake any employment during the period of his study without the permission of the Board of Advanced Studies and Research except teachers or employees of organizations where research work is done.
e No student shall, without the previous permission of the Board of Advanced Studies and Research, join any other course study or appear at any other examination conducted by any University or public body.
f Research students must contact their Supervisors once a week for seeking guidance from them. Seminars will be held in the departments for explaining the methodology of research. These seminars may be held either by separate departments or by groups of departments.

5. Submission of Thesis
a The candidate shall not submit his thesis before completing two years from the date of admission, provided that in special circumstances the Academic Council may, on the recommendation of the Board of Advanced Studies and Research, permit submission of thesis 3 months before completion of the prescribed period of two years, but the final examination shall not take place before completion of two years.
b Once a person is enrolled for Ph.D. he shall always have a supervisor till he submits his/her thesis within the prescribed maximum period. In case of a supervisor being not available for 6 months or more, alternative arrangements should be made, provided that the maximum period for the submission of thesis shall not exceed seven years.
c The candidate may, within two terms of his admission modify the subject of his research with the approval of the board on submitting an application recommended by the supervisor of research through the Chairman of the department concerned. In such a case, the board shall determine the minimum number of terms after which the thesis may be submitted.
d Research students migrating from other universities may be given examination of terms upto a maximum period of one year by the Board of Advanced Studies and Research on the recommendation of the supervisor of research and Chairman of the department concerned. In such a case the board shall determine the maximum number of terms after which his thesis can be submitted. Exemption of terms will also apply to cases readmitted as a result of first admission having lapsed.
e Four typed copies of thesis shall be submitted by the candidate for examination. It shall be a piece of work embodying either a discovery of new facts or a fresh interpretation of facts or theories. In either case the work should show the candidate's capacity for critical examination and judgment.

6. Examination
a The Board of Advanced Studies and Research shall recommend the names of three examiners for each thesis. On the recommendation of the Board of Advanced Studies and Research, the Academic Council shall appoint three examiners to examine the thesis of the candidate. One of these examiners shall be the supervisor of research, the other two shall be external examiners, not in the service of the University.
b If two of the examiners give an adverse opinion about a thesis, it shall be rejected. If however, two of them recommended the thesis for the award of the degree and only one disagree, a fourth examiner shall be appointed by the board and the opinion of the fourth examiner shall be final.
c The Board on the receipt of the reports of examiners on the thesis of a candidate shall arrange for viva voce examination to be conducted by at least two examiners, one of whom shall be Supervisor of Research, provided that in exceptional cases, a new examiner may be appointed to conduct the viva voce examination. The viva voce examination of Ph.D. candidates will be held according to the following procedure.

i. After clearance by the Board of Advanced Studies and Research for holding of the viva voce Examination the office of the Registrar will communicate the resolution of the Board to the Dean of the faculty concerned.
ii. The Dean in consultation with Director will fix the date and time of the examination.
iii. The viva voce examination shall ordinarily be held in the committee room of the faculty concerned.
iv. The Dean shall act as the titular chairman of the examination session.
v. The examination shall be conducted by the Director and the examiner only.
vi. The Director and the examiner shall communicate the decision to the Dean in writing.
vii. The candidate will be informed by the Dean about the result of his/her viva voce examination.

d The report of the examiners shall be placed before the Board of Advanced Studies and Research and finally before the Academic Council. It shall be the function of the board after considering the reports of the examiners to make recommendation to the Academic Council.
e Copies of examiners reports will be supplied to the supervisor after publication of results.
f The examination fee will be Rs.4,000/=
g Research probation for Ph.D. Degree may publish the result of part of their research work prior to submission of their thesis, to avoid the risk of losing priority. Information to this effect should be communicated to the Registrar of the University before the submission of research papers for publication.

Note:
The rules and regulations for admission to M.Phil./Ph.D. for the students who have been recently enrolled in Pharm-D. program (i.e. 2004) are in process and will be announced later on.

 

 

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