PAPER SCAN

THE HINDU
South Asian University to start Ph.D. programmes

SAARC-established South Asian University (SAU) will be starting Ph.D. courses from the coming academic session, an official statement from the university said on Thursday.

Making the announcement after an approval from the Governing Board, the university’s president G. K. Chadha said the research scholars would be inducted into the Ph.D. programmes through an entrance test followed by a personal interview.

All the candidates of the research programmes would be eligible to apply for the on-going South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Silver Jubilee Scholarship, instituted by the Indian Government especially for SAU students.

The maximum scholarship for research scholars carries full fee waiver, free stay in the hostel, a monthly allowance of Rs.12,000 and a fixed start-up amount. There are 25 scholarships earmarked for Ph.D. students.

THE INDIAN EXPRESS
Looking ahead: South Asian univ overcomes space crunch, offers PhD courses

South Asian University (SAU) will start PhD programmes in various subjects from the 2013 academic year, the international institute announced on Wednesday.

The university’s governing board, its highest administrative body, has approved the PhD programmes.

The board has also cleared a proposal to start a compulsory course — named Introduction to South Asia — for each student irrespective of his academic programme. This will make its debut in the semester beginning next month.

“The university was envisaged as a centre of excellence with primary focus on research and postgraduate programmes. The decision to start the PhD programmes was very much in line with the university’s vision,” Prof. G K Chadha, president of the international university, said.

Chadha attributed the delay in starting PhD programmes to space constraints since 2010, the year it was established by the governments of the eight SAARC nations.

The university is currently operating from a 10-storey building in Chanakyapuri, South Delhi, after shifting there from a “temporary arrangement” in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

The research programmes could have been introduced much earlier had there been adequate space, Chadha said.

The university has been allotted 100 acres in Maidan Garhi, adjacent to Indira Gandhi National Open University, for a permanent campus. Construction is expected to start early next year.

A university official said all candidates of research programmes would be eligible to apply for the SAARC Silver Jubilee Scholarship, instituted by the Indian government for South Asian University students.

The scholarship for research scholars offers big-time benefits such as full fee waiver, free hostel stay, a monthly allowance of Rs 12,000 and a fixed start-up amount. There are 25 scholarships for PhD students.

The officials said the governing board took the decision to allow introduction of research programmes at its third meeting in New Delhi, which was chaired by Prof. Azad Chaudhury, chairman of UGC, Bangladesh.

EDUCATION TIMES (THE TIMES OF INDIA)

Doctoral Programmes

South Asian University (SAU) will start PhD programmes in various subjects from the coming academic year. Making the announcement, GK Chadha, president, SAU, said that the university was envisaged as a centre of excellence with primary fo cus on research and postgraduate programmes and hence the decision to start the PhD programmes was much in line with the university’s vision. The research scholars would be inducted into the PhD programmes through an entrance test followed by a personal interview. All the candidates of the research programmes would be eligible to apply for the on-going SAARC Silver Jubilee Scholarship, instituted by the Indian government especially for SAU students. The maximum scholarship for research scholars carries full fee waiver, free stay in the hostel, a monthly allowance of INR 12,000 and a fixed start-up amount. There are 25 scholarships earmarked for PhD students. The Board has also cleared the case for the Introduction to South Asia, a compulsory course for each student of SAU irrespective of the academic programme being pursued. This non-credit course will make its debut in the semester that is starting in January next year.