Guidelines for Preparation of Synopsis

The applicants should organize Thesis Synopsis to address the following points:

• Title The title should be brief but informative.

• Table of Contents

• Introduction Should clearly manifest why the present work is undertaken. The introduction may include literature review as per requirement of the subject.

• Literature review Place the project in academic context by referring to the major work by others on the topic.

• Objectives Define clearly the aims of the research proposal.

• Research Questions or Hypothesis Research questions or hypothesis related to objectives of the research.

• Significance The significance of the proposal for the field and the country.

• Research Design and Methods Explain the approach and methods to be followed. Details pertaining to design of experiments and the data analysis should also be given.

• Plan Give year wise tentative plan of the work.

• List of Literature cited / References Up to date references. Preferably APA style should be followed.

PhD Thesis Submission

• Candidate has to complete 18 credit hours course work, qualify comprehensive examination and carry out research for 2-4 years.

• A regular student will normally be required to take workload of eight to fifteen credit hours in each semester. Eighteen credit hours course work must be completed within two semesters.

• At the end of the first semester a student must obtain a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.00 to be promoted to the second semester. In order to qualify a course GP 2.70 required.

• In case a student is able to obtain GPA of 2.80 or more but less than 3.00 he / she will be promoted to the second Semester on probation. The candidate, who fails to secure 2.80 GPA in the first Semester, shall stand automatically dropped from the rolls.

• At the end of the second semester, a student must obtain a minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.00 and must also pass all the courses offered by him / her in order to be promoted to the third semester for research. If any of the preceding two conditions is not complied with by a student then he / she shall be removed from the rolls of the College.

• A student, who completes all the courses and has not been required to repeat any course(s), obtains CGPA of less than 3.00 but not less than 2.80 at the end of the 2nd semester, may be allowed to repeat one course (varying 2-4 credits) in which he / she had obtained the lowest grades in the next semester, in order to improve the CGPA so as to obtain the minimum of 3.00 failing which he / she shall not be awarded degree (or allowed to continue research work) and removed from the rolls of the College.

• A student who had earned ‘F’ grade in a course in first semester may be allowed to take one additional special course in second semester.

• The teacher shall send a copy of the activity record of the courses on prescribed Performa to the DPC, Chairman / Director / Principal at the end of each semester.

Note: No student will take any course unless he has cleared the pre-requisite for it as determined by the
respective College.

The Preferable Layout of Thesis

• Title Page

• Abstract / Summary

• Acknowledgments

• Abbreviations not described in the text

• Table of Contents

• List of Tables (where applicable)

• List of Figures (where applicable)

• Introduction (including literature review) or

• Introduction

• Review of Literature

• As separate chapters as per requisite of the subject

• Research Design / Material / Methods

• Findings and Discussion

• May comprise of one chapter or a number of chapters depending upon the Subject matter / requirements

• Conclusion/s, Recommendation/s where applicable

• Reference of the Literature Cited

• Appendices (where applicable)

• Any other information specific to the respective discipline

Title Page

All theses must contain a title page giving the title of the thesis, the author’s name, the name of the degree for which it is presented, the department in which the author has worked or the Faculty of which the work is being presented, and the month and year of submission.

Length of Thesis

Whilst the regulations do not contain a clause relating to the maximum length of theses, it is expected that work presented for the degree of Ph.D should normally between 40,000 – 120,000 words of text. Candidates wishing to greatly exceed theses sizes should discuss the matter with their supervisors/DPC.

Published Work

Published work from the theses be included as appendix (Reprints/ proof / preprint.)

Binding

All final thesis and published work presented for higher degrees initially in a temporary form (spiral/tape) binding will be provided after defense of the thesis form approved by the Advanced Studies and Research Board; where printed pamphlets or off-prints are submitted in support of a thesis, they must be bound in with the thesis, or bound in such a manner as Binderies may advise. Front cover should give title of the thesis, name of the candidate and the name of the Departments / Centres / Institutes / Colleges / School through which submitted, in the same order from top to bottom. The lettering may be in boldface and properly spaced. Their sizes should be: title 24 pt. name of the department/ institute/ centre/ college 18 pt. The colour of binding for different degrees in the Science subjects and in Social Sciences is as follows:

Spine of Thesis

Spine of the thesis should show “Ph.D thesis” on top across the width of spine, name of the candidate in the middle along the length of spine, and the year of submission across the width at the bottom. Lettering on spine should be in 18 pt. and may be in boldface.

Thesis Examination

Ph D Thesis

The thesis (guidelines for the thesis format given in the respective Section) submitted by the candidate for Ph.D. degree must comply with the following conditions:-

• It must form a distinct contribution to knowledge and afford evidence of originality, shown either by the discovery of new facts or by the exercise of independent critical judgment.

• It must not include research work for which degree has been conferred on anybody in this or any other University.

• For candidates in Faculties of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities (except Department of French or other modern languages where thesis be written in French language or respective language), Economics and Management Sciences, Commerce, Law, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences, Sciences, Pharmacy, Medicine and Dentistry and Education the thesis must be written in English and the presentation must be satisfactory for publication. In Faculties of Islamic Studies & Oriental Learning, each Department shall decide about the Language (English/Urdu/any other) in which the dissertation is to be written. However in case of Urdu / any other language, an abstract in English shall be included.

• A 1-3 (to be decided by the faculty) publication in HEC approved journals (see HEC website) is requisite for thesis submission.

• Any part of the thesis that has been published before submission of the thesis must be appended at the end of the thesis.

• The candidate shall submit through his supervisor five copies (6 copies in case of co-supervisor or supervisors) of his thesis typed or printed, along with 5/6 copies of a short abstract of about 1000 words and a CD of the thesis after qualifying Ph.D.

• The candidate shall pay the prescribed fee for the examination at the time of submission of thesis.

• The candidate shall at the time of thesis submission supply the documents as per university requirements.

Thesis Examiners

• The DPC (with co-opted members) will recommend to the Advanced Studies and Research Board to approve a panel of External Examiners of six experts (foreign from technically advanced countries – for thesis evaluation and local – for viva voce exam) for evaluation of thesis before submission or at the time of submission of thesis.

• The Vice-Chancellor shall appoint two External Examiners.

• The Controller of Examinations shall get thesis evaluated within six months after the date of submission/resubmission of thesis to his office. Any delay beyond six months be brought to the notice of the Vice-Chancellor immediately.

• No degree shall be awarded unless all Examiners recommend the award of the degree. While recommending the award of degree, the examiners shall also report whether or not the thesis is fit for publication both from the point of view of content and language.

• If both External Examiners find that the thesis is wholly inadequate the candidate will be asked for additional research work of maximum of one year.

• If one of the External Examiners approves the thesis and the other rejects, it shall be sent to a fresh (3rd) examiner, for evaluation. If this new (3rd) examiner disapproves the thesis, the candidate shall be declared to have failed. In case of approval of the thesis by the 3rd examiner, the case shall be processed further for the thesis defense.

• If any of the examiners adjudges the thesis inadequate and suggests major modification/ revision of the thesis, the candidate will be required to re-submit a Revised Version of the thesis within one year. He will be required to pay fresh fee for the examination.

• The same examiner who suggests modification of the thesis, but not recommended the award of Degree, shall evaluate the Revised Version of the thesis.

• If Examiner suggests modification/ corrections and also recommends the award of Ph.D degree, the candidate will make changes within three months. The corrections/ modifications/ changes in the revised version will be verified by the supervisor and Dean of the Faculty.

• If any of the examiners finds the thesis adequate but suggests minor modifications/ revision, this may be incorporated and certified by the thesis supervisor (Internal Examiner) and Dean of the relevant faculty.

• If the thesis is adjudged as adequate by all the Examiners and accepted by the Advanced Studies and Research Board, the scholar shall be required to undergo a Viva-Voce Examination to be conducted by one External Examiner (local) and Supervisor/s.

• One examiner for viva-voce examination should be appointed from within Pakistan from the approved panel.

• Examiners may have separate viva-voce examination which will be followed by Public Defense.

• The Viva Voce Examination shall be open to the public (public defense) but only the Examiners appointed for this purpose will do the evaluation.

• If the scholar fails to satisfy the examiners in the viva-voce examination, they may require the scholar to defend the thesis for the second (and the final) time within a period of six months.

• If the scholar passes the Viva Voce Examination, the Syndicate on the recommendation of the Advanced Studies and Research Board will approve the reports of the examiners for the thesis and oral examination and award of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the relevant subject to the candidate.

Grading System

Equivalence in numerical grades. Letter grades and grade points will be as follows:

• Maximum possible Grade Point Average is 4.00.

• Minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average for obtaining 2 year M.Phil (course work and comprehensive) is 2.50. In order to qualify in the examination of semester a student must obtain at least GPA 2.50 and in individual subject not less than 2.30.

• If GPA/ CGPA of a student remains <2.50 (but >2.30) the student shall be given one chance (only once) to repeat two subjects (2-6 Credit Hours) in order to improve CGPA in M.Phil. If GPA /CGPA of a student remain <2.50 he/ she shall be dropped from studies.

• Minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average for PhD (course work and comprehensive) is 3.00. (For detail see the respective Sections).

• A fraction of mark in a course is to be counted as ‘1’ mark e.g. 64.1 or 64.9 is to be shown as 65.

• Letter Grade and Grade Point for a course will be calculated as given above.

• For calculating GPA and CGPA refer to the formulae below.

Criteria for Awarding Postgraduate Degree

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