Eligibility for Admission to the Ph.D. Programme
The Candidates seeking admission for the Ph.D. programme shall meet any of the following requirements as to the eligibility:
- The Candidate should have a Master's degree in Law or an equivalent professional degree approved by the Bar Council of India or the UGC, from time to time, with at least 55% of marks in aggregate or an equivalent grade in a UGC Grade point scale wherever any grading system is followed. A relaxation of 5% of marks, that is, from 55% to 50%, or an equivalent relaxation of grade may be allowed for those belonging to SC/ST/OBC (non-creamy layer) or ‘Differently Abled’ and such other candidates as may be notified by the UGC and Government of Tamil Nadu from time to time, or for those who had obtained their Master's degree before 19th September 1991”. Or
- “The candidate should have an M.Phil degree in Law through regular mode (with course work) with not less than 55% of marks in aggregate or its equivalent grade or M.Phil in Commerce through regular mode (with course work) having secured not less than 55% of marks in aggregate or its equivalent grade (as mentioned above, wherever grading system is followed) along with atleast undergraduate degree in Law (LL.B) through regular mode. A relaxation of 5% of marks or an equivalent relaxation of the grade may be allowed as mentioned in Regulation (a). Further, subject to the Regulations, a Candidate 4 may also be admitted to the Ph.D. programme if his/her M.Phil. Dissertation is evaluated, but the viva-voce examination is pending.
- Explanation: the eligibility marks of 55% (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed) and the relaxation of 5% to the categories mentioned in Regulation 2.1. (a) and (b) are considered solely for qualifying marks without including the grace mark procedures]. Or
- The candidate should have a law degree (LL.B.) [through the regular mode] as well as passed the Company Secretary Examination conducted by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and shall have the Associate Membership of the Institute. Importantly, the research proposed by such a candidate should be inter-disciplinary in its design and approach. Or
- The candidate should have a law degree (LL.B.) [through the regular mode] and additionally passed the final examination of Chartered Accountants conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). Besides, the research proposed by such a candidate shall be inter-disciplinary in its design and approach.
Award of Ph.D. in Law / Interdisciplinary
The Ph.D. in Law shall be awarded for the candidates who applied under the eligibility condition mentioned in Regulations
- As referred above as well as
- For those candidate who had completed M.Phil in Law. Whereas, for the candidates who applied under Regulations (b) (M.Phil in Commerce), (c) and (d) will be eligible only for the award of Ph.D. (Interdisciplinary), provided all other necessary conditions are fulfilled under the TNNLU Ph.D. Regulations, 2021].
Enrolment & Duration of the Programme
- The University shall offer its Ph.D. programme in both full-time and part-time modes. However, ordinarily, the enrolment for the Ph.D. programme in the University shall be in full-time mode and where the full-time mode of study is not possible for the candidates then such candidates can register their Ph.D. programme on a part-time mode subject to the terms of the Regulations.
- For conversion from either part-time to full-time or from full-time to part-time shall only be permitted by the Doctoral Council. For this purpose, the candidate desiring to have availed such a conversion in his/her enrolment mode shall make an application to the Doctoral 5 Council and pay the required fees. All decisions regarding JRF and SRF will be considered and approved by the Council. “Provided if a candidate admitted into Ph.D. full time programme, his or her programme may be converted to part-time if he or she
- Gets a full time employment
- Marries (applicable to women candidates only) and is not in a position to continue as a full time research student.]
- The minimum duration for the Ph.D. programme on a full-time mode shall be 3 years (including course work) and the maximum duration is 5 years from the date of candidate’s registration. Within the said maximum period, the candidate shall complete the research work undertaken by him/her and submit it for evaluation. In the case of a part-time candidate, the minimum period is 4 years (including course work), and this includes the time spent for research at any other place with the permission of the supervisor. The maximum duration shall be 6 years.
- On completion of the maximum duration, an extension of up to one year (two extensions, each for six months) may be granted by the Doctoral Council on the recommendation of the research supervisor if it is convinced that the candidate seeking such extension will be able to complete the writing of his/her thesis within the period of extension.
- The Doctoral Council shall thereon inform the candidate concerned, and the Vice-Chancellor if such an extension is granted or rejected.
- The extension, mentioned above, may be awarded subject to the candidate paying the notified fees which may be revised by the University from time to time.
- Notwithstanding anything said in Regulation 3.3, women candidates and Persons with more than 40% disabilities may be allowed a relaxation of two years in the aforementioned maximum duration. [In addition, a woman candidate may be provided maternity Leave/Child Care Leave once in the entire duration of Ph.D. for 240 days.
Availability of Seats & Admission Notification
- On an annual basis, TNNLU shall decide through the Doctoral Council a predetermined or manageable number of Ph.D. scholars to be admitted. This shall be done considering the number of available Research Supervisors, the scholar-teacher ratio and other academic/physical infrastructure including library facilities of the University.
- The Ph.D. notification may be prepared based on the guidelines/norms made by the UGC and other statutory bodies concerned, and by considering the reservation policy of the Government from time to time.
- The University, then, shall issue an admission notification on its website and an advertisement in at least 2 national newspapers, of which at least 1 shall be in the regional language. The notification shall specify the number of vacancies, criteria for admission, details of the entrance test, the procedure for admission and where necessary, specify the examination centre(s).
Admission Procedure
- Application for admission shall be submitted along with the research proposal/synopsis of the topic of research to the Registrar of TNNLU in the prescribed form and on payment of the prescribed fees.
- Then there shall be a screening for the Ph.D. admission. The screening for Ph.D. admission shall consist of two components, viz., an Entrance Test and an Interview. Besides, if the candidate seeks to avail of the TNNLU Research Fellowship, if any, for pursuing research then he/she shall appear for the Admission Test to determine the interse merit based on which such Research Fellowship shall be awarded.
- The syllabus for the Entrance Test shall consist of 50% of research methodology and the other 50% shall be subject-specific.
- The question paper of the Entrance Test shall have two parts. Questions in Part-A shall cover the research methodology, constitutional law, jurisprudence, environmental law, international law and human rights law. Whereas, the Part-B shall test students on the subject specific knowledge. The duration of the Test shall be one and half hours with additional half an hour for the visually impaired or differently abled students.
- Part-A shall contain Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). In this Part, all questions shall be compulsory and carry 2 marks each. There will be no negative marking for the questions answered wrongly.
- The Part-B shall have five descriptive or analytical questions relating to the area of study chosen by the student. Each question carries equal marks. d. Notwithstanding what is stated in Regulation
- The University reserves the right to exclusively focus on research methodology component for 50 marks in Part-A of the Entrance Test. e. The Entrance Test shall ordinarily be conducted at the university. However, the University reserves the right to choose the mode of the Entrance Test (online/offline).
- A candidate securing 50% of marks (in the case of general category) and 45% (in the case of Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes) in the Entrance Test shall alone be considered as qualified. Such candidates shall be declared as eligible to be called for interview.
- Later, the candidates who have passed the Entrance Test shall be called for an interview. All the candidates seeking admission to the Ph.D. Programme who have passed the Entrance Test, shall be required to present themselves for an interview before the [Doctoral Council. This Council shall be comprised of all the research supervisors from within the University and where necessary, external experts may be invited by the Vice-Chancellor to interview the candidates and screen their research proposals.
- In the interview, the candidates shall present their research proposal before the Doctoral Council.
- During the Candidates’ presentations on a research proposal, the Doctoral Council shall assess the students for 50 marks and award marks on the following parameters:
- Candidate’s ability in presenting and defending the research proposal (10 marks);
- Research aptitude of the Candidates (as evidenced by research publications and papers presented in conferences in the subject area) (5 marks);
- Research methodology adopted (10 marks);
- The viability of the topic of research (5 marks);
- (i) whether the candidate possesses the competence for the proposed research (1 mark); (ii) whether the research work can be suitably undertaken at the TNNLU (1 mark); and (iii) whether the proposed area of research can contribute to new/additional knowledge (3 marks); (i.e., d (i) to (iii) carries 5 marks); and d. Notwithstanding what is stated in Regulation
- The University reserves the right to exclusively focus on research methodology component for 50 marks in Part-A of the Entrance Test.
- The Entrance Test shall ordinarily be conducted at the university. However, the University reserves the right to choose the mode of the Entrance Test (online/offline).
- A candidate securing 50% of marks (in the case of general category) and 45% (in the case of Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes) in the Entrance Test shall alone be considered as qualified. Such candidates shall be declared as eligible to be called for interview.
- Later, the candidates who have passed the Entrance Test shall be called for an interview. All the candidates seeking admission to the Ph.D. Programme who have passed the Entrance Test, shall be required to present themselves for an interview before the [Doctoral Council. This Council shall be comprised of all the research supervisors from within the University and where necessary, external experts may be invited by the Vice-Chancellor to interview the candidates and screen their research proposals. 4.2.6 In the interview, the candidates shall present their research proposal before the Doctoral Council.
- During the Candidates’ presentations on a research proposal, the Doctoral Council shall assess the students for 50 marks and award marks on the following parameters:
- Candidate’s ability in presenting and defending the research proposal (10 marks);
- Research aptitude of the Candidates (as evidenced by research publications and papers presented in conferences in the subject area) (5 marks);
- Research methodology adopted (10 marks);
- The viability of the topic of research (5 marks);
- (i) whether the candidate possesses the competence for the proposed research (1 mark); (ii) whether the research work can be suitably undertaken at the TNNLU (1 mark); and (iii) whether the proposed area of research can contribute to new/additional knowledge (3 marks); (i.e., d (i) to (iii) carries 5 marks); and