Ph.D. Social Work
1. General Guidelines
The Department of Social Work offers PhD programme to the following category of candidates:
- Students who have fellowships/ scholarships instituted by the University /national or international agencies under schemes approved/ recognised by the University of Delhi through procedures laid down by the University.
- Students who are otherwise eligible for admission to the PhD programme but do not have any financial assistance are also admitted through an entrance exam conducted by the Department of Social Work, University of Delhi followed by interview/ presentation before the Department Research Committee ( DRC). Students admitted through entrance exam are also entitled to UGC fellowships for doctoral programme or any other fellowship launched by national agencies.
- Foreign students with their national or other fellowship recognised by the University or sponsored by their employer may be given provisional admission subject to the confirmation through due process after a stipulated period of time by the University.
- Permanent teachers of the Departments of the University of Delhi,( DU)its affiliated colleges or temporary or ad hoc teachers having two years of teaching experience.
- Candidates sponsored by the employer only if they get two year study leave to fulfill residency requirements.
- Permanent teachers or employees from any other recognized University / college or research institute if they have three years of experience and get study leave for two years to fulfil residency requirements.
2. Eligibility
- The candidates must have M.A in Social Work from DU or any other recognised University. Those candidates who have M.Phil degree with M.A in Social Work are also eligible to apply.
- The candidate must have a minimum of 55% or equivalent marks in Master in Social Work and/or 50% marks in MPhil to be eligible to apply for PhD.
- Students with 60% or more marks in MPhil Part 1 are eligible to apply for admission to Doctoral Programme without completing MPhil degree on the recommendations of the DRC. Such candidates shall be eligible for fellowships as per the University guidelines.
3. Doctoral Admission Process at the Department
In line with University of Delhi guidelines, admissions to Department of Social Work doctoral programme are done twice in a year- In the months of July/ August and January/ February (the specific dates for the availability of the application forms are announced by the University).
4. Admission Process
While the admissions in the month of August are open to all eligible categories of students, the admissions in the month of January/February are open to only the following candidates
- University teachers who meet the requirements laid down by the Board of Research Studies, University of Delhi.
- Candidates who have JRF or any other national scholarship recognised by the University of Delhi and who are therefore exempted from the written test.
- Entrance test
- Proposal Presentation by the candidates in front of Department Research Committee on the topic of their research.
5. Entrance Test
Entrance test for admission to PhD is held once in a year in the month of August for those candidates who do not have JRF or any other national fellowship or scholarship. The candidates who clear the test are eligible for appearing for the presentation in the August session as well as the immediately succeeding January/February session of the admissions. For example the student who clears the entrance test in August 2014, can apply in February 2015 as well on the basis of the test results obtained by him/her. However, if the candidate does not seek admission or fails to do so till February 2015, he/she is required to appear afresh for the entrance test in the month of July/August, 2015. Candidates with JRF/ national fellowship are exempt from taking the entrance test. Similarly, Department /College teachers who meet the stipulated requirements of the BRSS, University of Delhi are also not supposed to take the entrance exam.
The entrance test is of two hour duration and is for 50 marks. The format of the test is given below:
1. Objective component (10 marks) - to test the knowledge on research and critical knowledge systems.
2. Descriptive component (40 marks) - to test the theoretical/philosophical understanding of the students in research and on the issues related to the discipline.
6. Presentations
All the candidates including the ones who qualify in the entrance exam and those who are not required to take the entrance exam are expected to develop a proposal and make a presentation before the Department Research Committee.
- The presentation is required to be of fifteen minutes duration
- It has to be on the topic of research chosen by the student (ten copies of which are to be submitted by the candidate along with the application).
- The presentation should make a case for the rationale of the study, clearly mention the research objectives and give the proposed methodology for the study including the theoretical approach to be used.
- The presentation is followed by a detailed discussion on the topic.
7.Declaration of the Results
The candidates are generally informed about their status with respect to the admission within a week of the completion of the processes mentioned above.The suggestions and recommendations of the DRC for strengthening the proposal are given to all the candidates. The candidates who are considered for provisional admission to the PhD programme on the basis of test and proposal presentation are required to incorporate the suggestions given by the DRC, in consultation with the supervisors allotted to them by the DRC and re - submit the proposal. The decision of the DRC in all the matters pertaining to admission into the PhD programme is final.