PhD in Engineering

The minimum qualification required of students seeking admission to Ph.D. program of study is a Master’s degree or equivalent in the related field from TU or other institutions of higher education recognized by TU. Doctoral study is normally of three years duration of full-time enrollment.

The candidate has to be full time residence of minimum of two years on the campus. A working candidate must submit leave acceptance letter from the respective authority for the study period. In special cases, if the candidate fulfills all the requirements IERC may allow the defense before it. The maximum duration of PhD study is normally of six years. In exceptional cases with genuine reason from the recommendation of DRC, IERC may extend the maximum duration for another one year.

Institute of Engineering will annually invite applications for entry to the Ph.D. research study degree program along with other graduate program through a public notification that will include the list of departments, where students may undertake Ph.D. research. 
Only those students who meet all the requirements of the university, institute and the departments as set forth in the notice may apply. Applications for enrolment must be made in the official form issued by the Institute for the purpose of the particular academic year. 
Along with the application in the approved forms, the applicants to Ph.D. Degree must also submit the following documents: 

1. A preliminary research proposal*: The research proposal shall outline the research that the student is proposing to undertake for the doctoral degree. It should consist of an introduction, topic definition, purpose of research, importance of research and research originality, research problem and research questions, a short literature review to indicate validity of research purpose and research questions and state of research works on the issue at local, regional and global levels, hypothesis of problem solutions if any, proposed methodology/field and laboratory needs, synopsis/state of research if already embarked upon, expected output in terms of discoveries, theories or interpretations and or possibilities, references and bibliography. A calendar of activities that needs to be undertaken so as to achieve the research proposal (spread over about two and half years) shall also be included. The research proposal shall be presented in about 2000 words. 
2. A portfolio of works, list of published and unpublished research reports with synopsis Copies of not more than three of such published/unpublished research articles, research reports that give an idea of research achievement of the past or are otherwise felt as important contributions.  
   At least one research article published in national/international journal or, graduate conference or, national/international conferences is a must. The candidate should be the first author for the eligibility of the article. The articles or, editorial published in local newspaper will not be entertained. 
3. Two letters of recommendations from referees, one of which shall be preferably from academic faculty from previous institution. These shall be in the format/forms provided in the official admission document. 
4. The statement of purpose: These shall be statement of the student’s purpose in applying for graduate study, the particular area of specialization within the major field, plans for future occupation or profession, and additional information that may assist the selection committee in evaluating the preparation and aptitude for graduate study. 
5. Applying students must need to clearly state the category of their study programs and must provide required document.  
   Students are reminded that the major basis of selection will be the evaluation of research proposal submitted by the applicant and presentation to DRC. If the proposed research area of the students fit into the broad topical framework of research identified for the concerned department under their research inter-linkage programs and have a strong national relevance, the chances of acceptance for admission would be better. Prospective students are encouraged to consult with faculty members and potential research supervisors prior to submitting applications.  
   Students are encouraged to review the research interest of faculty of regional and international co-operating institutions which has MOU with IOE as IOE may also offer ‘sandwich’ option under which students may do part of their research study in those institutions also. Any course or research component completed in such cooperating institutions can be eligible for credit with prior approval of the Subject Committee. Students may also avail of international scholarship/fellowship grants for study as well as other necessary supports such as book grant, field research grant, travel grant, etc. during such ‘sandwich’ periods. The conditions of award of such grants will be a matter between the student and the sponsor but shall not compromise the Departmental requirements in any way. For grants made available through the Institute of Engineering, the Departments shall require the candidates to teach or assist in teaching courses or laboratories for a maximum of 6 hours per week for two semesters within the period of residency requirement. Such teaching assistantship requirement is also applied to a student, who is not a member of faculty in the Department. Beside this IOE shall assign research and development work to the candidate as per requirements of the Institute.

 

FEES & PAYMENTS

The overall fee is divided into admission fee and semester wise fees.

S.N.	Description	Fee in NRs.
		To be paid in Campus	To be paid Dean's Office
(a) Cost of Registration
1	Application form		2,000
2	Application Registration		3,000
3	TU Registration	600
4	Identity Card	175
5	Student Union	20
6	Library	3,000
7	Student Welfare	100
8	Sport Development Fund	100
9	Library Deposit (R)	5,000
10	Laboratory Deposit (R)	10,000
11	Campus Deposit (RC)	10,000
12	Campus Development Fund	3,000
13	Campus Maintenance Fund	3,000
Total		34995	5000
(b) Fee to be paid per Semester
14	Tuition Fee per semester	35,000
15	Sports per Semester	100
16	Internet per Semester	1,800
17	Institutional Overhead	15,000
18	Laboratory charge per semester	6,000
19	Course Fee per Credit Hour	2,000

To be paid for the final defenses 

Thesis Defense Expenses (After successful defense of DRC and prior to the final Defense): 1,00,000

A special fee structure may be set by IERC for Sponsored/Foreign Student.

R : Refundable

RC : Refundable only after the completion of the course

Registration fee is paid in one time at the time of admission whereas semester fees are paid in beginning every semester as renewal of registration. The total cost of the study will depend on their duration of study.

The fee structure can be revised by the Institute of Engineering whenever necessary. The fee does not include the funds necessary for the research works. The students should find the sponsorship or arrange the fund themselves as necessary for the research works.

REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS AND ADMISSION 

Application documents, publications, presentation and preliminary research proposals will be reviewed by respective Departmental Research Committee (DRC). The DRC would appoint subject specialists* from within IOE or other co-operating academic institutions#, to review and evaluate publications and preliminary research proposal and make necessary recommendations on them. Applicants with research proposals not recommended for admission by two subject specialist(s) will be excluded from further processing. The DRC will review other documents along with the specialist recommendations and interview the candidates under the general guidelines and standards for review and evaluation of applications as approved by (IERC). 
The scrutiny and evaluation of application will be based on past academic performance, research publications, relevance of proposed research and the results of the interview and DRC will make recommendation to IERC for admission or otherwise. IERC may direct DRC, from time to time and through specific regulations, to review existing criteria. 
IERC has the formal authority to accept students for doctoral studies. The accepted applicants will be offered admission in the related Departments in Central Campus Pulchowk. 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Depending upon the applicant deficiencies and the area of research, the DRC in consultation with Supervisor will design and assign a package of course works to each candidate at the time of admission. Such a package will constitute of a minimum of 3 courses with total 12 credit hours⁺from among Pre-Ph.D./M. Sc. courses applicable

to the subject area and additional 1 course with 4 credit hours on research methodology. Altogether the candidate has to take courses of minimum 16 credit hours.

Normally the course works should be completed within the first three semesters of registration into the program and a minimum attendance of 75% and a score of 50% of marks or an equivalent performance standard must be achieved but the student has to maintain a score of 65%or equivalent in aggregate^*. Candidates, who fail to meet the performance standards prescribed for the courses, may be offered an additional chance of remedy, through performance in other similar courses or a repetition of the same course, by DRC, within five semesters of registration, failing which the candidate would be severed from the program.

Appointment of Supervisor & Co-supervisor

IERC will appoint one or two Supervisors (one of the supervisor must be from IOE permanent faculty) & Co-supervisor on recommendation of DRC for every student admitted to the Ph.D. program to monitor the candidate’s progress in research, conduct seminars and 

recommend names of examiners for evaluating the dissertation to IERC. Visiting Professors from other cooperating institutions may be called in to participate in as co-supervisors.

The DRC will recommend the name of candidates for admission to IERC after completing the necessary requirements (approval of proposal, completion of presentation & interview) along with the name of supervisor and co-supervisor.

DRC will recommend the name of one or two supervisor and co-supervisor to IERC for appointment to supervise the students. For some particular cases DRC will recommend the name of maximum two supervisors and two co-supervisor to IERC, but maximum three supervisor will be allocated by IERC.

According to need, co-supervisor may also be appointed outside from IOE. In case of candidates research demand IERC may also appoint a competent professional as supervisor or co-supervisor from abroad. The Supervisor & Co-supervisor should be of related field. IERC has the authority to change the recommended name of supervisor & co-supervisor.

During the period of research, DRC will specify necessary regular means of contact/supervision to assure itself that the student is in satisfactory attendance and performance as per normal IOE regulations. This shall be done also while the student may be at cooperating institutions or field and outside laboratories as per the approved research program of each candidate.

ENROLLMENT

Fulltime scholar: Students can enroll as full time basis scholar which requires a minimum residency requirement of two years for the submission of dissertation for a Ph.D. Degree.

Non fulltime scholar: Students may also enroll as non-fulltime basis scholar which does not require of residency study for a PhD degree.

The students having benefits of scholarship in any means have to be enrolled as fulltime scholar. The admission to Ph.D. program is made for particular semesters and students must enroll at the Pulchowk Campus at the beginning of the specified semester with payment of prescribed fees. The date of joining the program is the date of enrollment. Students will be required to renew his/her enrollment in each semester till the completion of the study.

The student will attend to the prescribed courses and other requirements as set out by the DRC in the conditions of admission and complete those within the stipulated semesters. The student will, on advice of supervisor, present the dissertation research proposal to the DRC in an open forum for departmental scrutiny, and obtain approval of DRC within the first two semesters of enrollment. On formal approval of the proposal by the DRC, the student will start the research works.

SUBMISSION OF PROGRESS REPORT

The students shall submit the progress report of their study in beginning of every semester in prescribed format for renewal of registration.

In course of Ph.D. study, student must publish a review paper in a journal within the period of two years by full time students and three years by non-full time students.

SUBMISSION OF DISSERTATION

Fulltime Scholar: A candidate is expected to submit his or her dissertation completing a period of three years from the date of enrollment.

Non fulltime scholar: A candidate is expected to submit his or her dissertation after completing of five years from the date of enrollment.

IERC may extend, one year at a time to a maximum period of six years on the recommendation of DRC for the completion of remaining works. The period may be extended only in special cases by the IERC to a final period of seven years on recommendation of DRC. Should the student fail to submit his/her dissertation within the period fixed by IERC, the registration shall stand cancelled automatically.

Prior to submission of the dissertation, the candidate will submit a draft copy of dissertation to the department and present it to an open departmental seminar organized by DRC. Should DRC not be satisfied with the quality of the works or presentation, the candidate shall be

allowed to resubmit the amended draft and present it within three months. The final dissertation must be submitted to IERC within following three months of the approval of DRC.

A candidate shall submit five hard copies of the final dissertation, printed and bound and presented in a prescribed format. It should be accompanied by five copies of synopsis about 3000 words of the dissertation.

EXAMINATION OF DISSERTATION

Based on submitted dissertation in an open departmental seminar in presence of DRC, the DRC shall recommend to IERC a panel of maximum six examiners, with at least one examiner from abroad. The examiners will assess the written dissertation report. Each examiner will submit a detailed assessment of the dissertation in a format prescribed by IERC and may recommend either (a) an acceptance of dissertation in the form as presented and recommend for oral defense, or (b) that the dissertation be accepted with revisions that are to be advised to the candidate and then recommend for oral defense, or (c) the dissertation be rejected. In the special circumstances, if necessary IERC may appoint a second panel of examiners.

The candidate’s oral defense of dissertation will be conducted by the IERC with the presence of at least one internal within TU and one external examiner (outside TU, preferably from abroad). If the foreign external examiner is not available for the oral defense, IERC may appoint external examiner from within Nepal. The oral defense will be open to participation of all students and faculties and the notice to that effect shall be issued at least one week in advance. On conclusion of oral defense, the IERC shall (a) accept the dissertation in the form as presented and award the degree, or (b) accept the dissertation with minor revision, which are specified in detail by it, and award the degree.

AWARD OF DEGREE 

The award of the Ph.D. degree is in recognition of high achievement in independent research and application of knowledge presented in the form of a dissertation. The dissertation shall be the report of research work and shall be characterized by either discovery of new facts or a  new interpretation of known facts and theory or an independent design and development or development of a new instrument or technology. The award is made on the basis of: 
(i) a satisfactory performance of a candidate in prescribed course work/s, 
(ii) publication of at least one original research paper on the findings of the Ph.D. works for publication Scientific Citation Index (SCI)/Social Scientific Index (SSCI) Journal. The candidate must be the first author for the published articles with supervisors. 
(iii) submission of plagiarism report. 
(iv) submission of a satisfactory dissertation, a successful viva voce/defense of the dissertation. 
(v) clearance of payment (Dean's office & Campus) 
The degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the Institute of Engineering is awarded on conclusion of the oral defense and on acceptance by IERC. 
Details of Institutional Arrangements, Regulations and TOR for Supervisors and the process for the evaluation of research proposal are given in annexes B, C and D respectively.
 

Download IOE PhD Rules and Regulations here