PhD Course Waiver PolicyHome| Doctoral Program (PhD) | Admissions | PhD Course Waiver Policy

(1)    Course-waiver in the first year of the PhD Program of the Institute will be applicable from the Academic Year 2023-24, for candidates who are PGDM/MBA graduates of IIMs.

 

(2)       A PhD student has to do a minimum of 5 PGP courses (Category ‘B’ courses) in their first year of the Program. The waiver of PGP courses will be given in the 1^st year of the Program to the eligible students, based on the criteria as below:

 

A candidate holding a PGDM/MBA degree from any of the IIMs would be eligible to claim exemption from the PGP course-work (Category ‘B’ courses), provided –

 

a.    S/he has a minimum overall CGPA of 2.75 on a 4-point grading scale or an equivalent CGPA based on linear mapping*, and

 

b.    S/he has obtained the PGDM/MBA degree during the last 5 years.

 

(*) e.g.: If a candidate has obtained a CGPA of 3.23 out of 4.33, then the equivalent CGPA would be (4.00/4.33)x(3.23) = 2.98.

 

(3)       The qualifying degree for course-waiver is “PGDM” awarded by the IIMs prior to the IIM Act, 2017 coming into force; or the “MBA” degree awarded thereafter. It is explicitly made clear that PGDM/MBA degree awarded by any other institution/university will not be considered for course-waiver, irrespective of the ranking/accreditation status of the said institution/university or the degree program.

 

(4)       A candidate satisfying the above conditions and succeeding in the selection process -

 

a.    Will join the PhD Program of the Institute in the 2^nd year and will be eligible to receive the stipend as per Institute norms, up to a maximum of four years in addition to tuition fee waiver

 

b.    Will pursue the Category ‘A’ courses and an additional Category ‘C’ course in the 2^nd year of the Program in addition to the required 2^nd year course-requirement. Category ‘A’ courses can be pursued along with the 1^st year students. This will entail the candidate earning 39 credits in the 2^nd year of the program instead of 27 credits.

 

c.    Must complete the Independent Study (IS) before the  Area Comprehensive Qualifying Examination (CQE)

 

d.    Will be awarded a GPA in the FIVE exempted PGP courses, equivalent to the overall CGPA obtained during the PGDM/MBA degree (on 4-point grading scale or an equivalent CGPA rounded to two decimal points based on linear mapping) for the purpose of arriving at the academic achievements

 

(5)     While a PGDM/MBA degree from an IIM may, prima facie, make an eligible and selected candidate to join the Program in the second year with course-waiver, if he/she is found weak in any domain/skill, he/she may be advised by the Competent Authority to enroll for any (additional) course as deemed fit and necessary and the student must comply with the same. The GPA obtained by the student in that course will prevail.

 

(6)    Students admitted to the Second Year of the Program will be provided Rs.30,000/- stipend p.m. (as is the case with normal enrolment in the First Year) and NOT at Rs.33,000/- p.m.

 

(7)       All PhD Program Rules, Guidelines and Other Requirements as applicable to normal enrollment of students in First year will apply to the students enrolled in the Second Year, directly.