PhD of Austrian scholar at Pune’s SPPU stuck for last 12 years

Reisenbichler’s research focuses on social mobility among Goa’s migrant Catholic community. He alleged that his guide, Dr John Gaikwad, failed to inform him about mandatory online documentation and gave him conflicting information from 2021 onwards, resulting in delays. He said he had sought intervention from multiple authorities, including the Austrian Embassy, and recently detailed his case in a thread on X, tagging the University Grants Commission.

Dr Gaikwad denied the allegations, saying he had extended full support to the scholar and said that delays stemmed from administrative lapses.

According to Gaikwad, an application seeking an extension of Reisenbichler’s PhD registration was submitted in December 2021, but elicited no response from the university.

“When I followed up, I was told that Mr Alexander’s file was missing or untraceable,” he said.

Gaikwad said he again approached the university’s PhD section in February 2024 and was informed that the scholar was no longer eligible for an extension because he had completed the maximum permissible period of registration.

“Mr Alexander appears to have lost nearly 15 months because of administrative negligence. Had this not happened, he may have been able to complete the formalities within the prescribed time,” Gaikwad said.

He also said Reisenbichler had left India before completing the mandatory PhD coursework and did not appear for the external examination scheduled in April 2017. A special examination was later conducted in 2019, but the department initially said there was no record of his appearance.

“After Mr Alexander approached the Vice-Chancellor, the department issued the required course completion certificate in December 2023,” Gaikwad said.

Former Head of Department Dr Anjali Kurane also rejected the allegations, saying the department had consistently supported the scholar.

“We submitted a request seeking an extension of his registration as late as March 2024. He should now complete the remaining university requirements and follow the prescribed procedure for submission of his thesis,” she said.

Reisenbichler, however, claimed an associate who approached the university’s PhD section was told no such extension request had been received

Assistant Professor Shantanu Ozarkar, current HOD of the Anthropology Department, said that the university had granted Reisenbichler extensions due to COVID-19 and foreign stay, “However, Mr. Alexander has irregularities in the academic communication with the department, in completing the required processes for documentation through PhD Tracking portal. Synopsis submission, thesis preparation and publication requirements need to be completed in consultation with the guide. PhD candidate needs to complete the academic requirements for submission and successful award of the PhD degree as per the University rules,” he added.

In response to the allegations against the PhD department, Professor Parag Kalkar, Pro Vice Chancellor of SPPU said, “The student must complain through the proper mechanism and the University will take a positive approach towards this. The complaint process is completely online now. It should come on the paper that there is no fault of the student, then as a special case we can consider giving him an extension. The admission regulations are gazetted so we will have to see how to legally process it within the law,” said.