The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has started the admission process for the PhD programme. The website - ignouadm.samarth.edu.in to register for the PhD programme is now live. Candidates who are interested in pursuing PhD from the Open University can do so by applying at the official website mentioned above. Candidates with valid UGC NET with JRF or valid UGC NET score of the year 2024 are eligible subject to apply for PhD admission as prescribed in the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedures for Award of PhD Degree) Regulations, 2022. The application fee for submission of an online application is Rs 1000. Five per cent of the total seats will be reserved for Persons with Disabilities by IGNOU (with not less than 40 per cent disability), however, such candidates will not be adjusted against the appropriate category (Gen/SC/ST/OBC/EWS) to which they belong. "The JRF-qualified students are admitted into the PhD programme based on an interview as per the University Grants Commission. The Candidates with valid UGC NET with JRF will be called for interview and the interview shall carry 100 per cent weightage," read the official website. For such candidates, the interview will have three components comprising research methodology (40 per cent), subject domain (40 per cent) and communication skills (20 per cent). A combined merit list of JRF candidates and candidates with valid UGC NET scores under categories 2 and 3 will be prepared which will be the final merit list for PhD admission. The final merit list will be discipline-wise based on the merit and reservation policy of the Government of India, read the website.
