FAQ

You will find all the relevant details on the PhD programme. For further clarifications, you may contact Dr Suresh M, Coordinator – PhD admissions at Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore. He may be contacted at m_suresh@cb.amrita.edu

The duration for the Ph.D. depends upon the student’s qualifications at the time of admission and also the category of admission. The maximum duration for both part-time and full-time is 7 years. Extension will be given on exceptional basis, where the student will have to submit a written request citing the reasons for extension to the thesis advisor, who will then forward this to ASB PhD committee for approval. Usually an extension of six months will be given. Beyond 2 such extensions, the student will be asked to withdraw from the program.

Under special circumstances, the Chair, PhD may provide extension of period based upon a written justification provided by the student and approved by the Doctoral Committee.

Yes. ASB offers both Full-time and Part-time PhD programmes.

You can apply for the ASB PhD programmes online through the link . You will have to remit an application fee of Rs 1000 when prompted, through the online payment gateway.

The scanned copies of following documents need to be submitted along with application form online.

1. X^th Class Certificate (SSLC or equivalent Certificate)
2. XII^th class
3. Undergraduate Degree Certificate and Consolidated Statement of
4. Post Graduate Degree Certificate and Consolidated statement Marks
5. Statement of Purpose and tentative Research Proposal
6. Copies of Research Publications, if any

There is no specified format. But the tentative proposal should broadly include the statement of research problem, motivation, a brief literature survey and the methodology.

Yes.

To apply for PhD at ASB, the applicant should possess either (a), (b) or (c):

a. Masters degree in Arts, Science or Management
or
b. Post Graduate Diploma in Management (recognized by either the Association of Indian Universities or the All-India Council for Technical Education as equivalent to a MBA), or equivalent;
or
c. Recognized professional memberships/fellowships such as CA, AICWA, ACS

Students entering with Masters or equivalent degree other than Business, Management, Economics, Commerce, Finance and Accounting, Psychology, and Statistics must complete 21 credits of PG-level course-work; and additional MBA-level course work as prescribed by the Doctoral Committee.

ASB conducts its own Management Research Aptitude Test. The aptitude test consists of five sections having a total of 60 questions (Duration: 120 minutes). The sections are vocabulary, reading comprehension, reasoning, aptitude and data interpretation. The questions are of multiple choice types where correct answer would give you 1 mark and wrong answer would fetch a negative score of 0.25 marks. It is a closed-book test and calculators are not allowed. You may prepare for the aptitude test using standard books for CAT, MAT, GMAT or XAT.

Last Date of application : 07-09-2019

Tentative Test and Interview date : 14-09-2019 and 15-09-2019

PhD is offered broadly in the research areas – Sustainable Development, Marketing, Finance & accounting, HR, Organizational Behaviour, Operations, Economics and Analytics. Many of our students are pursuing their research in many interdisciplinary areas as well.

All students are required to undertake 8 courses of which 4 are core and the rest are electives. The course work is structured over two terms in a year. While the winter term is during December 26^th and January 25^th, the summer term is between May 21^st and June 20^th. These dates are fixed to allow students plan their leave in advance and be present in campus. In general, a student can aim to complete 3 courses in a term.

Doctoral students are required to study four core courses, viz. Philosophy (and practice) of management, Research methods in management, Statistics for management research and Qualitative Research methods. Apart from the four core courses, the students are expected to complete four elective courses before they can appear for the Comprehensive Qualifying Examination (CQE).

ASB actively encourages interdisciplinary research. The interdisciplinary domain of sustainable development is a focus area for ASB and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.

The PhD Program follows a five-stage process, which includes a) course work b) comprehensive examination c) proposal defense d) work in progress & pre-submission seminars and e) Thesis submission and final defense. There are also specific publications requirements that students need to fulfill towards the degree requirement.

• Course Work
  PhD course work includes 8 courses with 4 core courses and 4 elective courses. The doctoral committee may recommend additional courses for students entering with Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a discipline other than Business and Management must complete additional PG- level course-work. These courses are identified based on the basic discipline exposure need for the candidates to do a doctoral degree. Large part of the course work happens during the winter and summer terms (each of one month duration). While core courses are taught in these terms along with several electives, course submissions happen between the terms (for example, term paper submission).
• Comprehensive Qualifying Examination
  All doctoral students must qualify in a Comprehensive Qualifying Examination (CQE) after satisfactory completion of all course-work. This is normally done within 6 months after completion of course-work.
• Thesis Proposal Defense
  Prior to proposal defense, the student should publish / get accepted for publication, a paper in an approved journal that is indexed in Scopus or listed in ABDC or having an SJR equivalence. The proposal defense is the third stage where the students are expected to defend their thesis proposal in an open forum and a special invited external examiner. Subsequent to the successful defense, the student can focus on executing their research with constant support from the dissertation committee. Students are expected to complete their proposal defense within a year of passing their comprehensive qualifying examination.
• Work-In-Progress & Pre Submission Seminars
  Students who have completed their proposal defense are required to give at least 2 work-in- progress seminars every 6 months. These are usually scheduled during the winter and summer terms.
• Publication Requirement
  Ph.D. students are required from 2019 to publish at least two papers in approved journals (i.e., a journal that is indexed in Scopus, listed in ABDC or have an SJR equivalence) and one conference paper in a conference approved by PhD Committee.
• Thesis Submission & Final Defense
  This is the final stage of the PhD wherein the student would defend his/her dissertation in an open forum and a special invited external examiner. In the interim period, the students are required to demonstrate their ability through successful journal publications.

There are two types of scholarships based on merit that are available for PhD students at ASB. The university scholarship (AMMA’s Scholarship) provides you with up to Rs 25000 per month. The ASB department scholarship is up to 12500 per month. Scholarships are available only for the full-time students.

The students receiving scholarship are expected to do teaching/administrative/research assistance for about 10 hours per week. A log of this has to be submitted to the university PhD office every month for continuation of the scholarship.

For full-time students funding is available for attending National and International conferences. The decisions on funding are taken on the basis of the merit of each case.

Yes. ASB encourages international students to enroll in its doctoral programmes.

Yes, for all full-time students on payment basis. For part-time students, hostel accommodation may be available during the teaching terms on payment basis, subject to availability.

You can prepare for the aptitude test using any standard books for CAT, MAT, GMAT or XAT. The candidate’s research aptitude, ability to analyze and to articulate the findings are assessed in the interview.

You are required to enclose a tentative Research Proposal while submitting your application online. Take special care in preparing this document, as the interview panel will be trying to assess the candidate’s research potential partly relying on this.

No. The candidates invited for interview are not eligible for any reimbursement of their travel or boarding expenses.

The coursework that includes four core and four elective courses will take about 2 years to complete.

In case of emergencies you are allowed to break off during the term. In such cases you may be allowed to re-do the courses in full, subject to approval from the course faculty and PhD committee. Re-do is possible when the course is offered next.

Yes. Library allows you to borrow up to 6 books at any given time.

No. Only single room hostel accommodation is provided for students.

Merit based scholarships are available to eligible full-time students. The full-time students are expected to be on campus throughout the academic programme.

Yes. Full-time students have to pay a fee of INR 30,000 per year.

Part-time students have to pay INR 4,00,000, which is payable in 6 bi-annual installments. The first installment of INR 100000 is to be paid at the beginning of Term I. The balance, 2nd to 6th installments, of INR 60000 each has to be paid at the beginning of every succeeding term.