New Delhi: The University of Delhi's decision to allow students completing four-year undergraduate programmes to directly pursue a PhD has drawn mixed reactions from faculty members, with some describing it as a progressive reform in line with the National Education Policy (NEP), while others warned it could weaken academic foundations and complicate the admission process.

The amended PhD regulations, approved by the Academic Council on Friday, permit eligible students who complete a four-year undergraduate programme to seek direct admission to doctoral programmes under prescribed conditions.

Faculty members opposing the move argued that bypassing a master's degree could adversely affect the quality of research.

Miranda House faculty member Abha Dev Habib said postgraduate education plays a vital role in building conceptual understanding before students undertake specialised research.

"A PhD narrows down the domains. It does not strengthen the foundation. Postgraduate studies provide that foundation, which later allows greater flexibility in research," she said.

Habib also questioned the long-term viability of the policy, arguing that candidates with both a master's degree and a PhD from reputed institutions may continue to be preferred for faculty positions over those entering doctoral programmes directly after graduation.

Deshbandhu College professor Biswajit Mohanty said the proposal aimed to promote research under the NEP framework but raised practical concerns.

He said direct entrants would compete with candidates qualifying through the National Eligibility Test (NET) route and described the move as premature given the current academic structure.

Under the amended regulations, students who have completed a four-year undergraduate programme at Delhi University or its affiliated colleges with a minimum CGPA of 6.0 for UR/OBC/EWS categories and 5.5 for SC/ST/PwBD categories, along with at least one research publication in a Scopus-indexed journal as first, second or corresponding author, will be eligible for admission under a supernumerary category.

The regulations also provide that faculty members who supervised students' undergraduate research projects may continue as their PhD supervisors, subject to eligibility requirements.

Academic Council member Maya John, who submitted a dissent note, said multiple pathways to PhD admission could create administrative and policy challenges.

She also raised concerns over the lack of clarity on how reservation norms would apply to students admitted through the new supernumerary category, arguing that the policy could create ambiguity by grouping four-year undergraduate students with master's and MPhil degree holders.

However, several college principals welcomed the move.

Ramjas College Principal Ajay Kumar Arora said the provision was consistent with the NEP's objective of creating multiple academic pathways and would encourage undergraduate students to undertake quality research through publication in Scopus-indexed journals.

Kirori Mal College Principal Dinesh Khattar said the college had already witnessed encouraging outcomes under the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP), with 28 students publishing research papers, including 10 in Scopus-indexed journals.

Delhi University Dean of Admissions Haneet Gandhi said eligible students with Scopus-indexed publications would be considered for direct PhD admission through a separate supernumerary category.

He also said a committee had been constituted to examine increasing seats in the newly introduced one-year postgraduate programme, while admissions to the programme were still in progress.