Half of PhD scholars in India want their fellowship tenures extended, says survey: Report

NEW DELHI: A survey by the Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS) revealed that more than 40 percent of PhD scholars of India could not make any progress in their work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was conducted among 2,017 doctoral students, mostly in state-run institutions, reported the Times Now .

The major reasons cited for the extension were reported to be the inability to continue fieldwork, delayed or discontinued funding, and lack of access to laboratories and libraries.

For science scholars, the sudden lockdown led to contamination of research samples and chemicals, as many laboratories stayed locked. The students lost crucial time and suffered setbacks as their lab work was partially or completely lost.

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As the funding dried up during the pandemic, students were deprived of their fellowship grants. Many have been denied financial support from their institutes since March 2020.

Many PhD scholars reported that they would not be able to complete their thesis in that time. Most of them have sought an extension of their fellowship deadlines by at least six months beyond their scheduled five years to submit their thesis.

Many PhD holders are also facing an unemployment crisis. Many unemployed scholars expressed their desire to leave the country for better opportunities to further their academic work or to find jobs abroad.This will lead to further brain drain.

The scholars have also reportedly demanded age relaxation as a compensation for the unfortunate loss of time. They also sought an increase in the number of post-doctoral fellowship positions in central institutes in India.