UGC Allows Asst Prof Appointment Without PhD

New Delhi: Now without having a PhD degree, one can apply for an assistant professor’s post in universities.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has dropped the provision from the regulations imposed in 2018, which were supposed to have been implemented from July 2021 but were deferred in view of the pandemic.

Before the 2018 regulations, candidates qualifying in the National Eligibility Test (NET), conducted by the UGC, or the State Eligibility Test (SET) — some states call it the State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) — conducted by the state governments, were eligible to apply for an assistant professor’s post in colleges and universities. Those with PhD degrees were exempt from the NET/SET/SLET requirement.

In its 2018 regulations, the UGC introduced a provision making PhD mandatory for those applying for the assistant professor’s post in universities. For colleges, the provision for entry through NET/ SET/ SLET was kept unchanged.

On Tuesday, the UGC notified an amended regulation, dropping the provision of mandatory PhD for assistant professor’s jobs in universities.

The new provision says: “NET/SET/SLET shall be the minimum criteria for the direct recruitment to the post of assistant professors for all higher education institutions.”