- In a major change, UGC announced that exams such as National Eligiblity Test (NET), State Eligibility Test (SET) and State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) will be the basic criteria for the appointment
For the appointments on the post of assistant professors in universities and colleges, holding PhD is no longer be a requirement, as per the recent guidelines of University Grant Commission (UGC).
In a major change, UGC announced that exams such as National Eligiblity Test (NET) State Eligibility Test (SET) State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) will be the basic criteria for the appointment to the post of assistant professors in universities and colleges.
In a further clarification, UGC notified that depending on the discipline, institutions can decide upon shortlisting criteria above the minimum specified by the UGC and PhD is still mandatory to rise to the post of associate professor.
Previously, In 2018, it became a requirement for universities to mandate a PhD degree when hiring for the position of assistant professor. However, candidates were given a three-year period to complete their PhDs and the UGC instructed universities and colleges to begin implementing this criterion for recruitment starting from 2021.
Subsequently, in 2021, the UGC extended the applicability date of a PhD as the minimum qualification for the assistant professor position to July 2023.
