The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has approved a proposal for digital submission of MPhil, MTech dissertations and PhD theses on Thursday.

 Professor Chintamani Mahapatra, Rector-I of JNU, said that the proposal was approved at the 286th Executive Council meeting of the university.

The statement said, “The university will be taking the lead in India to launch this novel process of dissertation and thesis submission through the digital mode. This will facilitate a timely, hassle-free and very convenient process of submission of M.Phil dissertations, M.Tech dissertations and PhD theses for evaluation by the research scholars of the university.” 

An online theses-tracking system has already been put up by the university. 

 According to the statement, The Academic Council of the university had authorised holding of viva voce examinations for the award of research degrees even before the coronavirus pandemic while more than 150 viva voce tests for the award of doctoral degrees have been conducted online during the pandemic.

The school or center offices will process the acquisition of the relevant “No Dues Clearance” form for the students online and the students will no longer have to move from place to place with a physical form to get “No Dues” clearances under the new procedure.

The statement also said that all the official requirements, such as a plagiarism check of the draft dissertations and theses and payment of fees will be done digitally.

JNU Vice Chancellor Professor M Jagadesh Kumar told PTI that the university has streamlined many procedures by adopting digital technologies over the last four years and more such reforms can be seen in the future.

He said, ” If JNU has to become one of the top universities in the world, in addition to creating a good research infrastructure, it is also important to create an enabling ecosystem in the university by introducing efficient administrative and academic procedures.”