BIPS Ph.D. Program

REGULATIONS

Baqai Medical University is offering ‘three years’ programs in PhD. Regulations that govern its execution are:

• TITLE OF THE DEGREE:

The award shall be known as Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D).

• RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR ADMISSION:

All admissions in all postgraduate programs shall be through the board of advanced studies and research (BASR) in accordance with the directive from HEC/PMDC/PCP; supervisors shall not grant admission to the students on their own; they may however recommend candidates for admission.
Students will be enrolled in the postgraduate program only if:

• A willing and appropriately qualified supervisor in the desired specialty/ subspecialty is on the faculty of the university.
• Course for the desired specialty has been designed and approved by the BASR and the academic council. A copy of the approved course along with the letter of approval should be placed in the secretariat of the BASR.
• Course has been inspected, approved and recognized by the regulatory bodies (HEC/PMDC); a copy or the original letter should be placed in the secretariat of the BASR. The program shall not be offered without meeting all requirements (1, 2 and 3).
• Honorary faculty members may be the supervisors for any postgraduate program provided that an MOU between the two concerned institutions has been signed. Students shall be only enrolled under supervision of honorary faculty if a qualified supervisor is not available in the department.
• CRITERIA FOR ADMISSION IN Ph.D:

Ph.D program is offered to those who already possess: M.Phil, M.S. FCPS, MRCP OR FRCP degrees.
ADMISSION PROCEDURE:
A test equivalent to GRE-TYPE test will be necessary for admission to Ph.D program. (This test will be conducted by Baqai Medical University and will comprise of MCQ as per HEC guidelines). Entry Test will comprise of MCQs and pass marks will be 70% as per rule of higher education commission.

• CHRONOLOGY OF ADMISSION TO POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMS AT BMU:
• Admission shall be offered once a year.
• Advertisement to this effect shall be placed in the English and Urdu newspapers that have large readership.
• Advertisement shall appear on the 4th Sunday of November.
• All postgraduate programs shall be advertised in a comprehensive format highlighting the salient features of each postgraduate program. Space allocation in the advertisement shall be as deemed appropriate. Designing, drafting and placing the advertisement in the newspapers shall be the responsibility of the department of publications that shall be provided with the necessary information from all concerned departments and institutes.
• Application forms shall be available from the BASR secretariat on payment of prescribed fee for the application form and the evaluation test to be conducted by the university.
• Last date for issuing the forms shall be last Friday of December.
• Students shall submit the completed application forms by the 1st Thursday of January and with the prescribed late fee by the 2nd Thursday of January.
• Admission test shall be conducted on the 4th Tuesday of January. Students shall be allowed to take UAT on producing their CNIC. The admit cards shall be issued on same day upon which the student shall be allowed to enter the examination hall.
• All students who appear in the UAT will be invited for interview. Interview will be held at the discretion of the supervisor after the UAT and shall be completed before the 1st Thursday of February.
• Completed application forms with interview score shall be submitted by the supervisors to the faculty research committee. Applications, if found satisfactory shall be signed by the dean of the concerned faculty and forwarded to the BASR by the 2nd Thursday of February.
• UAT score shall be entered in the application forms by the BASR after receiving interview scores.
• A special meeting of the BASR shall be called on the 3rd Thursday of February. All applications shall be reviewed by the BASR and final decision regarding the admission shall be made. In the special meeting of the BASR, all members of the board shall be present. In addition all supervisors (whether or not they are the members of the BASR) shall be invited. This is to obtain the expert views of all would-be supervisors and to expedite the final decision. Verdict of the BASR shall be final. It will be displayed on the website of BMU and it will also be communicated to each applicant (selected or not) through courier service by the BASR.
• Final result shall be declared on the 4th Thursday of February. It will be displayed on the website of BMU; it will also be communicated to all applicants via courier service by the BASR.
• Academic activities shall commence for all successful candidates on the 1st Thursday of March.
• There shall be no walk-in admissions; each candidate will have to comply with the admission process.
• ADMISSION FORMS AND FEE:

Applications for admission shall be submitted to the office of the BASR secretariat, Baqai Medical University, Karachi. In some cases fee may be paid in installments.

• COURSE SPECIFICATIONS:

No exemption of courses shall be given in lieu of any previous post graduate programs. Ph.D program has two parts i.e. a minimum 18 credit hours of course work.

• FORMAT OF THE CURRICULUM:

The curriculum and the examinations are based on a semester system of teaching. First two semesters in this curriculum are reserved for course work.

• Ph.D. COURSE (DURATION):

• Minimum 3 years
• Maximum 7 years
• Semester 2 semesters in first year
• 1st two semesters shall be devoted to course work and related examinations.

• Candidate has to pass all semester examinations including elective courses offered by the University with a minimum of 3.00 CGPR, prior to Final Certifying Exam (FCE).

• Course work of Ph.D. must be completed in the 1st year.

• There will be NO makeup examination and in case of failure the candidate has to appear with the next batch in the same course.

• FCE will be held on a specific date for all the disciplines. Deans Committee should monitor the process of completion of course work and intimate the Controller of Examinations, who will announce the date of FCE.

• CONTINUOUS INTERNAL ASSESSMENT:

• Attendance in theory classes 75% (minimum).

• Journal club participation in 2nd year (80% attendance is compulsory).

• Presentation of 4 review articles in his field of research in 2nd semester (Synopsis based).

• MID SEMESTER EXAM (OPTIONAL):

• Each mid semester exam shall comprise of one theory paper/viva, conducted by the supervisor without the involvement of examination department.

• There will be no external examiners in the Mid Semester examination.

• SEMESTER EXAM:
• There will be two semester examinations in the 1st year, each after 6 months.

• If candidate fails in the semester exam, he / she will appear in the next semester exam with the next batch in the same course.

• There will be NO makeup exam in any semester.

• PASSING MARKS:

• Ph.D. 70% (minimum in each course)
• Degree will only be issued if candidate secure a minimum of 3.00 CGPR.
• Theory paper shall be prepared and checked by the internal examiner.
  
  FINAL CERTIFYING EXAM (FCE):

• There will be one theory paper and viva voce exam.

• Theory Paper : (100 marks)

Theory paper comprises of course work completed in 12 months period, which includes:

30% questions from 1st semester
70% questions from 2nd semester

• INTERNAL EXAMINER:

• Dean will nominate the internal examiner in FCE.

• The nominated examiner will send a copy of the course work content to the external examiner and invite questions along with key.

• The internal examiner shall make the final paper. The paper shall comprise of 60% questions from external examiner and 40% questions from internal examiner.

• The final paper prepared by the internal examiner should be sealed in front of the Controller of Examinations.

• The answer script will be checked in the examination department.

• EXTERNAL EXAMINER:

• There will be one external examiner, expert in the area of the subject, who shall evaluate the candidate.

• VIVA VOCE EXAM (100 MARKS):

• Viva voce exam shall be arranged and conducted by the External Examiner (EE) and Internal Examiner (IE), (90 marks EE + 10 marks IE).

• RESULTS OF FCE:

• Theory papers of FCE shall be checked in the examination department and the result must be submitted directly to the Controller of Examinations.

• The result of viva voce examination shall be submitted to the Controller office within 24 hours of the completion of the examination.

• Final result shall be prepared by the Internal Examiner in consultation with Dean of the Faculty.

• Result shall be declared by the Controller of Examination after Moderation Committee Meeting and approval of the Vice-Chancellor.

• MAKE-UP EXAM OF FCE:

• Those who fail in the FCE can appear in the make-up exam after 2 months. There will be 2 make-up exams during one year.

• Those candidates who have passed the theory papers but failed in the viva voce will appear only in the viva voce exam (1st make-up exam only).

• Candidate who could not pass the exam in the 1st make-up will appear in the 2nd FCE make-up in both theory & viva voce exam.

• If the candidate could not succeed in the 2nd make-up, then he/she shall be considered as Dropout from the course.

• There will be no special exam.

• Dropout candidate willing to continue his / her studies, shall apply as a fresh candidate and will appear in the postgraduate university admission test.
  

• SUBMISSION OF SYNOPSIS:

• The candidate may start writing his/her research synopsis after the completion of first six months; however the same shall only be forwarded to the Ethics Committee after passing the 1st and 2nd Semester examinations.
• The student shall write the synopsis as per prescribed format of the university.
• The supervisor shall review the synopsis for appropriateness.
• If satisfied, the supervisor shall present the synopsis to the Departmental Research Review Committee (DRRC) which shall be comprised of the research supervisor, HOD, Dean of the faculty, one senior member of the department and one co-opted member related to the subject if felt necessary.
• DRRC may approve the synopsis or suggest changes as deemed appropriate.
• The reviewed and corrected synopsis should be sent to the chairperson ethics committee for evaluation along with proforma for ethical committee approval.
• Final version of the synopsis shall be sent to the BASR after certification by the departmental synopsis review committee and the ethics committee.
• Members of the BASR may approve the synopsis as such or they may recommend minor changes to be incorporated in the final submission.

This procedure is recommended for two reasons.

• With the ground work done by the DRRC, the task of the BASR for the review of all synopses shall become easy and fast. Time thus saved could be devoted to discuss policy matters, future plans, quality enhancement measures, funds generation and funds disposal.
• With the rapid advancements in every field, no expert can claim to have expertise in every aspect of science. It is therefore unreasonable to expect all members of the BASR to have the final words of wisdom in all spheres of scientific research. Thus the in-depth review of the synopses has been shifted to the DRRC with expertise in the proposed area of research.

• RESEARCH GRANT

The student is entitled for a research grant from BASR of Rs. 2,50,000/-. The grant can be utilized for the purchase of chemicals, glassware, instruments, and expendables. The student should submit the required items through the prescribed requisite form available at the BASR office. For any additional expenses such as laboratory tests, animal purchase, etc. the student must seek permission from the BASR. In case of any additional expense exceeding the allotted grant, the student through the supervisor may contact the BASR.

• THESIS SUBMISSION

• The supervisors would send 2 copies of the theses to the BASR secretariat with HEC prescribed certificates of originality and plagiarism.
• Theses will then be forwarded to the controller of examinations for approval of the names of two reviewers (out of the approved list of subject experts) by the Vice Chancellor.
• The controller would convey this information to the BASR secretariat from where the theses will be sent to the reviewers with the instructions that the report be sent to the controller of examinations.
• The Ph.D. Dissertation must be evaluated by at least two Ph.D. experts from technologically/academically advanced foreign countries as prescribed by HEC.
• On the receipt of the reports, the controller would forward the reports to the BASR secretariat from where the reports will be sent to the supervisors for necessary perusal.
• For minor corrections, the supervisor would make these corrections and the theses will be sent to the controller’s office, along with correction certificate duly signed by the candidate, supervisor and the Dean of concerned faculty, from where a letter will be issued to the BASR secretariat for their presentation to the BASR meeting.
• In the event of a major change, the theses shall be again submitted to the reviewers through the above mentioned process except that the names of examiners will not be sent to the Vice Chancellor.

• EXTERNAL EXAMINERS / REVIEWERS

• The examiners should be of the same subject / area of research in which the research work has been carried out.
• The examiners must not be the relatives of supervisor and student.
• The examiners should not be students of the supervisor during the past 10 years.
• The BASR is responsible for taking consent of the examiners before sending their names to the Vice Chancellor.

• PLAGIARISM

The plagiarism test must be conducted on the dissertation before its submission to the two external reviewers. The similarity in Ph.D. thesis should be less than 20% with no single source exceeding 5% match.

• Research Paper

Publication of at least one research paper in an HEC approved “X” category journal is a requirement for the award of Ph.D. degree.

• OPEN DEFENSE OF THE THESIS (VIVA VOCE EXAMINATION)

• The defense of the thesis should be performed after making all suggested corrections / amendments in the thesis.
  

• 20. AWARD OF THE DEGREE

The final verdict on the degree would be made by the BASR. On successful completion, the BASR will intimate the Controller of Examination to announce the official result to the candidate and the supervisor.

	PHARMACEUTICS Ph.D. First Semester
Course No.	Course Title	Credit Hours
PCEU-901	Stability of Pharmaceuticals	3
PCEU-903	Principles of Chemical Kinetics	3
PCEU-905	Pharmaceutical Product Development	3
PCEU-907	Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine	3
PCEU-909*	Research Methodology (Advanced)	3
PCEU-911	Pharmaceutical Polymers	3

	Ph.D. Second Semester
Course No.	Course Title	Credit Hours
PCEU-902	Pharmaceutical Economics and Management	3
PCEU-904	Advanced Pharmaceutics	3
PCEU-906	Regulatory Considerations in Pharmacy	3
PCEU-908	Drug Delivery	3
PCEU-910	Pharmaceutical Physics	3
PCEU-912	Modern Biotechnology	3

* = Compulsory Course
Note: The student can select 3 courses of 9 credit hours in each semester to make a total of 18 credit hours during the first year including the compulsory course (9 + 9 = 18 hours courses).

	PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMISTRY Ph.D. First Semester
Course No.	Course Title	Credit Hours
PCHE-901*	Chemical and Photostability of Pharmaceuticals	3
PCHE-903*	Kinetic Principles of Drug Stability	3
PCHE-905	Recent Advancements in Antibacterial Agents	3
PCHE-907	Advanced Instrumentation and their application in Pharmaceutical Analysis	3
PCHE-909*	Research Methodology (Advanced)	3
PCHE-911	Drug Design and Development	3

	Ph.D. Second Semester
Course No.	Course Title	Credit Hours
PCHE-902	Chemistry, Analysis & Stability of Vitamins	3
PCHE-904	Recent Advance in Drug Discovery	3
PCHE-906*	Regulatory Considerations in Pharmaceutical Industry	3
PCHE-908	Drug Metabolism	3
PCHE-910	Polymer Chemistry	3

* = Compulsory Courses
Note: The student can select 3 courses of 9 credit hours in each semester to make a total of 18 credit hours during the first year including the compulsory course (9 + 9 = 18 hours courses).

	PHARMACOLOGY Ph.D. First Semester
Course No.	Course Title	Credit Hours
PCOL-901	Environmental Pollution and Health Hazards	3
PCOL-903	Endocrinology	3
PCOL-905	Instrumentation Techniques	3
PCOL-907	Molecular Biology and Contemporary Medicine	3
PCOL-909*	Research Methodology (Advanced)	3
PCOL-911	Cardiovascular-I	3

	Ph.D. Second Semester
Course No.	Course Title	Credit Hours
PCOL-902	Experimental Techniques	3
PCOL-904	Experimental Work	3
PCOL-906	Experimental & Analytical Techniques	3
PCOL-908	Tools & Techniques in Molecular Biology & Biotechnology	3
PCOL-910	Cancer Chemotherapy	3
PCOL-912	Cardiovascular-II	3

* = Compulsory Course
Note: The student can select 3 courses of 9 credit hours in each semester to make a total of 18 credit hours during the first year including the compulsory course (9 + 9 = 18 hours courses).

	PHARMACOGNOSY Ph.D. First Semester
Course No.	Course Title	Credit Hours
PCOG-901	Advances in Pharmacognosy / Natural Products Chemistry	3
PCOG-903	Biosynthesis of Natural Products	3
PCOG-905	Industrial Pharmacognosy	3
PCOG-909*	Research Methodology (Advanced)	3
PCOG-911	Biotechnology in Pharmacognosy	3

	Ph.D. Second Semester
Course No.	Course Title	Credit Hours
PCOG-902	Computer Application in Pharmacy	3
PCOG-904	Alternative Systems of Medicine	3
PCOG-906	Clinical Pharmacognosy	3
PCOG-910	Herbal Bioequivalence	3
PCOG-912	Marine Resources and their Application	3

* = Compulsory Course
Note: The student can select 3 courses of 9 credit hours in each semester to make a total of 18 credit hours during the first year including the compulsory course (9 + 9 = 18 hours courses).

Academic Calendar for Postgraduate Programs (2023 – 24)

ACTIVITY	DATE
Advertisement in the Newspaper	First Week of October 2022
Admission Test	Second Week of November 2022
Announcement of Results	Third Week of December 2022
Start of 1st Semester	Last Week of January 2023
End of 1st Semester	Third Week of May 2023
Preparation Leaves	Summer Vacations
1st Semester Exam	Second Week of July 2023
Start of 2nd Semester	First Week of August 2023
End of 2nd Semester	Last Week of November 2023
Preparation Leaves	First Week of December 2023
2nd Semester Exam	Second Week of December 2023
Final Comprehensive Exam (FCE)	Third Week of January 2024