UGC relaxes criteria for Assistant Professor appointment, Ph.D. made optional; know mandatory tests

New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Wednesday effected a change in the selection criteria for Assistant Professor in all higher educational institutions and informed that the Ph.D. will now be ‘optional’ rather than mandatory. The amendment in Assistant Professor selection will be effective from July 1, 2023.

The UGC also listed out slew of tests that the candidate will have to clear for becoming eligible for the coveted post.

According to UGC notification, the National Eligibility Test (NET), State Eligibility Test (SET) or State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) will be minimum criteria for the direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Professor in higher education institutions.

“Ph.D. qualification for appointment as an Assistant Professor would be optional from 01 July 2023.NET/SET/SLET shall be the minimum criteria for the direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Professor for all Higher Education Institutions,” the education body tweeted.

UGC Gazette Notification:

Ph.D. qualification for appointment as an Assistant Professor would be optional from 01 July 2023.

NET/SET/SLET shall be the minimum criteria for the direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Professor for all Higher Education Institutions. pic.twitter.com/dnpHlnfgo2

— UGC INDIA (@ugc_india) July 5, 2023

The UGC said that the amendments have been made in ‘University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and other Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2018.’

Earlier, the UGC chairperson Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar also took to Twitter to inform about the ‘relaxation’ in criteria for appointment to Assistant Professor post.

“PhD qualification for appointment as an Assistant Professor would be optional,” he tweeted.