M.S. Regulations
1) Areas of Specialization
a) M. S. (by Research) programme shall be offered in CSE and ECE programmes of the Institute. Specific areas (research topics) will be decided by the institute based on the following:
i) Research interests of the Faculty,
ii) Research areas of mutual interest (considering IIIT Sri City, Chittoor and sponsoring institutes like ISRO / DRDO Labs and other research focused MNCs), and
iii) Research areas of the sponsored research projects.
2) The eligibility for M.S. (by Research) programme offered in two disciplines will be as follows:
a) Computer Science and Engineering (CSE):
i) Bachelor's degree in Engineering / Technology or any other qualification considered equivalent (such as AMIE or, GRAD-IETE or, DOEACC ‘B’ Level) having first class (60% and above) or equivalent CGPA in grade point scale.
(OR)
ii) Master's degree in Mathematics / Statistics / Physics / Electronic Science / Computer Science / Computer Applications/ Information Technology (or an associated area with strong background in mathematics and programming), or other related subjects
b) Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE):
i) Bachelor's degree in Engineering / Technology or any other qualification considered equivalent (such as AMIE or, GRAD-IETE or, DOEACC ‘B’ Level) having first class (60% and above) or equivalent CGPA in grade point scale.
(OR)
ii) Master's degree in Mathematics / Statistics / Physics / Electronic Science / Information Technology, or any other related subjects
c) Admission criteria / policies will be decided by the Senate following the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education, Government of India.
3) Selection Procedure and Student Status Admission to the M. S. (by Research) programme will be based on:
a) Performance in the written test and interview conducted by the Institute. GATE score will be an added advantage it does not alone be sufficient to get admission to M.S. (by Research) programme.
b) Candidates from abroad / NRI category / nominees of foreign Governments shall be accepted directly from the Ministry, following the guidelines listed for admission to M.S. (by Research) programmes.
c) The candidates will be supported by the Institute (stipend paid by the Institute / stipend paid by AICTE / stipend paid from other sponsored projects) for 30 months from the date of joining the M.S. (by Research) Programme.
d) The stipend for the selected candidates may be supported by the organizations which have MOU with the institute.
e) The enrolled candidates can move away from the campus for the duration of their project work. Prior approval of the Director or his nominee is required in the cases of full time scholars seeking project work outside the Institute and the student will be treated as a full time student during the project term/s also.
4) Duration of the Programme
a) The programme shall, on average, need two years and the minimum duration required for the completion shall be four semesters. The course work may be completed in one semester and the project work can be taken up in the following three semesters. The maximum duration of stipend for the eligible candidates will be restricted to two and half years (five semesters).
5) Course Work
a) The student will have to complete one research methodology course and other 4 core / elective courses at the basic and advanced levels recommended by the M.S. Scrutiny Committee. One directed study course is permitted for sponsored candidates. The course work shall be, typically, completed in the first semester and in the worst case, the suggested course work should be completed in maximum of three semesters.. The credits for course work shall be based on the core and elective courses offered by the institute for third and fourth year undergraduate or postgraduate programmes. The student needs to earn a minimum of fifteen credits from the five courses. The minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 7.0 should be obtained to complete the course requirements.
6) M.S. Guideship
a) All faculty members of the Institute holding doctorate degree are eligible to guide M.S. (by Research) scholars
b) No Guide shall have more than two M.S. (by Research) scholars under IIIT Sri City, Chittoor, excluding the candidates taken under sponsored projects, who are yet to submit the synopsis of their theses. The guide can take subsequent candidates after submission of synopsis by the existing scholars.
7) General Test Committee
The guide allotment will be made within three weeks from the date of admission. The research activity, along with the necessary course work, shall be directed by a M.S. Scrutiny Committee (MSC) constituted specifically for each student. The MSC shall have, the following members:
a) One senior faculty member from the concerned programme, as the chairman of MSC (suggested by the Guide).
i) The Guide,
ii) One faculty member nominated by the Director or his nominee
iii) One technical expert (external) from leading academic institutions / national laboratories / industry to be nominated by Guide / the Director or his nominee.
b) The MSC will meet within two weeks time from the date of guide assignment of the student to the M.S. programme. For the first meeting, the external member need not be present.
c) The MSC shall meet again in the third semester (within the first two weeks) to review the progress made by the candidate.
8) Progress Report
a) Research scholars shall sign in the attendance register or record his presence using a biometric device on all working days. They are eligible for a total of 12 days leave every semester, which they can avail after obtaining the prior permission of concerned guide.
b) A M.S. (by Research) scholar shall submit a written report of work done by him/her in the prescribed proforma to the Guide who shall forward it to the MSC within two weeks before the end of each 6-month period from the date of registration upto first one and half years (18 months) and before the end of each 3-month period beyond one and half years (18 months).
c) A research scholar shall appear before the MSC once in 9 months for the first one and half years and once in a semester thereafter for progress evaluation.
d) Progress evaluation meetings of the MSC will be convened by the Chairman, MSC in May (for research scholars admitted in July semester) and in November (for research scholars admitted in January semester) to assess the progress in his/her research work and recommend renewal of scholarship/ registration wherever applicable.
e) If the progress of the research scholar continues to be unsatisfactory, the MSC can recommend the cancellation of registration.
9) Seminar Presentation
a) The student, upon completion of his research work, shall present a seminar, highlighting the methodology and the inferences.
b) This seminar shall be attended by at least three members of the MSC – to ensure that the student has followed up the suggestions made by the MSC in its earlier meetings.
c) Minutes of such seminars with their milestones should be recorded for checking up with the follow up actions.
10) Synopsis of Thesis
a) M.S. (by Research) scholars are required to give, prior to submission of synopsis, one seminar talk and shall have at least one paper in a reputed SCI indexed journal or two papers in reputed conference proceedings indexed by DBLP or web of science.
b) On satisfactory completion of the prescribed courses and the required publications (one SCI indexed journal paper or 2 papers in conference proceedings indexed by DBLP or web of science), the research scholar shall submit three copies of the synopsis of his/her research work to the MSC.
c) The research scholar should present the synopsis before the MSC. The MSC will, if it approves the work reported in the synopsis, permit the M.S. (by Research) scholar to submit the thesis and recommend a panel of at least six thesis examiners outside the Institute and within India. This meeting of the MSC will be held in the presence of the Director or his nominee.
11) Submission of Thesis
a) The research scholar shall, within two months of acceptance of the synopsis, submit four copies of thesis embodying the results of investigation, and also the abstract of the thesis of about 400 words.
12) Panel of Examiners
a) The thesis shall be referred to two examiners chosen by the Chairman, Senate or his nominee from among the panel of examiners submitted by the Guide and recommended by the MSC at the synopsis meeting.
13) Thesis Evaluation Report
a) The examiner is expected to send the report on the thesis within two months from the date of receipt of the thesis.
b) In case of undue delay in receiving the thesis report, the Chairman, Senate or his nominee shall appoint another examiner from the panel for evaluating the thesis.
c) If an examiner suggests resubmission of the thesis, after revision, the research scholar will be allowed to re-submit the thesis within the time stipulated by the MSC failing which the revised thesis will not be accepted and his/her registration will be cancelled
d) If one of the two thesis examiners declares the thesis as not commended the thesis shall be referred to a third examiner from the panel for his evaluation.
e) If two examiners, after referring to a third examiner (if necessary), report the thesis as not commended the registration of the scholar will be cancelled.
f) If reports of two examiners, declare the thesis as ‘commended,’ and above, the MSC will consider the reports within two weeks of receipt of copies of reports by the Chairman, MSC from the academic section, and recommends the conduct of viva -
voce examination for the award of M.S. degree (by Research) to the scholar, with a certificate that the corrections / revisions (if any) suggested by the examiner(s) have been incorporated in the thesis.
g) The viva voce board will conduct the viva voce examination and recommend the award of M.S. degree (by Research) to the scholar, with a certificate that the performance of the research scholar in the viva voce was found satisfactory and the
corrections / revisions suggested by the examiner(s) have been incorporated in the thesis.
h) The viva voce examination will be conducted normally not earlier than two weeks from the date of receipt of copies of reports by the Chairman, MSC from the Academic Section.
i) In all other cases, not covered by the above Regulations, the matter will be referred to the MSC for consideration.
14) Viva Voce Board
a) The viva voce board shall comprise the members of the MSC.
b) The viva voce board will examine the scholar on his/her thesis work and evaluate his/her performance as satisfactory or otherwise.
c) If the report of the viva voce board declares the performance of the research scholar as not satisfactory, he/she may be asked to reappear for oral examination at a later date (not earlier than a month and not later than six months from the date of the first oral examination).
d) If the viva voce Board on the second occasion also evaluates the performance of the research scholar as not satisfactory, the matter will be referred to the Senate for a decision.
e) The viva voce board may also recommend revision to be made in the final version of the thesis after taking into consideration, suggestions of the examiners who evaluated the thesis and the discussion at the viva voce examination. The chairman of the viva
voce board shall forward the thesis to the Academic section certifying that the revisions recommended by the viva voce board, if any, have been incorporated in the copy of the thesis along with the report of the viva voce board.
f) All M.S. (by Research) scholars shall submit one copy of the final form of the thesis in A4 size and an electronic version in pdf format after the MSC or the viva voce board recommends the award of the degree.
15) Award of M.S. Degree (by Research)
a) On the recommendation of the MSC / viva voce board and the senate and with the approval of the board of governors of the institute, the M.S. (by Research) scholar will be awarded the M.S degree (by research).
16) Power to modify
a) Notwithstanding all that has been stated above, the Senate of the Institute has the right to modify any of the above rules and regulations from time to time.
