Bypassing Gujrat Common Admission Services, Gujrat University to Hold PhD Admissions Independently

Ahmedabad: 

Gujarat University has announced that it will independently conduct the PhD admission process for the ongoing academic year, opting out of the Gujarat Common Admission Services (GCAS) framework. The decision marks a departure from the centralized admission system previously followed for doctoral programmes.

As per the official announcement, the university will hold a PhD entrance examination on August 12. Online registration for eligible candidates will be open from July 14 to July 23 through the university’s Samarth portal. Applicants will be required to pay a non-refundable registration fee of ₹1,000.

Approximately 700 PhD seats will be available across more than 80 academic disciplines. The entrance test will be MCQ-based, with a total duration of two hours and a maximum of 100 marks. Half of the paper will assess general research aptitude, while the remaining 50 marks will focus on subject-specific knowledge.

Candidates who qualify the entrance examination will proceed to the next stages of the admission process, including group discussions, before final seat allocation based on merit. However, applicants who have already cleared the UGC-NET examination will be exempted from the entrance test and will be eligible for direct admission.

The entire admission procedure—from registration to final seat allotment—will be managed directly by Gujarat University. Officials stated that the move follows strong representations made by the university, emphasizing that reputed institutions traditionally conduct their own PhD admissions even when undergraduate and postgraduate admissions are centralized.

The decision reflects a significant policy shift, as GCAS has now withdrawn its role in PhD admissions, allowing individual universities to regain control over doctoral enrolments.