UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar announced that students holding four-year undergraduate degrees can now directly sit for NET and pursue a PhD. To qualify for a PhD with or without a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), candidates will need a minimum of 75 percent marks or equivalent grades in their four-year undergraduate course.
According to the UGC current notification Candidates having passed a four-year or eight-semester bachelor's degree programme should have a minimum of 75 per cent marks in aggregate or its equivalent grade on a point scale wherever the grading system is followed.
A relaxation of five per cent marks or its equivalent grade may be allowed for those belonging to SC, ST, OBC (non-creamy layer), differently-abled, economically weaker sections and other categories of candidates as per the decision of the UGC from time to time, he added.
The application process for the exam began on Saturday and will end on May 10. So far, a candidate for the National Eligibility Test (NET) needed a master's degree with a minimum of 55% marks.
