India’s PhD students want fellowship tenures extended

More than 40% of India’s PhD scholars, mostly in state-run institutions, failed to make any progress in their work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey of 2,017 doctoral students by a forum for young scientists has revealed.

Failure to continue field work, delayed or discontinued funding, blocked access to laboratories and libraries severely impacted the scholars’ work, particularly those in the early years of their PhD, according to the survey by the Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS) conducted in October 2020.

Most of the respondents (70%) were in their first four years of PhD work. As funding reduced to a trickle during the pandemic, institutes failed to pay students the fellowship money, often the only source of income for PhD students in India. Almost 28% of the respondents had not received the financial support from their institutes and 14% had been partially funded since March 2020.

More than half (54%) of the scholars had no other financial aid available for research. About 6% reported having received some help from their supervisors or guides.

Fellowships were discontinued for more than half (54%) of the scholars before they could complete their thesis. Almost 47% of the rest had between six months to a year of fellowship tenure left, and most reported they would be unable to complete their thesis in that time.

INYAS conducted the survey to gauge how the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted these early-career researchers. The survey revealed that sudden lockdowns risked contamination of research samples and chemicals in many abandoned laboratories. Academics lost crucial time, and many suffered setbacks due to complete or partial loss of laboratory work.

The scholars surveyed told INYAS that this exacerbated anxiety levels, according to Upasana Ray, a member of the academy and a senior scientist at the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata.

More than half those who had completed their PhD by March 2020 — just before COVID-19 hit — were still looking for work opportunities. Around 18% continue to work in their research laboratories with little or no earnings. About 36% told INYAS they were keen to leave India in search of opportunities to further their academic work or to find jobs in another country.

From among those who had conducted field work, fully or partly, almost 40% reported using the lockdowns and restrictions to work on their manuscripts. An equal number of respondents, however, said they made no progress.

Most PhD scholars surveyed sought an extension of their fellowship deadlines by at least six months beyond their scheduled five years to submit their theses. They also called for an increase in the number of post-doctoral fellowship positions in central institutes in India and a relaxation in age limits to compensate for the loss of time.

The age criteria is not only important for applications to post-doctoral positions but also for entry- level jobs, said INYAS member, N. Nishad Fathima, a senior principal scientist at the CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute in Chennai. An increase in the number of government jobs for PhD awardees without post-doctoral experience would help alleviate the harsh experience of those holding doctorates, the survey found.

The INYAS has shared the survey results and recommendations with the office of India's Principal Scientific Advisor. Ray said they will also send the scholars’ feedback to science funders, the Department of Science and Technology, the Science and Engineering Research Board and the Department of Biotechnology.