SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, April 20: A panel discussion on ‘Career opportunities and challenges while pursuing PhD by working professionals’ was organised at ICFAI University, Jharkhand wherein several working professionals from various backgrounds who have successfully completed PhDs, shared their experiences with aspiring PhD candidates.
Welcoming the participants to the panel discussion, Associate Professor Dr. Subroto Kumar Dey said, “The objective of the panel discussion is to share ideas by experienced professionals to enable the aspiring PhD aspirants to take the right decision.”
Addressing the participants, Professor O R S Rao, Vice Chancellor of the University, said, “Given the huge gap between the demand and availability of PhD qualified and experienced faculty members, it is important for working managers to have excellent career opportunities to pursue PhD programmes. There are several opportunities. The part-time PhD programme in Management offered by our university enables you to pursue the programme without leaving your current job.”
“An analysis of 38 PhD awardees by our university shows that 70 percent were working in industry while the remaining 30 percent were in academia when joining the programme. Upon successful completion of the programme, 40 percent of them transferred to academia. Individuals who remained in the industry also got recognition and respect from their employers as well as their peers”, Prof Rao added.
Dr Satya Lakshmi, who was awarded PhD by the university in 2020, said, “After evaluating other options, I decided to join ICFAI University as it gave me the flexibility to choose the subject of my passion. Apart from the excellent guidance of the supervisors, I learned a lot from my classmates who came from diverse backgrounds from across India.”
Dr. Akinchan Buddhadev Sinha, who worked as Deputy Director in the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), shared his experience stating, “The research work that I did on IPOs was conducted on various regulatory aspects of public issues under various statutory and helps policy bodies. The diligence with which progress is reviewed at ICFAI University helped me make timely mid-course corrections and prepare a quality thesis.”
Dr Praveen Kumar, who is a Senior Manager at a multinational IT company, Hewlett-Packard, said, “The PhD degree brought me a great deal of satisfaction in both personal and professional careers. ICFAI University understands the challenges faced by working professionals and is designed to make your PhD programme flexible and responsive without sacrificing quality.
Dr. Sudipta Muzumdar, Associate Professor, who coordinated the panel discussion, reminded the participants that April 22, 2022 is the last date for submission of applications for the University’s PhD programme for 2022 admissions, while Dr. Bhagbat Barik, Assistant Dean gave the closing remarks and vote of thanks.
