Program Description

PhD Chemistry is offered following Higher Education Commission (HEC) guidelines. Minimum duration of PhD program is 3 years while maximum duration is 7 years. After completion of 5 years, a student is required to apply for extension in PhD duration in each semester. PhD students are trained to become productive professionals who can carry out the independent research in future. Students can opt for research in any of major areas of chemistry including Natural Product Chemistry, Material Chemistry, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Physical & Analytical Chemistry, Computational Chemistry and Biochemistry. The highly qualified faculty of 22 PhDs and state of the art laboratories are the major strength of the department. Three courses each are to be taken in first two semesters. From third semester onwards, a research project is to be undertaken under the guidance of supervisor.

Learning Activities (PhD Program)

1. Regular Classes for Course Work (first two semesters)
Regular classes will be held each spanning one and half hour. For each 3-credit hour course two classes will be taught per week. Whole semester comprises 16 weeks excluding all public holidays. 80% attendance must be ensured by the students in order to qualify for Terminal examination of each course. All courses are updated from time to time in order to meet the quality and current trends.

2. Presentations: After consultation with the Supervisor, synopsis for the research work will be finalized by the student. The student is required to defend his/her synopsis in a PowerPoint presentation in front of Departmental Advisory Committee (DAC). After completion of research work, each student will also deliver a PowerPoint presentation to defend his/her thesis in front of DAC. Quality and quantity of work will be evaluated and no tolerance is there for compromised research both in terms of quality and quantity. 

3. Dissertation Submission
Award of PhD degree requires that the student shall submit a Dissertation/Thesis on the subject of his/her research work. A minimum of one publication in HEC recognized International Journal is required for the award of PhD degree. 

4. Grading System
Assignments / Quizzes (25%)
Mid Term Examination (25%)
Terminal Examination (50%)

PhD Degree Requirement
All PhD degree programs are spread over 38 credit hours, required to be completed according to the criteria cited below:
Courses: 18 credit hours
Research (Thesis):  09 credit hours

Expectations
Honesty, integrity, equity, timeliness, regular attendance, participation, and hard work – key to professionalism and success

Application and admission

At CUI the admissions in graduate programs are offered on merit. The merit is determined on the basis if the academic record, GRE/NTS-GAT score and interview.

General Eligibility Criteria

Pre-requisite:

• An MS/M.Phil degree with Thesis of 06 credit hours or its equivalent degree with Thesis of 06 credit hours, in the relevant field from an accredited institution, with minimum CGPA of 3.0/4.0 (Semester system) or 70% marks (annual system), and no third division (annual system) or ‘D’ grade (semester system) throughout the academic career. 
• GRE (Subject) as per HEC policy or NTS GAT (subject) with a minimum score of 60.

Program Duration

The duration of studies for PhD degree shall normally be, not less than three years and not more than seven years.

Course Work Requirements:

a) A PhD scholar shall have to complete 18 credit hours of graduate level course work from approved Scheme of Studies and 20 credit hours of PhD thesis. Supervisory committee will recommend the courses for each student. Courses will be selected from the list of all approved graduate level courses. 

b) The registration of PhD Thesis of 09 credit hours shall be allowed after the completion of course work for PhD degree.

c) If the scheme of courses completed by the candidates for their last degree in the relevant field does not provide adequate background for the PhD program into which they are seeking admissions, they may be required to rectify the deficiency by taking one or more additional courses proposed by the departmental advisory committee.

Note: Information regarding required oral and written examinations and detailed rules and regulation as specified in the CUI Graduate Handbook will be considered final.

Career prospects

Chemistry has such a wide variety of important applications that it creates constant demand for well-trained chemists in many fields. There are a large number of job opportunities for Chemistry graduates nationally and internationally in the following fields:

• Industries
• Health departments
• Mineralogy department
• Ministry of Environment
• Pharmacy  
• Agriculture and
• Teaching Institutes, etc.