Enrolment in PhD programmes of Chennai’s Anna University doubles

Chennai: The 2021-2022 academic year has seen the enrolment of students in Anna University’s PhD programme double while comparing with previous years. Academicians attribute the spike to pent-up demand and the likelihood that a doctorate degree will soon become mandatory for the direct recruitment of assistant professors at varsities.

In 2021-2022, a whopping 2,293 students were admitted to PhD programmes offered by AU’s four campus colleges and engineering colleges affiliated to it across the state. In 2020-2021, the figure was 1112 while in 2019-2020, the university admitted just 1087 PhD scholars.

The rise in PhD enrolment comes amid a consistent drop in enrolment in MTech/ME courses at the varsity. However, in 2020, with COVID-19 at the peak, we did not advertise for PhD programmes in July, so interested candidates can apply. The pent-up demand could be the cause for the rise in PhD admissions this year.