Many students end up their academic careers after completing their Bachelor’s or Master’s degree courses. They should also realize the significance of enrolling in Ph.D. programs. In particular, if you want to pursue your career as a researcher or a faculty member, you will be preferred over other candidates if you are a Ph.D. qualified and have also contributed to the academic literature by writing original research articles in the journals with a high-impact factor.
Doing a Ph.D. in Pakistan might take several years and it will require continued hard work and focused efforts on your part. The good news for the Pakistani students is that the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan has announced a new Ph.D. policy that is available at the following link:
https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/services/faculty/Plagiarism/Documents/HEC-PhD-Policy.pdf
According to this new policy effective from January 01, 2021, the following minimum criteria should be followed for admission in Ph.D. programs:
- The minimum requirement for admission to a PhD program shall be completion of the BS (or equivalent) degree.
- Consistent with best practices internationally (including leading global universities), it shall generally not be a requirement for admission to a PhD program that the applicant shall have completed a prior degree in the same discipline.
- For admission in PhD programs, a minimum CGPA of 3.0 (out of 4.0 in the semester system) or First Division (in the annual system) in the most recent degree obtained is required, whether such was degree obtained from Pakistani or foreign universities.
- “MS/MPhil-leading-to-PhD” programs have been discontinued by the HEC, and as previously notified, no further admissions are allowed in such programs.
- The student shall complete coursework of at least 48 credit hours of which the majority shall be fulfilled through regular classes (i.e. classes that are taught on campus by fulltime faculty members of the university).
- There shall be a residency requirement for a period of at least two years. Following the completion of coursework, every PhD student shall be required to pass a comprehensive examination in order to be granted candidacy as PhD researcher; provided that if the student fails to pass the comprehensive test, he or she shall be allowed one more attempt to take the test.
- Each PhD researcher shall be required to write a doctoral dissertation.
- Each PhD researcher shall be required to publish at least one research paper as its first author during his or her doctoral studies in an HEC approved Y category (or above) journal for the award of PhD degree.
- The PhD degree shall be awarded by universities after a minimum of three (3) years and not more than eight (8) years after the enrolment of the student.
- If a student successfully completes the full set of requirements for the award of an MS/MPhil (or equivalent) degree during the course of their PhD studies, the university may award the applicable degree to such students upon completion of the relevant requirements.
As you can see, there are substantial changes in the Ph.D. policy for the students living in Pakistan. Therefore, you should consider all these factors before getting admission to any Ph.D. program in a Pakistani university.
Below, I have listed links to the Ph.D. programs of various Pakistani universities. I will keep updating this list by adding more links to the Ph.D. programs:
Virtual University
Ph,D. in Computer Science
https://www.vu.edu.pk/pages/PhD_ComputerScience.aspx
Ph.D. in Biotechnology
https://www.vu.edu.pk/pages/PhD_Biotechnology.aspx
All Programs
https://www.vu.edu.pk/pages/AllPrograms.aspx
Allama Iqbal Open University
Ph.D. Iqbal Studies
Ph.D. Urdu
Ph.D. Education in Distance and Non-formal Education (DNFE)
Ph.D. (Food & Nut)
Ph.D, (Business Administration)
Ph.D. Statistics
Ph.D. Physics
Ph.D. Mass Communication
Ph.D. in Agricultural Extension
Ph.D. Teacher Education
Ph.D. Educational Planning & Management (EPM)
Ph.D. Special Education (M.Phil based)
Ph.D. Shariah
Ph.D. Islamic Studies (Quran & Tafseer)
Ph.D. Islamic Studies (General)
Islamic Research Index (IRI)
Ph.D. (Science Education)
https://www.aiou.edu.pk/ProgrammesList.asp?P=PHD
Hamdard University
Ph.D. Pharmacology
Ph.D. Pharmaceutics
Ph.D. Management Sciences
Ph.D. Health and Medical Sciences
Ph.D. Electrical Engineering
Ph.D. Computer Science
Ph.D. Eastern Medicine
https://www.hamdard.edu.pk
Bahria University Karachi
Ph.D. Management Sciences
Ph.D. Electrical Engineering
Ph.D. Software Engineering
Ph.D. Computer Engineering
Ph.D. Computer Science
Ph.D. Environmental Sciences
Ph.D. Geophysics
Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, Educational Psychology, Organizational Psychology
https://www.bahria.edu.pk/academics/doctorate-programs
IQRA University
Ph.D. Education
Ph.D. Business Administration
Ph.D. Electronic Engineering
Ph.D. Computer Science
Ph.D. Pharmacy
Ph.D. Physical Therapy
https://iqra.edu.pk/programs-2
SZABIST
Ph.D. Computing
Ph.D. Management Science
Ph.D. Social Sciences (International Relation, Economics, Psychology, Sociology)
Ph.D. Educational Leadership and Management
Ph.D. Biosciences
https://szabist.edu.pk/programs
IBA Karachi
Ph.D. Computer Science
Ph.D. Economics
Ph.D. Mathematics
https://www.iba.edu.pk/postgraduate-programs.php
Some Key Facts
Here are some key facts about doing PhD in Pakistan:
- Tuition Fee per credit hour in Virtual University of Pakistan for Ph.D Program is only PKR 2,100. For Bachelor Degree programs, it is only PKR 750 per credit hour. For complete details, visit this link: https://www.vu.edu.pk/FeeStructure_Local.aspx
- Classes for PhD programs (Management Sciences) in Hamdard University are conducted in the city campus, which is located at Dehli Sweets, Nursery Stop, Main Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi.
- Tuition Fee Per Course for Ph.D Programs in Hamdard University is PKR 20,500. The total cost of the entire Ph.D Program is PKR 383,024. For further details, visit this link: https://www.hamdard.edu.pk/wp-content/uploads/Fee%20Structure/FMS2022.pdf