Ph.D. in Physiology

Introduction

Ziauddin University (ZU) is well-known for its reputation in research excellence, innovation, and quality of education. The postgraduate program in Health Sciences started at ZU in 1997.

With the combined effort of faculty, students, and staff, we strive to maintain a scientific community that fosters excellence in teaching and research, and which will train the next generation of scientists in physiology. Develop in each student, the virtues and values of humanity, dignity, and worthiness; a desire and capacity for critical reasoning; an appreciation and understanding of the social sciences; and the ability to communicate. Special emphasis is placed on promoting self-directed learning and developing lifelong learners and leaders in health professions with the skills to acquire new knowledge and meet the challenges of the exponential growth of information.

PhD Program Structure

The Ph. D. in Subject is offered as full-time Ph. D. program for faculty development at Ziauddin University.

The Ph. D. program duration is 3-8 years (including extension with approval of statuary body). This will comprise coursework of a minimum of 18 credit hours in two semesters required to be completed in the first year. It will be followed by a comprehensive examination with the declaration of success notified as satisfactory/unsatisfactory result to decide for the endorsement of Ph. D. candidacy. After that, the Ph. D. research synopsis would be allowed for submission, followed by a period of 2-3 years onwards for original research work (30 credit hours) that leads to open thesis defense.

Eligibility Criteria

The Program seeks candidates who show high scholarly promise and have a strong undergraduate background in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences.

Applicants who hold 18 years of schooling including a Masters or equivalent degree based on a minimum of 30 credits with an academic standing that is equivalent to at least a 3.0 CGPA (out of 4.0 in the Semester System) or First Division (in the Annual System) in MS/MPhil/FCPS equivalent degree, as per HEC policy. The candidate will be a full-time regular student for three years to cover the course work and the research.

Fee Structure

Ph.D. Fee Structure in PKR (Rs.)
 Fee Structure
GAT Fees5,000
Admission fees200,000
Semester I
Tuition Fees20000/credit hr (9 cr. hr)180000
Examination fees Semester20000
Payable Amount200000
Semester II
Tuition Fees20000/credit hr (9 cr. hr)180000
Examination fees Semester20000
Comprehensive Exam25,000
Payable Amount225000
Semester III
Supervision Fees20000/credit hr (7.5 cr. hr)150000
Semester IV
Supervision Fees20000/credit hr (7.5 cr. hr)150000
Semester V
Supervision Fees20000/credit hr (7.5 cr. hr)150000
Semester VI
Supervision Fees20000/credit hr (7.5 cr. hr)150000
Foreign Evaluation Fee750$170250
Thesis Defence Fee100000
Total Payable Amount (External)Total Payable Amount (External)1,500,250
Scholarship (Internal)Scholarship (Internal)200000

Note: Supervision fee shall be applicable till submission of thesis to examination department.

Admission Process

  • If a candidate has GAT (General/ Subject) at the time of application, he/she will be exempted from the university entry test.

OR

  • If the test is not available in the NTS subject list, then a university committee consisting of at least 3 Ph. D. faculty members in the subject area, approved by the HEC will conduct the ZU Subject GAT as per with GRE Subject Test and qualifying score for this will be 70%. The test carries both the subject-specific components (70%) along with English Language and Analytical/Logical Reasoning (30%).
  • Applicants should ensure that a complete application/ document should be submitted online.
  • Two academic references and a statement of research interest.
  • Short listed candidates will be invited for interview with short research proposal presentation to the Ph. D. Admission Committee.

Course Work

  1. Courses of 18 credit hours shall be completed during the first year (two semesters) of Ph.D. degree program.
  2. Course work of 18 credit hours includes core and electives and a semester shall not be more than 12 credit hours. The coursework will comprise of:
  3.          i) Compulsory Core Courses:These will be based on 12 credit hours and will be offered during the semester. These are essential for all students.
  4.         ii) Elective courses: Elective course will be chosen by the students related to their interest/specialty. This 06 credit hours elective course will be taken during the semester. Minimum of 75% attendance is mandatory for appearing in examinations.

The student shall be given two attempts for examination if his/her CGPA falls below 2.5 and will be dropped from the program if the CGPA falls below 2.5 after second time.

After the declaration of the semester examination for the coursework, student will be eligible for the comprehensive examination. After the declaration of the result/completion of all the requirements for the course work, the PG office shall write the student to fulfill the administrative requirements for the written comprehensive exam within three weeks’ time. It may include fee clearance, exam request form submission, and the proposed date within the allowed duration of six months from the date of declaration of the result of the last course taken by the candidate.

The outcomes may be Pass, with condition (to appear and pass the oral examination), Failure with retake and Failure

FHS-Ph. D. COURSES

SEMESTER I
 Code Course Name Credit Hours
 ZU-HS-900Advanced Research Methodology2 + 0
 ZU-HS-901Advanced Epidemiology1 + 0
 ZU-MD-906Elective I3 (2+1)
 ZU-HS-903Molecular Biology & Genetics3 (1+2)
 Total Credits9
SEMESTER II
 ZU-HS-904Molecular Medicine & Genetics2 +0
 ZU-HS-905Advanced Research Techniques3 (2+ 1)
 ZU-HS-902Advanced Biostatistics1 + 0
 ZU-MD-907Elective II3 (2+1)
Total Credits9
Grand Total18
Research Thesis30

Ph.D. Research Proposal / Proposal Defense

  • Every student will pursue his/her research at the constituent Colleges/ Institutes/ Hospitals /Services and Advanced research laboratory at Ziauddin University.
  • D. candidate can submit his research proposal after completion of 18 credit hours of coursework with a Minimum 3.0 CGPA
  • Separate Guidance and Examination Committee (GEC) would be constituted for each student separately. The Committee would consist of four to five members including the Executive Director Research, Director of Postgraduate (PG), potential Ph. D. supervisors and internal subject reviewers.
  • Synopsis open defense will be conducted in University Journal Club in front of Guidance and Examination Committee (GEC).
  • Director PG shall communicate the GEC decision and ERC approval (where applicable) to the candidate and the supervisor by an official email within one week after the proposal defense.
  • Synopsis certification by Ethical Review Committee (ERC).
  • Final synopsis endorsement by Board of Advanced Studies & Research (BASR).
  • A Ph.D. student must have at least 01 original research papers published/accepted for publication before submission of final thesis, presented in at least HEC approved X category journals with impact factor in the relevant area as specified by GEC and endorsed by faculty / departmental RC.

Thesis Evaluation and Examination

  • D. Candidate should submit the thesis in specified format to the office of Director PG with the proper approval of assigned supervisor(s) not later than 3 months after successful 3rdProgress Evaluation.
  • Thesis submission for evaluation by two foreign experts to the Examination Department with a check-list of required training documents (GAT result, Semester results, Comprehensive transcript, ERC certificate, BASR synopsis approval, a published article in HEC/ PMDC recognized W/X category journal).
  • A plagiarism test report of the thesis is necessary and must be submitted along with the submission of thesis.
  • The Board of Advanced Studies and Research shall appoint two international and two national examiners with scholarly background in relevant field.
  • After approval of international reviewers, the thesis would be submitted to national examiners by the controller of examination for open thesis defense.
  • Guidance and Examination committee (GEC) may comprise of the Executive Research Director research, Director postgraduate, Supervisor, two External examiner, one internal examiner.
  • Final step is the BASR endorsement for the degree award.

Contact Person

Director Postgraduate Programme
Prof. Dr. Shamim Mushtaq, Ph.D.
Extension: 2594 and 2364