Anna University warns supervisors against harassment of PhD scholars and research irregularities

CHENNAI: Following the reports of irregularities in the research activities, Anna University has warned of strict action against the supervisors, who were indulging in violation.

The institution also emphasises the importance of ethical conduct among research supervisors and warns against misuse of their guide status. The warning of the university came against the backdrop of a recent letter from the Higher Education Department instructing the institution to strictly follow the new guidelines in research activities.

Accordingly, sources from Anna University said that the recognised Supervisors of this university cannot obtain supervisor-ship status from any other university.

Stating that there are three specific instructions for the supervisors, a senior professor at Anna University said that they cannot exploit the services of the scholar to complete the academic tasks assigned to an individual.

"Any act of financial extortion or forceful expenditure burden put on the scholar will be severely dealt with," he said adding, "any act of sexual abuse or abuse by spoken words, phone calls, short message service (SMS) through mobile, emails, posts, or public insult leading to discomfort to the scholar is prohibited".

The professor said similarly, that the supervisors are strictly prohibited from exploiting scholars for personal academic tasks.

"If supervisors are found to indulge in any of the following acts, based on the severity of the complaint, the supervisor-ship will be cancelled for a specific duration and disciplinary action will be taken", he said.

Accordingly, any violation of Ph.D. regulations by the supervisor will lead to the withdrawal of the supervisorship either permanently or for a maximum period of five years and they will be debarred from guiding the existing scholars in the university till such period.