Experience of pursuing research from CDLU, Sirsa

I was interested in doing my research at a government university. I applied for various universities and got shortlisted also. The reason for selecting my current university is the flexibility they provide in choosing your research area. The professors are open to new ideas and guidance is available for interested students. But this flexibility is not available under each and every professor. The admission criteria consist of an entrance test conducted by the University itself. In case you are NET qualified, there is no need to give this test and you can directly appear for the interview. After the interview process, they will declare a category-wise selection list of the students. The admission process was smooth and quick.

I chose this course because of my interest in the research field. The professors can take up to 8 students under their guidance. The minimum qualification is a master's degree in the required field. The students who have qualified NET, are exempted from the entrance test and they can directly appear for the interview. The first step in this course is the completion of coursework. You have to complete the course work within 1 year of admission. The next step is to submit your synopsis. This is the most crucial phase and you should pursue your area of interest while selecting and finalizing your research topic. You don't have to give terminal exams in this course. There is the conduction of halfyearly progress report presentations after that. So, just pursue your research and work with diligence to get the results.

There is no fee hike policy as of now. The fees are very nominal for this course. In the first year, you have to pay around 20k rupees and that includes one time fee for many facilities. In the next year, the fees are nearly half of the previous amount. The university provides a scholarship named URS ( University Research Scholarship) to the students who are top rankers in their particular entrance tests. The amount of URS varies from stream to stream. There are various job opportunities at the campus also. You can apply for the Ad-hoc lecturer post if vacancies are there. But the students should parallelly look for other options also so that they can be financially stable as research is an ongoing process.

CDLU is in Sirsa, it is a city at the nexus of three states namely, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Punjab. Due to the distance of this city from any metropolitan city, the life of students here is a bit boring. There is an annual fest conducted by the student council but if you compare it with any Delhi Univerisity's fest then don't get disappointed. The library here is quite good and separate sections for thesis, research and various other fields are also available. The library provides access to a lot of journals, research papers, and renowned platforms also. The students union elections are held every year and the formation of the entire council is based on the basis of voting. So, if you want to join any such group then the opportunities are available.