Dearth of supervisors at Lalit Narayan Mithila University has left thousands of candidates wishing to pursue their PhDs in the lurch, for two years now.

According to the University Grants Commission guidelines, universities concerned have to conduct a pre-PhD registration test. Candidates who clear it are allowed to pursue their PhD and later, become faculty members at colleges or universities. If they fail, then they have to clear the National Eligibility Test that UGC conducts twice a year.

At Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Darbhanga, the last pre-PhD registration test was conducted in 2012. Sources said a dearth of supervisors — under whom candidates pursue their PhD — has led to the university’s failure to conduct the registration test since then.

Examination controller Kulanand Yadav told The Telegraph: “We have an acute shortage of supervisors. In fact, we are struggling to provide supervisors to the candidates who cleared the pre-PhD registration test in 2012. Once supervisors are assigned to the 2012 candidates and we find more PhD guides, we would conduct a fresh test.”

Candidates clearing the pre-PhD registration test need supervisors to complete their research work.

According to guidelines of the University Grants Commission, an university teacher is allowed to be the supervisor of a limited number of students. For instance, a professor can supervise eight students at a time and an associate professor up to six. Assistant professors and a retired professor can guide four students and two students, respectively. Yadav said: “We expect to conduct the next pre-PhD registration test in 2015, but provided we have an adequate number of supervisors by then.”

Since the last pre-PhD registration test in 2012, two postgraduate batches with a combined strength of around 11,000 students have become eligible for it.