New Delhi, Sept. 10: Nearly 40 per cent of researchers in some of the country's top institutions may be dropping out because of personal problems, job opportunities and alleged harassment by guides, according to data on admissions versus grant of PhDs.

Year-wise data on admissions and award of PhDs obtained by The Telegraph under the Right to Information Act from 11 universities, including six top IITs and IISc Bangalore, showed a possible decline in the dropout rate - from 53 per cent in 2011-12 to about 37 per cent in 2015-16, which is still high.

The RTI application was filed with about 20 universities and IITs. Eleven of them provided the data with clarity.

It is difficult to get the exact figures of how many of the students taking admission in a particular year actually end up getting their degrees because of the flexible duration of research programmes allowed by institutions.

Academic Andre Beteille said dropping out amounted to wastage of national resources. "Entering into PhD is like a waiting room. Not everybody wants to do research. A dropout is a loss. This wastage is not good for the nation," Prof. Beteille said.

PhD rules used to vary across universities till the University Grants Commission (UGC) prescribed rules on admission and evaluation in 2009. The higher education regulator revised these rules in 2016.

The duration of PhD programmes vary from institution to institution. According to UGC regulations, the minimum duration is three years and the maximum is six years. Extensions beyond six years will be governed by the statute and ordinance of the institution concerned.

Some universities allow re-registration of students in case they fail to complete their research in six years. For example, Jadavpur University, Calcutta University and Jawaharlal Nehru University allow re-registration, while some institutions like Delhi University has stopped the practice.

Beteille said the dropout rate was not so high in Ivy League universities or top British varsities because of regular monitoring on the part of supervisors. "In our institutions, there is monitoring. But that rigour is not very active."

He said students after taking admission in PhD courses get accommodation and access to libraries and many use these resources for preparing for civil service exams and other jobs. Once they get the job, they leave research.

Not that jobs are the only reason researchers quit. Pranav Sadanan Deshpande, who had enrolled in the School of Electrical Sciences at IIT Bhubaneswar, has quit complaining of harassment by the guide, Prof. R.V. Raja Kumar, the director.

In his complaint last year to the human resource development ministry, Deshpande claimed he was "frustrated by the short tempered behaviour of Prof. Raja Kumar".

The student also alleged that the director was giving him time after 10pm.

Raja Kumar has denied the allegations, saying students make such claims because they cannot cope with the rigours of research.

"I have guided so many PhD students in IIT Kharagpur. What matters is quality PhD. Not everybody is cut out for this. My job is to see whether he is progressing or not. If he is not capable, we provide guidance. So there is some emotional breakdown," Raja Kumar told this paperin October last year.

Professor Sashwati Mazumdar, who teaches in Delhi University, said 60 per cent students completing research was a good achievement in view of the focus required and also the personal problems many face.

"Students come from diverse backgrounds and many don't get a fellowship. Research requires great concentration. But many students are not able to sustain the concentration because of family problems and pressure," she said.

In the response provided by the IITs and the universities, some institutions mentioned family and personal problems as a prominent reason for dropping out. For example, the reply by IIT Madras registrar V.G. Bhooma said 29 of the 42 students who cited reasons for dropping out mentioned personal problems.

Mazumdar said if a student failed to submit his or her thesis within six years, he or she should get an opportunity to re-register. "It is possible that many students would be failing to complete their work for genuine health reasons. A university like DU must give them a chance," she said.

The DU teacher also said research in social sciences was mostly done by individuals, while research in science was largely project-based and involved a group. Research in social sciences needs to shift to project mode, Mazumdar added.