PATNA, June 8 -- Following the directive from the Chancellor's secretariat, several state universities have responded promptly to cancel their notifications for Ph.D. Admission Tests (PAT) for the academic sessions 2024 and 2025. While this is midway through 2026, the state universities were already late and were yet to complete their own admission process for even 2024 and 2025. However, some universities have taken the exams and they, too, would have to scrap the process, while those who have started the course work for 2015 session would continue with it, said a senior official. Bihar Governor Lt Gen (Rtd) Syed Ata Hasnain has asked the universities to mandatorily adopt score of UGC-NET/CSIR, held twice every year at the national level, as the basis for admission to Ph.D programmes. Munger University, Purnea University TM Bhagalpur University and Magadh Universities have already issued notifications for cancelling PAT, while others are in the process. They have also notified that the universities would make arrangement for refund of application fee. The Governor's move to clean up the process of awarding Ph.D degrees, which has been mired by controversies in the past due to alleged arbitrariness and violation of prescribed norms, has evoked positive response. The move is significant as in Bihar Ph.Ds are produced in large numbers, but they are rarely uploaded on the Shodhganga repository within 30 days of the successful completion of the evaluation process and there is a question mark over their quality. "Universities which have already completed admissions to Ph.D. programmes through PAT(2024/2025) may continue to run such programmes, without disturbing the admitted batches. However, those Universities which have already issued advertisements for Ph.D. admission through PAT but have not yet conducted the examination, or are in the process of initiating such admissions, are directed to immediately roll back such advertisements and revoke the ongoing process and refund the application fee, " said the Lok Bhawan letter....