Delhi University (DU) has finalised the guidelines for granting financial assistance to university delegates to attend national and international conferences, seminars, symposia, or workshops, amid dissent from teachers during the Academic Council (AC) meeting on Friday (December 5, 2025). Some teachers alleged that the guidelines were aimed at “academic censorship”.
In a statement issued after the meeting, DU said the guidelines, which require faculty members to submit a copy of the paper to be presented at the conference or symposium, are aimed at “streamlining the process of applying for financial assistance”.
Monami Sinha, Miranda House professor and AC member, said, “If they don’t agree on the topics that we are presenting papers on, they might not let us go ahead. What they are doing amounts to academic censorship.”
Maya John, another AC member, said, “It is highly objectionable that the guidelines propose scrutiny of the contents of papers that DU delegates plan to present and also allow a committee to investigate the credentials of the conference organising body.”
The statement added that faculty members will be allowed to avail of travel grants if they present papers at a university listed in the top 500 of the QS World University Rankings or the Times Higher Education Rankings, or in the top 100 of the National Institutional Ranking Framework.
Ms. Sinha said, “The guidelines allow grants only to highly ranked universities. Does this mean that a State university, which is growing, does not have the same standing?”
The DU statement stated that if the university does not have a high ranking but has a “good reputation” and is recognised by an independent entity, a committee will examine the “standard of the conference and the quality of the paper proposed to be presented”.
PhD guidelines
During the meeting, the university noted differences in course patterns across departments and amended the PhD coursework guidelines. The university said 12 to 16 credits will be required for a PhD.
The minimum of 12 credits should include four credits each for research methodology and discipline-specific electives, and two credits each for research publication ethics and research tools.
Many other issues were raised by teachers during the meeting. This included the need for “harsher punishment” for the DU Students’ Union office-bearer who slapped a faculty member, after which she was suspended from the union for three months. Teachers also raised concerns about oversight in the December datesheet, including overlapping classes and examinations, among other issues.
Published – December 06, 2025 11:27 am IST
