Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan recently released the UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment & Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2025.
The draft guidelines, set for 2025, outline a crucial qualification criteria for faculty positions across various disciplines. To be eligible for an assistant professor role in subjects such as Arts, Commerce, Humanities, Law, Social Sciences, Sciences, Languages, Journalism, Management, and more, candidates are required to hold a postgraduate degree with at least 55% marks (or an equivalent grade) and pass the National Eligibility Test (NET), SET, or SLET.
However, in the field of Engineering and Technology, candidates with a postgraduate degree (e.g., ME or MTech) with at least 55% marks are eligible for appointment without the need for the NET qualification, per AICTE standards.
Additionally, candidates with a PhD in any discipline are exempt from the NET requirement and can be appointed as assistant professors.
The draft regulations also include various other guidelines for PhD degree holders.
If the discipline/subject chosen in the 4-year undergraduate programme (NCrF level 6) or postgraduate programme (NCrF level 6.5/7) is different from the chosen discipline/subject in PhD, the discipline/subject in which a candidate obtained PhD will be considered eligible for appointment as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Professor in that discipline/subject.
A relaxation of 5% marks shall be provided to the PhD Degree holders who have obtained their postgraduate Degree before 19th September 1991.
The PhD Degree would be a mandatory qualification for promotion to Assistant Professor (Academic Level 12), Associate Professor (Academic Level 13A) and Professor (Academic Level 14) in 6 universities and colleges.
The candidates registered for the PhD degree prior to July 11, 2009, shall be governed by the provisions of the then existing Ordinances / By-laws / regulations of the Institution awarding the degree, and such PhD candidates shall be exempted from the NET/SLET/SET requirement for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor, Assistant Librarian, Assistant Director of Physical Education and Sports in a University / College.
