The eligible candidates are required to attend the 5 days’ ‘Orientation Program for Research Aspirants (OPRA)’ at Heartfulness Research Centre (HRC), Mysuru. It is an interactive program that enables candidates to become familiar with each other and the department of Philosophy at HRC Mysuru. Faculty of HRC including PhD guides and savants in the field of Spirituality and research are invited for this program at the HRC campus. Classroom sessions, and an informal interactive session with the savants that guides, motivates and develop enthusiasm for pursuing research activity among the candidates.

Duration: 5 Days

Objectives:

1. To make the candidates acquainted with the Department of Philosophy, University of Mysuru and HRC.

2. To develop research-oriented thinking in the subject of Philosophy.

3. To understand the formalities of the University of Mysore.

4. To promote interdisciplinary research in the field of spirituality.

5. To provide strong foundation for research by giving clarity on topics related to research

All the candidates are encouraged to attend seminars and workshops during their tenure of PhD course. The seminars can be intra/inter departmental or national/international level seminar. Heartfulness Research Centre also conducts seminars and workshops for research aspirants. These seminars and workshops are very helpful to enhance the knowledge.

Objectives:

1. To develop research oriented a mindset.

2. To provide a theoretical base, by reporting the findings that will help to determine the nature of further research.

3. To corroborate own research ideas.

4. To provide insights to develop thesis.

5. To encourage scholars to write and publish papers and articles

Examples: Upanishadic principles, Vedic literature – knowledge and understanding, Heartfulness literature and research topics, Spirituality and management, Bhagavad-Gita Principles, Ancient Treasure of knowledge, etc.

The candidates who clear the University of Mysore (UoM) entrance exam must complete a 16-weeks course work at HRC. During the course work, the candidates attend classroom sessions and are made acquainted with the subject of research and statistics along with Philosophy. Practical guidance is also provided to prepare their own synopsis on their topic of research. The knowledge & experience gained from these sessions help the to learn and become successful in clearing the PhD first year exam (written and oral exam conducted at HRC).

The completion of the course work is mandatory for the candidates, for which they will have to live in the premises of HRC Mysuru. A candidate has to put in a minimum of 75% of attendance. This will be followed by a course work examination conducted by UoM in the campus of HRC.

Objectives:

1. To formally become familiar with the subject of Research and Statistics

2. To help in formulating synopsis of the chosen PhD topic.

3. To prepare the candidates prior to commencing the PhD.

4. To help the candidates enhance their skills and experiences in conducting high quality research.

Duration: Approximately 80 hrs

The candidates are required to publish various research articles/papers as main author/ co-author based on their Research Work in peer reviewed journal/s of repute to be eligible for the submission of the final thesis to the University. Minimum of two research papers are required to be published before appearing for the final PhD examinations. The research papers may or may not be related with the PhD topic but are required to be guided by the respective PhD guides.

A journal is a periodical publication that focuses on a certain discipline. It contains a number of peer-reviewed papers that are generally considered credible and are very good sources to cite from. A conference, on the other hand, is a place where scholars, researchers, professors, and academics gather to discuss research and developments in a certain field. In most academic conferences, people gather to present their newest research while others attend to observe these milestones.

Objectives:

1. To study and understand the contribution of each work related with the candidate’s PhD thesis.

2. To support the research ideas of the PhD aspirants.

3. Identify ways to interpret prior research.

4. To explore a topic that is particularly interesting to a PhD candidate.

5. To provide publishing platform to researchers and scholars from different field.