In the world of academia, few positions carry as much prestige and intellectual significance as a post-doctoral fellowship (PDF). Traditionally, a post-doctoral fellowship is not a degree, diploma, or certification. Instead, it is an appointment to prestigious research positions, awarded to scientists and academicians having a Ph.D. degree who want to improve their research skills to advance their field of study with the guidance of a reputed scientist or scholar.
A post-doctoral fellowship at forefront institutions globally is seen as a transition from a doctorate to an independent academic or research career. Unfortunately, a disturbing trend has begun to emerge in India. Several private universities have started offering what they call “Post-Doctoral Programmes” as if they were academic degrees. Some institutions even advertise online post-doctoral programmes, targeting faculty members working in colleges and universities. This development is not merely a semantic confusion; it represents a serious distortion of academic culture and standards. The essence of a post doctoral fellowship is of a highly demanding process of selection.
Imperial and other top-tier institutions assess applicants on their doctoral work, publications, research plan and prospects. The successful candidates are appointed on salary and are expected to work full time on the research. The fellowship itself is a time of intellectual development, scientific research, and scholarly creativity. It is neither a classroom-based programme nor a degree to be earned through coursework. When universities begin marketing PDFs as credentials that can be obtained through fee-paying programmes, they fundamentally alter the meaning of postdoctoral research.
The objective appears less about advancing knowledge and more about creating an additional academic product that can be sold. Such programmes often attract faculty members seeking to improve their Academic Performance Indicator (API) or Academic and Performance Appraisal (APA) scores to advance their careers. Although professional development is a good goal, it is academically damaging to get a credential that has no rigor of a post-doctorate, but carries the same high status on the wall. The value of academic qualifications depends on the confidence and conviction of the society in them. A degree or a fellowship indicates levels of expertise, education and scholarship.
When institutions blur these distinctions, the credibility of the entire higher education system suffers. A faculty member who has completed a fee-based “postdoctoral degree” may appear, on paper, comparable to someone who spent years conducting cutting-edge research at a premier national laboratory or internationally renowned university. Such equivalence is misleading and unfair. Equally concerning is the emergence of online post-doctoral programmes. Research is not merely an administrative exercise. It includes the enjoyment of a scholarly milieu, the use of a laboratory or archives, the interaction with fellow students, and continual intellectual interchange.
The use of digital technologies to facilitate research activity is an element of the program – but using digital technologies to obtain a postdoctoral fellowship via an online PhD course weakens the whole idea of such advanced research training. The damage caused by this trend is subtle but profound.It communicates the message that good grades are a privilege, not a right. It promotes further accumulation of credentials rather than true scholarship. It’s about image not content. Above all, it downplays the accomplishments of students who have won highly competitive slots in top national and international academic institutions following extensive assessment procedures.
The responsibility for addressing this issue does not rest solely with universities. There should be clarity on the nature and status of postdoctoral fellowships by regulatory and accreditation agencies. They need to clearly differentiate between fellowships from research appointments to academic positions. Without such clarity, institutions will keep taking advantage of the ambiguities for commercial purposes. Professional academic bodies, research councils, and scholarly associations must also raise their voices. The integrity and the legitimacy of research or studies and of scholarship takes a common flesh. Sometimes silence can create the illusion of acceptance, leading to practices becoming accepted over time. Public awareness is also crucial.
It is very important for young researchers and faculty members to recognise that a postdoctoral position is not a second degree program; it is a research position. They should consider research quality, mentorship, infrastructure and research output, not the prospects of another credential. India aspires to be a global knowledge leader. This objective will be best accomplished by raising and not lowering academic expectations. The marketisation of post-doctoral fellowships into evidentiary degrees sets a bad example and may ultimately undermine the credibility of higher education.
There are no certificates that will ever produce academic excellence; this excellence has to be developed by serious investigation, intellectual integrity and an adequate contribution to knowledge. Preserving the true spirit of postdoctoral research is therefore not merely an academic concern, it is essential for the credibility and future of Indian higher education itself.
(THE WRITER IS THE DEAN -ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, GARDEN CITY UNIVERSITY, BENGALURU AND AN ADJUNCT FACULTY AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDIES, BANGALORE)