Challenges in doctoral program: An exploration of problems and well-being of research scholars in agricultural sciences

The top five universities and lowest five universities of Indian Council of Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR) for the year 2019, situated across India, (Agricultural Universities Ranking, 2019) setup under National Agricultural Research System of India with a minimum of 10 years of establishment time by January, 2020 were selected purposively. Following university websites, the total number of doctoral programmes being offered by the universities were identified. Using proportionate random sampling technique, a total of 50 doctoral programmes were considered in the final study. A total of 250 doctoral scholars; five from each doctoral programme were selected employing random sampling technique. The present study was conducted to identify the problems faced by research scholars in conducting their research effectively. Concerns about the future, lack of expertise in advanced research methodologies and poor time management were found to be the major personal constraints while the lack of adequate fellowship support, lack of access to scientific journals and lack of sophisticated equipment were found to be the major institutional related constraints and busy schedule of supervisors, delay in feedback from supervisors and supervisor’s less experience with the chosen research topic were found to be major supervision related constraints faced by the research scholars. Measures like providing PhD students with improved access to online resources, advanced research methodology trainings, increased amount of financial assistance and right level of assistance from the supervisor can help in enhancing the quality of academic research.