In a bid to stop the flow of traditional hard-bound copies of dissertations and save trees, the Madhya Pradesh Medical Science University has introduced a novel idea, as per which PhD researchers and post-graduate students can now submit their thesis in digital formats.
Talking to PTI on Sunday, Vice Chancellor of this Jabalpur-based university, Dr R S Sharma, said the students can now submit the PDF file of their thesis instead of the traditional format.
"We are implementing this innovation of digital thesis with a view to protect the environment. This will also save money for the PhD researchers and post-graduate students. Now, these students can submit their thesis in PDF format instead of the paper thesis," he said.
Not only this, the work of checking the theses will also be conducted online, he added.
Sharma claimed that the Madhya Pradesh Medical Science University is the first higher education institute in the state to implement this innovative idea.
The move will also help the university administration to store the students' theses in organised manner and safe for years.
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"Under the previous system that was in operation till a few days ago, the paper theses of PhD researchers and post- graduate students of medical education institutes would be carried to our headquarters in Jabalpur in vehicles. It takes a lot of space to store these documents. Saving the documents from moisture and termites was also a problem," he added.
A university official said the concept of 'digital thesis' would benefit over 1,200 students of various institutes.
These include post-graduate students of allopathy, surgery, dentistry, ayurveda, homeopathy, naturopathy, nursing, etc along with those of PhD researchers.
Dr Manohar Bhandari, Associate Professor of Department of Physiology in Indore's Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, has been running a campaign to introduce digital thesis in higher education institutions across the country.
He had also suggested this to the Madhya Pradesh Medical Science University's administration.
"Thousands of trees will be saved if digital thesis could be started instead of paper thesis in all higher education institutions of the country. In addition, this will save money worth crores being paid by the researchers and students for preparing the paper thesis," Bhandari said.
As per the estimates by experts, 12 to 24 trees have to be cut for making one tonne of paper. It also takes a lot of water and electricity to make paper.
Besides, chemicals have to be used to whiten the paper. Emission of harmful greenhouse gases also takes place in this process.