ISLAMABAD, Jan 9: Allama Iqbal Open University has decided to start a direct PhD programme in social sciences and humanities, the AIOU vice-chancellor, Dr Altaf Hussain, said.

He was speaking at the concluding ceremony of national workshop of M Phil, Islamic studies, here on Friday. In this regard, he said, the university had started registering as many as 300 retired and in-service PhD supervisors from all over the country as research associates.

He said social sciences and humanities needed equal attention for promotion on the part of public sector universities. "Unfortunately, at present number of PhDs in social sciences as compared to natural sciences was very low.

Similarly, non-PhDs are deprived of the promotion in the universities and on the other hand, retiring PhDs have nothing to do. Therefore, AIOU has started this programme under which, university teachers even without MPhils would be enrolled for PhDs and research associates would be paid Rs100,000 per PhD.