Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship, Apply by October 7 2018

The Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF) scheme is aimed at attracting the talent pool of the country to doctoral (Ph.D.) programs of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for carrying out research in cutting-edge science and technology domains, with focus on national priorities. Under the PMRF scheme for PMRF December 2018, students who have completed, or are pursuing, the final year of four year undergraduate or five years integrated M.Tech or five years integrated M.Sc. or five year undergraduate-postgraduate dual degree programs in Science and Technology streams from IIEST/IISc/IITs/NITs/IISERs and centrally funded IIITs are eligible for admission to full-time Ph.D. programme in the IITs & IISc provided they fulfill prescribed eligibility criteria and finally get selected after shortlisting/written test/interview. For each hosting IIT and IISc, the Ph.D. admissions under the PMRF scheme will be supernumerary. Applicants who fulfill the eligibility criteria, and are finally selected through a selection process, will be offered admission to Ph.D. program in one of IITs/IISc with a fellowship of Rs.70,000/- per month for the first two years, Rs.75,000/- per month for the 3rd year, and Rs.80,000/- per month in the 4th and 5th years. Apart from this, a research grant of Rs.2.00 lakh per year will be provided to each of the Fellows for a period of 5 years to cover their academic contingency expenses and for foreign/national travel expenses. There will be a rigorous review of the performance of Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship holders and continuation of the next year fellowship shall be contingent upon successful review.

Eligibility

The applicants for the PMRF should:

• have completed or been pursuing the final year of four (or five) year undergraduate or five years integrated M.Tech or five years integrated M.Sc. or five-year undergraduate-postgraduate dual degree programs in Science and Technology streams from IIEST/IISc/IITs/NITs/IISERs and centrally funded IIITs;

• have secured at least CGPA/CPI of 8.0 (in the scale of 10.0). For applicants in five years integrated or dual degree programs if separate CGPAs/CPIs are awarded for UG and PG parts of the program then the CGPA/CPI of UG part (first four years) will be considered.

• have completed the required academic qualification in the last five years.

Merely satisfying the eligibility requirement does not guarantee admission. Final selection for admission of applicants will be done following a rigorous selection process.

Abstract Submission

1. The Project abstract should clearly articulate the area of the study and should display keen interest and insight on the subject chosen.
   
2. The Project abstract should formulate a problem for the study which would be used for assessing the applicant's analytical and research skills.
   
3. The topic chosen shall be preferably in cutting-edge technology and science, with a focus on national priorities.
   
4. The abstract should be original in applicant's own words, provide formulation and other technical details of the problem. Evaluation of the abstracts will be an important component in the final selection of applicants for the PMRF.
   

Selection Process

The selection process for the PMRF will be a rigorous two-stage process with screening by the Reviewers and final selection by the Selection Committee for each broad discipline to ensure selection of the best talent.
An applicant may apply for more than one combination of broad discipline and institute. An applicant will be required to provide preferences in case the applicant wishes to apply for more than one combination of discipline and institute.
The shortlisting and selection will be done in the following manner:

1. Each Nodal Institute (NI) will have a team of experts who will assess the applications and prepare a shortlist of applicants for written test and/or interview at the Nodal Institute.
   
2. Shortlisted applicants will be called for a written and/or interview at the Nodal Institute.
   
3. Final selection of shortlisted applicants will be made based on the performance in the interview.
   
4. Each NI would first indicate whether the candidate has to appear in the written test or not. For PMRF 2018 there is no written test for any NI.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

The IPR policy shall be as per the Institute's Policy on IPRs. The IPRs are owned by the Institution where the Fellow has worked.

Monitoring Mechanism

The National Coordination Committee (NCC) will periodically review and monitor implementation of the scheme. The NCC will report to MHRD the status of the scheme, fund flow and utilization thereof, and policy changes required to make the scheme more effective.
Apart from this, the monitoring will be done in the manner detailed below:

• There will be internal reviews twice a year.
  
• There will be a National Convention every year where all PMRFs will showcase their work. This will be an occasion for the Industry to participate in the Convention.
  
• There will be a website set up by the NCC showcasing the areas of work of each PMR.
  

Fellowship

The following would be the fellowship for the PMRFs:

Year	Amount (Rs)
Year 1	70,000
Year 2	70,000
Year 3	75,000
Year 4	80,000
Year 5	80,000

Apart from this, each Fellow would be eligible for a research grant of Rs. 2 lakhs per year (total Rs. 10 lakh)
The tenure of fellowship will be four years for students from integrated courses and five years for B. Tech. students.
Industry participation in the PMRF programme would be explored through CSR funding so as to enable the industry to sponsor a maximum number of fellows.

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The application window for PMRF December 2018 has been extended till 11 pm on 07 October 2018. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO APPLY FOR PMRF DECEMBER 2018