Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship 2023-24 for PhD Students [Grants Upto Rs. 2 L]: Apply by Aug 7

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Applications are invited for Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship 2023. The last date of application is 7 August.

About PMRF

The Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme has been designed for improving the quality of research in various higher educational institutions in the country.

With attractive fellowships, the scheme seeks to attract the best talent into research thereby realizing the vision of development through innovation. The scheme was announced in the Budget 2018-19.

Eligibility

Candidates can apply for PMRF through two channels:

DIRECT ENTRY CHANNEL

To apply for PMRF through this channel, the candidate must satisfy all of the following criteria:
(1) The applicant should have satisfied one of the following criteria in the preceding three years from the date of submission of the application :
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(a) completed or be pursuing the final year of four (or five) year undergraduate or five year integrated M.Tech. or 2 year M.Sc. or five year undergraduate postgraduate dual degree programs in Science and Technology streams from IISc/IITs/NITs/IISERSs/IIEST and centrally funded IIITs. These candidates should have secured a CGPA/CPI of at least 8.0 (on a 10-point scale). For applicants in the five year integrated or dual degree programs, if separate CGPAs/CPIs are awarded for UG and PG parts of the program, the CGPA/CPI of the UG part (first four years) will be considered.

(b) completed or be pursuing the final year of four (or five) year undergraduate or five year integrated M.Tech. or five year integrated M.Sc. or 2 year M.Sc. Or five year undergraduate-postgraduate dual degree programs in Science and Technology streams from any other Institute/University recognized in India, not covered in 1(a) above. These candidates should have secured a minimum CGPA of 8 or equivalent apart from a minimum score of 650 in the respective GATE subject, or a UGC/CSIR JRF rank of 100 or less, or those with NBHM fellowship.

(c) qualified GATE and be pursuing or have completed M.Tech./MS by research at one of the PMRF Granting Institutions having a minimum CGPA or CPI of 8.0 (on a 10-point scale) with a minimum of four courses at the time of application.

(2) They apply for Ph.D. programme in one the PMRF granting institutes and get selected in the programme.

(3) The PMRF granting institute, which has admitted the student in the Ph.D. programme makes a strong recommendation, and uploads the relevant information at the PMRF web-portal. Student can only get admission in those institutes where he/she has got selected and wishes to seek admission (i.e., selection in one institute and availing PMRF from another institute which does not support the student for PMRF will not be allowed).

(4) The metrics on which the candidates will be judged will include (but not restricted to): research exposure, publications, performance in international competitions (like Math. Olympiad, ACM ICPC Programming Contest), grades and recommendation letters.

(5) Within 12-18 months of admission into the PhD programme, the progress of the candidate will be reviewed by the PMRF panel, and continuation of PMRF will be subject to candidate’s satisfactory performance. A strong research proposal is mandatory, and a clear assessment from the host institution in support of continuation of PMRF status. Due weightage would be given to publication in reputed journals/conferences.

LATERAL ENTRY CHANNEL
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To apply for PMRF through this channel, the candidate must satisfy all of the following criteria:
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(1) The candidate should be pursuing Ph.D. in one of the PMRF granting institutions. Further, he/she should have completed at most 12 months in the PhD programme if he/she joined the programme with a Master’s degree; and should have completed at most 24 months in the PhD programme if he/she joined the PhD programme with a Bachelor’s degree. The relevant period of 12 months or 24 months will be counted from the date of admission in the PhD programme till the date of application for lateral entry. A candidate can be considered at most twice through lateral entry channel PMRF. In case of Integrated M.Tech/MSc and PhD programmes, the candidate will be eligible to apply within 12 months of the date of satisfying the Master’s degree requirement.

(2) The candidate should have completed at least four courses in the PhD programme, each of which should be a full-semester course, and obtained aggregate CGPA of 8.5 (out of 10) or higher. Only full subject courses are considered; General courses such as Seminar, Communication Skill, Research Methodology etc are not considered as full subject courses.

(3) The PMRF Granting Institute, in which the student is enrolled, makes a strong recommendation for the candidate and uploads the relevant information on the PMRF web-portal. This includes a research proposal and soft copies of publications (which could include those under submission).

(4) Candidate continues work only in the host institute and transfer to another PMRF eligible institute is not allowed. Further, once enrolled in a PhD programme through lateral entry, the candidate cannot be considered for direct entry channel in a subsequent year.

(5) The metrics on which the candidates will be judged include (but not restricted to) a strong research proposal, publications record and grades. Due weightage should be given to publication in reputed journals/conferences.

Areas

Civil Engineering, Earth Science, Architecture, Ocean and Naval Engineering.
Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Design.
Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering.
Computer Science & Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics.
Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences and Agricultural Sciences.
Chemical Engineering, Textile Engineering.
Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering, Mining Engineering.
Physics
Interdisciplinary areas in Science and Engineering.

Amount

The following would be the fellowship for the PMRFs:

Year 1: Rs. 70,000
Year 2: Rs. 70,000
Year 3: Rs. 75,000
Year 4: Rs. 80,000
Year 5: Rs. 80,000

Apart from this, each Fellow would be eligible for a research grant of Rs. 2 Lakhs per year (total of Rs 10 Lakhs for five years).

Duration

The tenure of fellowship will be till the end of the 4th year of PhD for students from integrated courses and till the end of the 5th year of PhD for B.Tech. (or equivalent) students. For students selected through the lateral entry channel, the PMRF scholarship and obligations will continue only for the remainder of the student’s stay in the doctoral program. No retrospective payment will be made.

Application

Stage 1: Nomination : PMRF Granting institutes send the nominations of eligible candidates to the National Coordinating Institute through the PMRF portal.
Stage 2 : Detailed Application : Nominated scholars make a detailed application through the PMRF Portal, under one of the Broad Areas. They are also required to give names of recommenders, who are in turn required to login to the portal and submit their recommendations.
Stage 3: Evaluation : The submitted applications are reviewed in detail by a National Panel for each broad area. The panel considers several aspects, arrives at a collective decision and makes the recommendation to NCC with a rank list.

Important dates

1‍2-July-2023: Portal opens and Institute coordinators can start uploading nominations.
07-Aug-2023: Deadline for nominations to be submitted by PMRF granting Institutes.
11-Aug-2023: PMRF Portal opens for applicants, nominated applicants will be given login instructions on email.
18-Aug-2023: Submission deadline for applicants (detailed SoP/RP/Grade Cards etc to be submitted in the portal). The Portal will close on 18-Aug-2023, 6:00 PM.
23-Aug-2023: Deadline for recommenders to submit the recommendations in the portal.