Brief Description:

The Government of India presented the Prime Minister Research Fellowship in order to improve the quality of research across India. This program is available in all of the major Institutes present in India and the students are motivated to apply for the fellowship program if they are interested in getting recognition directly by the government of India. The program is available for students who are currently pursuing education in science or Technology. The candidates will be selected through a prestigious selection procedure and the performance will be reviewed through a national convention because this is a very famous and one of the most important fellowship programs available in India. The program is of high importance because of its credibility.

Objective of PMRF Fellowship 2023

The main objective of this fellowship program is to create opportunities for the fellows who are not able to get research opportunities due to the extensive labor and financial assistance that it requires to be an unemployed person doing research in India. The beneficiaries will be getting up to Rs 2 lakh every year along with the financial rewards that are available differently for each academic year. This fellowship program is available on the official website created by the organization. You can take part in this fellowship program by visiting that specific website. The fellowship will work towards the development of a better research environment in India in order to help people who are not able to get research opportunities. Direct and lateral entry is allowed inside this fellowship program so you can take the entry accordingly

Eligibility Criteria 

There are two channels that the fellowship is provided through and you can check out the eligibility criteria of both channels from the pointers given below:

DIRECT ENTRY CHANNEL

• The applicant should have satisfied one of the following criteria in the preceding three years from the date of submission of the application :
  • (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. OR
  • (b) completed or pursued the final year of four (or five) years of 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, a UGC/CSIR JRF rank of 100 or less, or those with NBHM fellowship. OR
  • (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.
• Apply for Ph.D. programme in one of the PMRF granting institutes and get selected for the programme.
• The PMRF granting institute, which has admitted the student to 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 been selected and wishes to seek admission (i.e., selection in one institute and availing PMRF from another institute that does not support the student for PMRF will not be allowed).
• The metrics on which the candidates will be judged will include (but are not restricted to): research exposure, publications, performance in international competitions (like the Math. Olympiad, and ACM ICPC Programming Contest), grades, and recommendation letters.
• 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 the candidate’s satisfactory performance. A strong research proposal is mandatory, and a clear assessment from the host institution in support of the continuation of PMRF status. Due weightage would be given to publication in reputed journals/conferences.

LATERAL ENTRY CHANNEL

• The candidate should be pursuing a 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 entered 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 the 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 satisfying the Master’s degree requirement.
• The candidate should have completed at least four courses in the PhD programme, each of which should be a full-semester course, and obtained an aggregate CGPA of 8.5 (out of 10) or higher. Only full subject courses are considered; General courses such as Seminar, Communication Skills, Research Methodology, etc. are not considered as full subject courses.
• 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).
• 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.
• 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.

Benefits 

• Financial rewards are available to the applicant so that they can continue their research opportunities without any problem.
• Research applicants will be able to continue their Fellowship programs without any problem of unemployment.
• The financial awards will be directly transferred to the bank account of the beneficiaries and it will help them to combat poverty.
• There will be a better research environment for all of the beneficiaries that they can use to create good research programs.
• This will help India to become a better country and to create a safe space even for the researchers who are coming from across the world.

Reward Details 

• The financial awards are:
  • 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
• Each Fellow would be eligible for a research grant of Rs. 2 Lakhs per year (total of Rs 10 Lakhs for five years).
• The tenure of the fellowship will be till the end of the 4th year of Ph.D. for students from integrated courses and till the end of the 5th year of Ph.D. 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

Documents Required

The applicant must have the following documents to apply for the fellowship:

• Passport size photograph
• Scanned copy of mark sheets/grade sheets/transcripts
• Scanned copy of GATE qualifying certificate
• Abstract copy (max 1,000 words in a PDF file)
• CV limited to two A4 pages and submitted only in pdf format. The CV should emphasize only academic achievements and skills, e.g. ranks, merit certificates, internships, publications, research-related software skills, etc.

Apply Here:

https://www.pmrf.in/