All about Prime Minister Research Fellowship (PMRF)

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About

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. The scheme seeks to attract the best talent into research with attractive fellowships, thereby realizing development through innovation. The scheme was announced in the Budget 2018-19. The institutes which can offer PMRF include all the IITs, all the IISERs, the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and some of the top Central Universities/ NITs that provide science and/or technology degrees. The candidates will be selected through a rigorous selection process, and their performance will be reviewed suitably through a national convention.

Eligibility and Application Procedure

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 met 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 years 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 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 years integrated or dual degree programs, if separate CGPAs/CPIs are awarded for UG and PG parts of the program, the UG part’s CGPA/CPI (first four years) will be considered.

(b) completed or be pursuing the final year of four (or five) year undergraduate or five years integrated M.Tech. or five years integrated M.Sc. or two-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.

(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) at the end of the first semester with a minimum of four courses. For those candidates applying after the first semester, the CGPA or CPI requirement of 8.0 will be based on all the courses, labs, and thesis that the candidate has completed.

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

(3) The PMRF granting institute, which has admitted the student in the Ph.D. program, 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 Ph.D. program, the candidate’s progress will be reviewed by the PMRF panel, and the 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 to support the continuation of PMRF status. Due weightage would be given to publication in reputed journals/conferences.

Lateral entry channel

To apply for PMRF through this channel, the candidate must satisfy all of the following criteria:

(1) 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 Ph.D. program if he/she joined the program with a Master’s degree and should have completed at most 24 months in the Ph.D. program if he/she joined the Ph.D. program with a Bachelor’s degree. The relevant period of 12 months or 24 months will be counted from the date of admission to the Ph.D. program till the date of application for lateral entry. A candidate can be considered at most twice through lateral entry channel PMRF. In the case of Integrated M.Tech/MSc and Ph.D. programs, 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 Ph.D. program, each of which should be a full-semester course, obtained an aggregate CGPA of 8.5 (out of 10) or higher.
(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 to work only in the host institute, and transfers to another PMRF eligible institute is not allowed. Further, once enrolled in a Ph.D. program through lateral entry, the candidate cannot be considered for a 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.

Offering institutes

-Aligarh Muslim University
-Banaras Hindu University
-IISc Bangalore
-IISER Berhampur
-IISER Bhopal
-IISER Kolkata
-IISER Mohali
-IISER Pune
-IISER Thiruvananthapuram
-IISER Tirupati
-IIT Bhilai
-IIT BHU
-IIT Bhubaneswar
-IIT Bombay
-IIT Delhi
-IIT Dharwad
-IIT Gandhinagar
-IIT Goa
-IIT Guwahati
-IIT Hyderabad
-IIT Indore
-IIT Jodhpur
-IIT Kanpur
-IIT Kharagpur
-IIT Madras
-IIT Mandi
-IIT Patna
-IIT Roorkee
-IIT Ropar
-IIT Jammu
-IIT Palakkad
-IIT Tirupati
-Jamia Millia Islamia
-Jawaharlal Nehru University
-National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli
-University of Delhi
-University of Hyderabad

Fellowship

The following would be the fellowship for the PMRFs:

-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 of Rs 10 Lakhs for five years).

The tenure of 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 for the remainder of the student’s stay in the doctoral program. No retrospective payment will be made.

Industry participation in the PMRF program would be explored through CSR funding or otherwise to enable the industry to sponsor Fellows.