AICTE launches Rs 245 crore fellowship for 150 PhD students; to promote application-oriented research

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has launched an AICTE Innovation and Entrepreneurship Doctoral Fellowship Programme (AIEDFP) to support 150 PhD scholars and promote problem-driven application-oriented research. The council has approved Rs 245 crore for the fellowship programme over a period of five years.

The AIEDFP has been launched to strengthen the innovation-driven research ecosystem in the country by promoting high-quality, problem-driven and application-oriented doctoral research, according to an official notification.

The fellowship programme will support 150 PhD fellowships by providing financial support for a maximum period of five years, subject to the prescribed eligibility conditions and satisfactory academic and research progress.

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AICTE's AIEDFP Fellowship 2026

PhD students will receive Rs 60,000 per month plus applicable House Rent Allowance (HRA) for the first three years through the AICTE’s fellowship programme.

Notably, it will also allocate Rs 70,000 per month plus applicable HRA for the next two years.

“In addition to the fellowship, each scholar may be provided an Innovation Grant of up to Rs 10 lakh to support activities such as prototype development, process, practice, policy or service innovation, testing and validation, field trials, data collection, consumables, contingency, travel and other research-related activities necessary for translation of research outcomes into deployable solutions,” the notification read.

The initiative will focus on doctoral research that demonstrates tangible outcomes in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship, technology transfer, commercialisation and societal impact, it added.

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AICTE to organise industrial exposure

“The fellowship programme will support both technological and non-technological pathways of innovation and promote multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research addressing identified national and global priorities,” it said.

It will also organise the translation of research outcomes into products, processes, services, policy solutions, social innovations, technology transfer and entrepreneurial ventures.

The programme will also support activities related to intellectual property, technology transfer, innovation translation and commercialisation. Relevant AICTE mechanisms, including KAPILA and YUKTI, may be utilised for support relating to patent filing and innovation translation.

The programme also provides for optional industrial exposure of 6–12 months, enabling scholars to participate in research and development activities, prototype development, testing, validation, field trials and data collection at partner organisations.