BHU launches Annie Besant fellowship for its top scoring students

NEW DELHI: Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has launched a new scheme, Annie Besant Fellowship to encourage its top notch students to join PhD programmes in BHU, right after completing their post graduation degree. The scheme has been launched under the Institution of Eminence - BHU, programme. BHU has commenced the application process for the fellowship and the last date to apply is August 5. The university plans to award Annie Besant Fellowship for the current session by mid of September.

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The scheme will enable students who have excelled in their academics at BHU, join the PhD programme directly after post graduation without losing any time in transition from PG to PhD. Such students will also be able to complete their PhD work faster than the other students.

Eligibility Criteria

Final year students of postgraduate programmes will be eligible to apply for the fellowship. They should be in the top five percentile with a minimum 8.5 CGPA. The offer to this fellowship will be conditional to the student securing minimum specified rank and CGPA in final passing exams.

Annie Besant fellowship

Those joining the fellowship will be expected to complete their PhD thesis within four years of joining the programme. The selected candidates will be provided JRF with contingency similar to that of CSIR or University Grants Commission (UGC) during their PhD programme.

• If the student qualifies for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF)/National Eligibility Test (NET) - UGC, CSIR, INSPIRE, etc., within one year, the University will provide Rs 5,000 per month as cash incentive.
• If the student has not qualified JRF/NET, the University will provide fellowship at the same rate as prevailing for JRF in the first year. However, it is expected that the student will qualify for JRF within the year.
• If the student does not qualify for JRF/NET (UGC, CSIR, INSPIRE, etc.), from second year onwards, the University will reduce the fellowship to 50% of the JRF rate. In case a student receives PMRF at any stage, the University will not provide top-up fellowship.

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A four-member committee has been formed for implementation of the scheme. Professor Rakesh Raman, Department of Economics, is the convener of the committee. Professor Rakesh Pandey, Department of Psychology, Professor Sangeeta Pandit, Department of Vocal Music, and Professor Ajay Kumar, Department of Physics are the members of the committee.