Govt allows lateral entry to PMRF scheme; lowers GATE score

NEW DELHI: The Government of India has amended the Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF) scheme by allowing lateral entry and also lowering the minimum score required to be eligible for the scholarship.

The Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ announced on Twitter that the government has made several changes top the selection process to link talented promising students to the scheme.

As per the revised scheme, the minimum score in the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering, or GATE, has been reduced from 750 to 650. The HRD minister has said that the minimum grade in the qualification examination has been kept at eight. “So that more and more students are attracted to this prestigious fellowship and can take advantage of it,” he tweeted.

The National Institutes of Technology (NITs) have also been included among the host of leading technical institutions which have been roped in for the fellowship scheme.

In addition to direct entry, provision for lateral entry has also been made to help the students who have done PhD research for 12 or 24 months.

1,000 best students

In February 2018, the Union Cabinet launched the PMRF scheme under which 1,000 best students who have completed (or are in the final year of) BTech or Integrated MTech or MSc. in science and technology streams from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) are offered direct admission in the PhD programme of IITs and IISc.

The selected students are offered a fellowship of Rs 70,000 per month for the first two years, Rs 75,000 per month for the third year, and Rs 80,000 per month in the fourth and fifth years. Apart from this, a research grant of Rs 2 lakh is provided to each of the fellows for a period of five years to enable them to participate in international research conferences and present research papers.

As per the initial target, a maximum of 3,000 fellows were to be selected in a three-year period beginning 2018-19.

The PMRF granting institutes include IISc, All IISERs, all IITs, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Banaras Hindu University, University of Hyderabad, Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia University, the University of Delhi, and National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli.

From the upcoming academic year, 2020-21, candidates can apply for PMRF either through direct entry channel or lateral entry channel.

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