Govt includes IISERs as host institutions for PMRF Scheme

NEW DELHI, JULY 27: The Government of India has included Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (llSERs) as the host institutions for the Prime Minister's Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme, earlier the candidates were eligible to take admission in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore.

The government has issued a notification stating that it will be effective from the next round of selection under the PMRF Scheme.

In February this year the Union Cabinet launched the scheme under which 1,000 best students who have completed (or are in the final year of) B. Tech or Integrated M.Tech or M.Sc. in Science and Technology streams from IISc/IITs/NITs/IISERs/IIITs, will be offered direct admission in PhD programme in the IITs/IISc.

With the recent notification, the selected candidates under the PMRF Scheme will be eligible for admission in the PhD programmes in all IISERs alongside IITs and lISc Bangalore.

The selected students will be offered a fellowship of Rs.70, 000/- per month for the first two years, Rs.75, 000/- per month for the 3rd year, and Rs.80, 000/- per month in the 4th and 5th years. Apart from this, a research grant of Rs.2.00 lakh will be provided to each of the Fellows for a period of 5 years to enable them to participate in international research conferences and present research papers. A maximum of 3,000 Fellows would be selected in a three year period beginning 2018-19.

The scheme has been launched to tap the talent pool of the country for carrying out research indigenously in cutting-edge science and technology domains.

Union HRD Minister, Prakash Javadekar during the launch said that the research under the Scheme will address our national priorities at the one hand and the shortage of quality faculty in the premier educational institutions of the country, on the other. He said, “This initiative of the government will convert brain drain to brain gain.”