Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) for higher studies; check details

The Ministry of Education, Government of India has introduced the Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) scheme, designed with the aim of improving the quality of research and the vision of development through innovation.

Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) attracts the best talent to research with attractive fellowships starting at Rs. 70,000 per year for a maximum duration of five years. The candidates are selected through a rigorous selection process and their performance will be reviewed suitably through a national convention.

Procedure to get the Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF)

Firstly, the candidate is to apply for the regular Ph.D. program in one of the PMRF Granting Institutions. If selected, and your candidature is found strong enough, the institute will nominate you. Note that you must have been selected for the Ph.D. program at the beginning of the current semester. In case you were selected for the Ph.D. program earlier, you can only be considered in the lateral entry mode. Nomination does not guarantee acceptance for Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF). After nomination, an expert panel will look at the nominations and make decisions.

Also read: Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship 2022: Registration started, know complete details

Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) granting Institutions

Eligibility

Candidates can apply for PMRF through two channels:

DIRECT ENTRY CHANNEL

• To apply for Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) through this channel, the candidate must satisfy all of the following criteria:
  • Completed or be pursuing the final year of four (or five) year undergraduate or five-year 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 and 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-year integrated or dual degree programs, if separate CGPAs/CPIs are awarded for UG and PG parts of the program, the CGPA/CPI of the UG part (first four years) will be considered.
    • OR
  • Completed or be pursuing the final year of four (or five) year undergraduate or five-year integrated M.Tech. or five-year integrated M.Sc. or 2-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 the above point.
  • These candidates should have secured a minimum CGPA of 8 or equivalent apart from a minimum score of 650 in the respective GATE subject, a UGC/CSIR JRF rank of 100 or less, or those with NBHM fellowship.
    • OR
  • 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) with a minimum of four courses at the time of application.

• LATERAL ENTRY CHANNEL
  ‍
  To apply for Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) through this channel, the candidate must satisfy all of the following criteria:
  
  • 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.
  • The candidate should have completed at least four courses in the Ph.D. program, each of which should be a full-semester course, and obtained an aggregate CGPA of 8.5 (out of 10) or higher.

Benefits of Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF)

Selected candidates will be awarded the fellowship amount as follows-

1st Year: Rs. 70,000
2nd Year: Rs. 70,000
3rd Year: Rs. 75,000
4th Year: Rs. 80,000
5th Year: Rs. 80,000

• Apart from this, each Fellow would be eligible for a research grant of Rs. 2 Lakhs per year (a 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 Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) scholarship and obligations will continue only 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.

Selection procedure of Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF)

For both direct entry and lateral entry, one of the PMRF Granting Institute needs to nominate the applicant (as explained above). Then a central discipline-specific selection panel will look at your application and make decisions.

To check out any announcement by the ministry candidates can visit the official website- pmrf.in

Important Points

• The Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) granting institute, which has admitted the student into the Ph.D. program makes a strong recommendation and uploads the relevant information to 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 that does not support the student for PMRF will not be allowed).
• The metrics on which the candidates will be judged will include (but are not restricted to): research exposure, publications, performance in international competitions (like Math. Olympiad, ACM ICPC Programming Contest), grades, and recommendation letters.
• Within 12-18 months of admission into the Ph.D. program, the progress of the candidate will be reviewed by the PMRF panel, and the continuation of Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) will be subject to the candidate’s satisfactory performance.
• A strong research proposal is mandatory, and a clear assessment from the host institution in support of the continuation of PMRF status but not restricted in case of lateral entry. Due weightage would be given to publication in reputed journals/ conferences.
• At the time of joining, each Fellow shall be given deliverables to be achieved each year. This will be decided by the assigned guide and the department which the fellow is joining.
• Each fellow is expected to teach once a week in a neighborhood ITI/ Polytechnic/ Engineering College, as per modalities approved by the Government.

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