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About PMRF Fellowship :

The PMRF Fellowship is a highly selective scholarship program initiated by the Indian government in 2018. It is designed to cultivate exceptional talent in the fields of science and engineering.

The PMRF offers significant financial assistance to meritorious individuals undertaking doctoral studies at premier academic institutions across the nation.

Eligibility :

1. Academic Criteria: Candidates should have consistently strong academic performance, particularly in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field’s

2. Institution: Candidates must be applying to, or enrolled in, Ph.D. programs at recognized institutes in India, such as IISc, IITs, NITs, IISERs, and a few central universities’

3. Selection Routes: There are two primary ways to be considered:

• Direct Entry: Based on academic achievements, GATE scores, and research publications.
• Lateral Entry: For students already pursuing a Ph.D. at the approved institutions, based on research performance during their program.

 Application Procedure :

Candidates can apply for PMRF through two channels:

DIRECT ENTRY CHANNEL

To apply for PMRF Fellowship through this channel, the candidate must satisfy all of the following criteria:

(1) The applicant should have satisfied one of the following criteria in the preceding three years from the date of submission of the application :
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(a) 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

(b) 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 1(a) above. These candidates should have secured a minimum CGPA of 8 or equivalent apart from a minimum score of 650 in the respective GATE subject, or a UGC/CSIR JRF rank of 100 or less, or those with NBHM fellowship.

OR

(c) qualified GATE and be pursuing or have completed M.Tech./MS by research at one of the PMRF Fellowship 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.

(2) They apply for Ph.D. programme in one the PMRF granting institutes and get selected in the programme.

(3) The PMRF granting institute, which has admitted the student in the Ph.D. programme makes a strong recommendation, and uploads the relevant information at 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 which does not support the student for PMRF Fellowship will not be allowed.

(4) The metrics on which the candidates will be judged will include (but not restricted to): research exposure, publications, performance in international competitions (like Math. Olympiad, ACM ICPC Programming Contest), grades and recommendation letters.

(5) Within 12-18 months of admission into the PhD programme, the progress of the candidate will be reviewed by the PMRF panel, and continuation of PMRF will be subject to candidate’s satisfactory performance. A strong research proposal is
mandatory, and a clear assessment from the host institution in support of continuation of PMRF status. Due weightage would be given to publication in reputed journals/conferences.

LATERAL ENTRY CHANNEL

To apply for PMRF Fellowship through this channel, the candidate must satisfy all of the following
criteria:
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(1) The candidate should be pursuing Ph.D. in one of the PMRF granting institutions. Further, he/she should have completed at most 12 months in the PhD programme if he/she joined the programme with a Master’s degree; and should have completed at most 24 months in the PhD programme if he/she joined the PhD programme with a Bachelor’s degree. The relevant period of 12 months or 24 months will be counted from the date of admission in the PhD programme till the
date of application for lateral entry. A candidate can be considered at most twice through lateral entry channel PMRF. In case of Integrated M.Tech/MSc and PhD programmes, the candidate will be eligible to apply within 12 months of the date of satisfying the Master’s degree requirement.

(2) The candidate should have completed at least four courses in the PhD programme, each of which should be a full-semester course, and obtained aggregate CGPA of 8.5 (out of 10) or higher. Only full subject courses are considered; General courses such as Seminar, Communication Skill, Research Methodology etc are not considered as full subject courses.

(3) The PMRF Granting Institute, in which the student is enrolled, makes a strong recommendation for the candidate and uploads the relevant information on the PMRF Fellowship eb-portal. This includes a research proposal and soft copies of publications (which could include those under submission).

(4) Candidate continues work only in the host institute and transfer to another PMRF Fellowship eligible institute is not allowed. Further, once enrolled in a PhD programme through lateral entry, the candidate cannot be considered for direct entry channel in a subsequent year.

(5) The metrics on which the candidates will be judged include (but not restricted to) a strong research proposal, publications record and grades. Due weightage should be given to publication in reputed journals/conferences.

Official Site Link :

Other Fellowship Links :

Asia Foundation Development Fellowship Program AFDF