Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme for Electronics and IT: Young Faculty Research Fellowships

The “Young Faculty Research Fellowship (YFRF)” is a component of the “Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme for Electronics and IT”, implemented by the Digital India Corporation under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. The objective of the scheme is to promote R&D, create an innovative ecosystem, and enhance India’s competitiveness in the knowledge-intensive sectors of Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) and IT/IT Enabled Services (IT/ITES).
This fellowship is meant for Young Faculty having regular position at their institution and proven track record in research. Support is provisioned for 50 candidates, for an initial period of support of 2 years, extendible till 5th year based on performance review.

Nature of Support:

• Research Fellowship: ₹20,000/- per month, in addition to the regular salary - Research Contingency Grant: ₹5,00,000/- per year for a maximum of 5 years - The fellowship is tenable only in India and can be implemented in any of the recognized & eligible academic and R&D institution.

• Research Contingency Grant can be used for minor equipment, consumables and domestic travel. The host institution should provide necessary administrative and infrastructural support for YFRF.

• The fellows are not eligible to receive any other fellowship from any Government or Non-Government source during the tenure of the fellowship.

• YFRFs are non-transferrable. The research work is to be carried out in the same eligible institution though which YFRF proposal was submitted.

Duration of Support:

• The fellowship is purely a temporary assignment, and is tenable for a maximum period of 05 years.
• The award will initially be for 2 years and further extendible, based on performance review.

1. The applicant should be an Indian citizen.
2. The applicant must have obtained PhD degree from a recognized University with first class (in terms of grades, etc.) in all preceding levels and a good academic record throughout.
3. The applicant must have a regular position in the institute and should be engaged in research.
4. The upper age limit for the fellowship is 40 years on the date of submission of application.
5. YFRF under Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme can be availed only once by a candidate in his/her career.
6. The applicant availing any other fellowship is not eligible to apply.
7. Proposals for allotment of YFRF are to be submitted through eligible institutions only.
8. Each institution in the proposal may submit up to three nominations for the award for each round of call for applications.

Discontinuation of the Fellowship:

1. The performance of YFRF would be reviewed periodically as per the discretion of PhD Cell, DIC; MeitY.
2. A detailed performance assessment/review of award would be conducted annually and decision on continuation of YFRF would be taken accordingly.
3. If any fellow wishes to discontinue the fellowship, the institution should inform Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme immediately. One month's notice is to be given to DIC through the institution before the date of discontinuation.
4. The implementing institution should not incur any expenditure from the date of termination of the project or the date of resignation of the fellow. The institution will ensure the submission of work report and other requisite documents from YFRF awardee.
5. PhD Cell, DIC; MeitY reserves the right to hold/ stop/ terminate the Fellowship at any stage because of reasons including, but not limited to the following:

• Appropriate progress is not being made.
• The grant is not being utilized properly.
• Violation/ Non-compliance of guidelines.
• Any other reason, which is deemed appropriate by PhD Cell, DIC, MeitY.

Online

The scheme is an institutional scheme wherein nominations for YFRF are submitted by the eligible institution againt Call for Proposal (Invitation for Nominations) by PhD Cell, Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme

Selection & Mode of Application: PhD Cell invites nominations periodically from eligible institutions for award of YFRF under the scheme. Subsequently the nominations are evaluated by experts and accordingly, the fellowships are awarded.

1. The call for applications for YFRF will be notified by PhD Cell, DIC; MeitY through the web portal https://phd.dic.gov.in 1. Each eligible institutions can submit up to a maximum of three nominations for the YFRF award to PhD Cell, DIC; MeitY through the web portal https://phd.dic.gov.in/ 1. The proposal should define clear objectives, outcomes and deliverables against the award.
2. The eligible institutions will be allowed to submit nominations for the award once in a year against a call for nominations by PhD Cell. PhD Cell will scrutinize and evaluate these nominations periodically. The stages of evaluation will be decided by PhD Cell considering different aspects including but not limited to:

• No. of nominations received.
• Suitability of the received nominations, etc.

Note:

• PhD Cell, DIC; MeitY reserves the right to screen and consider suitable candidates.
• Just fulfilling the minimum eligibility criteria would not entitle one to be selected.
• PhD Cell, DIC; MeitY may change the T&C at its discretion, if deemed necessary.

(User Manual)