Young Investigators Programme in Biotechnology

The programme “Young Investigator’s Programme in Biotechnology (YIPB)” is a research support programme that aims to provide quick research support to young researchers to pursue their ideas in newly emerging and front-line areas of research in Biotechnology. The scheme is implemented by Kerala Biotechnology Commission, KSCSTE to provide quick research support to young scientists to pursue their bright ideas in newly emerging and front-line areas of research in Biotechnology. Proposals can be submitted in any branch of biotechnology related to medical, agriculture, veterinary, environment, marine, industrial or bio-resources. Post-doctoral students/Research Associates not having permanent positions can also be Principal Investigator provided a senior faculty/scientist holding permanent positions shall associate as Co-Principal Investigator. A maximum research grant of ₹30 lakh will be provided to the selected projects for a maximum duration of 3 years. Grants will be paid for specific projects to cover expenditure on manpower, equipment, consumables, contingencies and travel.

1. Young Scientists without fellowship/salary are eligible for a fellowship of ₹45,000/- plus 10% HRA per month, in addition to the support for travel, contingency, consumables, and minor equipment.
2. A Principal Investigator having a regular position can seek manpower.
3. Maximum support up to ₹30 lakhs (excluding overhead charges @ 10% of the project cost subject to a ceiling of ₹1.0 lakh) for a period not exceeding three years.

1. The applicant should possess a Ph.D. in any branch of Life Sciences.
2. The applicant should possess three years of post-doctoral experience in Biotechnology.
3. The applicant should be less than 40 years of age.
   Note: Five years of relaxation in age would be available to scientists belonging to SC/ST/OBC, Women, and Physically Handicapped categories.

Online

Applications are invited through advertisement or notification on the website of the Kerala Biotechnology Commission (KBC) and KSCSTE once a year. The Proposals can be submitted online only on the notification and during the active time.
Note 01: Proposals under this programme shall be submitted online only. Proposals submitted in any other mode will not be considered and summarily rejected.
Note 02: The Principal Investigator shall also submit an Endorsement from the Implementing Institution, Certificate from the Investigators, Certificate of No pending SE&UC, Resumes of PI and Co-I(s) and Self Appraisal of the PI to execute the project, etc. along with the project proposal (Document formats can be downloaded from the website).
Selection procedure:
Stage 1: Submission and Evaluation of Pre – Proposal
Step 01: Submission of Pre-Proposal: Once the call for proposal is notified, the PI has to initially submit the Preproposal for the proposed research fitting into the identified domain themes/sub-themes, as explained above, online.
Step 02: Scrutiny of the Pre-proposal: Upon receiving the pre-proposal, acknowledgement with a reference number will be issued to the PI through email and SMS. The project proposal will be scrutinized thereafter. Complete proposals with all the relevant documents will proceed further for Peer Review and the incomplete proposals will not be processed further and summarily rejected.
Step 03: Peer Review of Pre-Proposal: The pre-proposal will be forwarded to 3 subject experts for peer review. The preproposal will be evaluated based on an Evaluation Matrix containing 7 criteria (scores from 5 to 0), as per the following criteria:
0: Fails to address the criteria cannot be evaluated.
1: Poor: The criterion is inadequately addressed and there are serious inherent weaknesses.
2: Fair: Broadly addresses the criterion, but there are serious inherent weaknesses.
3: Good: The proposal addresses the criterion well, but there are several shortcomings.
4: Very Good: The proposal addresses the criterion well, but a few shortcomings are found.
5: Excellent: The proposal addresses the criterion well, no shortcomings as such are found.
Step 04: Screening Procedure after Scoring: The reviewers will assign suitable scores based on the review of the pre-proposals. Based on review reports from reviewers, the proposals will be ranked based on the score points. Only 50% of the proposals that secure higher than 60% score points (average of scores by subject experts) will be considered to proceed to the next stage for submitting detailed proposals and others will be rejected. The PIs of the selected proposals will be intimated about the submission of detailed proposals.
Stage 2: Submission and Evaluation of Detailed Proposal
Step 01: Submission of Detailed Proposal: The PIs of the selected pre-proposals will be informed to submit the detailed Proposals online within the stipulated time frame.
Step 02: Scrutiny and Peer Review: The detailed Project Proposals will be scrutinized and sent to the referees for peer review. The proposal will be sent to five national-level experts in the concerned field for peer review. Based on the review reports from referees, the recommended proposals will be placed in the Programme Advisory Committee for YIPB (PAC-YIPB) for final decision.
Step 03: Presentation before the Programme Advisory Committee (PAC): The PI/Co-Is will be invited to present the proposal before the PAC. PAC is a high-level Committee comprising of National Level Experts and constituted by KBC. The Council assesses the objectives, scope, content and social relevance of the proposed project and recommends the nature and quantum of assistance to be provided to the approved project. The decision made by KBC based on the recommendations of PAC on such a proposal shall be final.
Contact Details:
The Scientist-in-charge
Kerala Biotechnology Commission
Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE),
Sasthra Bhavan, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram – 695 004
Telephone: (0471) 2548254, 2548406
E-mail: kbc.kscste@kerala.gov.in