Harsh Vardhan
New Delhi, Jan 31: In a move to boost research and development in the field of scientific development in the country, the Government on Wednesday announced hike in ‘Research Fellowship’ for PhD students and other research personnel enrolled in any area of science and technology, engineering, mathematical sciences, agricultural sciences, life sciences and pharmacy with effect from January 1, 2019.
The hike in fellowship will directly benefit over 60,000 ‘Research Fellows’ and also provide a template to the states to consider increase in their fellowship rates.
Under the new norms, the fellowship of the Junior Research Fellows (JRF) in the first two years of Ph.D programme is increased from the current rate of Rs 25,000 to Rs 31,000 per month while in the remaining tenure of Ph.D, senior research fellow will now get Rs 35,000 per month instead of Rs 28,000 per month.
Similarly, there is substantial increase of 30-35 percent have also been made in the financial rewards for the scientists involved in the “Research and Development” (R&D) projects, working as ‘Research Associates’.
The top bracket of Research Associateship is now fixed at Rs 54,000. All research fellows are now also entitled to House Rent Allowance (HRA) as per Central Government norms.
Government has ensured that this empowering mechanism is uniformly applicable across all the fellowship granting Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Academic and Government R&D organisations of the country.
For the first time, the Government has recommended a set of strong financial and academic incentives to enhance and recognise the performance of our research fellows, a senior official of the Ministry of Science and Technology said.
“This will be a performance based addition to the fellowship. An Empowered Inter-Ministerial Committee has been constituted to periodically examine all the fellowship matters that have a bearing on enhancing the value, quality and experience of doctoral research, including the quantum of fellowship”, he added.
“One of the recommendations is to involve Ph.D students in undergraduate teaching and managing research infrastructure during their doctoral research. This will not only widen their scope of training but also enhance their career prospects”, the officials further said.
The Science and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that PhD scholars, working in science and technology, are the most significant contributors to the knowledge base of the country for its industrial competitiveness, academic vibrancy and technology led innovations.
