DST-INSPIRE Fellowship Application 

DST Inspire Logo

Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE)” is being implemented by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) to strengthen the national Science and Technology base. INSPIRE Fellowship Scheme of INSPIRE Programme is focused on attraction of students to pursue doctoral degree in basic and applied sciences including engineering, medicine, agriculture, veterinary, pharmacy etc. after either Masters’ Degree in Science/Applied Science/Engineering or Bachelors’/Masters’ degree in Medicine.

Call for Applications

Who Can Apply for DST INSPIRE Fellowship?

Applications are invited from the individuals with following eligibilities for the award of INSPIRE fellowship

  1. INSPIRE Scholars after completion of their post-graduation degree in Science areas
  2. University level First Rank holders in the Post-graduate Degrees in Basic/Applied Sciences/Engineering
  3. Graduate/Post- graduate Degree in Medicine only from any recognized Indian University or Institute/Statutory Body in India

The Fellowship will be offered on the basis of availability of fellowships in the current year as 1000 fellowships are available annually.

Application Availability 

  • DST INSPIRE Applications are invited every year from September to November

Eligibility

  1. INSPIRE Scholar having secured minimum 70% marks (or CGPA equivalent) in aggregate at M.Sc. or Integrated M.S./M.Sc.
  2. 1st Rank Holder at University level examination in Post-Graduate (PG) level examinations in Basic/ Applied Sciences including Engineering, Medicine, Pharmacy, Agricultural sciences and Veterinary Sciences from any recognized University and academic Institutions (Excluding Autonomous Colleges) in India. 1st Rank Holders at the Graduate/Post-graduate Level Examination in Medicine only conducted by a University/ Institution in India are also eligible to apply. 1st Rank should be of obtained in minimum batch size of 10 students in that university level examination with minimum aggregate of 70% marks (or CGPA equivalent) for the entire course/ program. Students who
    1. are 1st Rank Holder in College including Autonomous College Examination,
    2. have obtained degree (s) through Distance Education Mode and
    3. are 1st Rank Holder in any specialization given at M.Sc. 2nd/ last Year, are not eligible for the offer of INSPIRE Fellowship.

Call for Applications under INSPIRE Fellowship-2019 Inspire Fellowship For Pursuing Doctoral Programme In Science & Technology Call For Applications Eligibility Candidates who are Indian Citizens and have acquired their eligibility for INSPIRE Fellowship during last year (2018) or current year (2019) are eligible to apply. The students who are already enjoying Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) or higher position in any project or otherwise are not eligible to apply for this. Merely having the eligibility does not guarantee offer of INSPIRE Fellowship.

Already provisionally or finally selected students for INSPIRE Fellowship against any previous advertisement, need not to apply again; their application will be rejected.

AMOUNT, NUMBER & DURATION OF FELLOWSHIP

It offers financial support in the form of a Fellowship as per GoI norms fellowship (Junior Research Fellowship / Senior Research Fellowship) and research grant to the candidate. There is a provision of 1000 INSPIRE Fellowships to be offered/given every year to eligible students and each Fellowship is tenable for a maximum period of five years or completion of the PhD degree, whichever is earlier. This Fellowship shall not be available to pursue M.Sc. or M. Phil. or M. Tech. course while pursing Integrated MSc-PhD/ MPhil-PhD/MTech-PhD courses. The continuation of the Fellowship for selected candidates is based on satisfactory performance as certified by the parent institution as per stipulated GoI guidelines for this Fellowship.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

Selection from among the eligible applicants is done in two stages i.e. Level I and Level II. 1. Applicants who are already admitted to in Ph.D. Program in S&T prior to submitting application and selected at both Level I & Level II, will be awarded the Final Offer for the INSPIRE Fellowship. 2. Applicants who have not admitted to in Ph.D. Program in S&T prior to submitting application and get selected at Level I, will be awarded a Provisional Offer for INSPIRE Fellowship. The Provisional Offer is made on the basis of scrutiny of application along with required documents (Level I) submitted by the applicant. However, the Final Offer is made on the basis of evaluation of the application at Level II considering i) Academic merit ii) Host Institution including Research Supervisor and iii) the detailed Research Proposal by an Expert Panel. In this Level II Evaluation Process, applicants need to secure a minimum qualifying score/cutoff as recommended by the Expert Panel and approved by the Competent Authority. The cut-off marks may vary based on the competitive framework of the selection process. Also, it is important to note that Provisional Offer does not guarantee the award of INSPIRE Fellowship.

Students need to apply through On-line mode only. To apply Online, please visit the website http://www.online-inspire.gov.in and follow the process prescribed therein.

The process is completely online; there will be no scope for making any intimation for an incomplete or wrongly filled application. Incomplete or wrongly filled up application or application with lack of essential documents will be summarily rejected.

Note: Before filling application form, please scan and save the following documents as separate files. The same needs to be uploaded as required during the ‘online Application’ process.

S.No.

Name of the Document

File Type

Maximum

Size

1.

Passport size photograph

JPEG

50 KB

2.

Age certificate

PDF

1 MB

3.

Mark sheets of educational qualifications (like 12th, UG & PG Program. PG mark sheet should contain the conversion formula from CGPA to percentage if you obtained absolute CGPA grading. Please note any Degree or provisional mark sheet will not be acceptable. Only authorized mark sheets would be acceptable. Every semester mark sheets need to be provided in one scan upload)

PDF

1 MB

4.

First Rank Certificate for applicants who are not INSPIRE Scholars (Template provided at http://www.online-inspire.gov.in) Improper or incomplete Rank certificate will not be acceptable.

PDF

1 MB

5.

Appointment letter (if employed)

PDF

1 MB

6.

If already enrolled in PhD

Admission Letter (issued by University Authorities i.e. Registrar, Dean, Director, etc. Only

joining as JRF will not be acceptable, in such case you should submit as non-PhD scholar)

PDF

1 MB

Fee Receipt for PhD admission

PDF

1 MB

CV of the PhD Supervisor

PDF

1 MB

Endorsement Letter (Template Provide at http://www.online-inspire.gov.in and at http://www.inspire-dst.gov.in)

PDF

1 MB

Detail write up of research proposal approved by supervisor

PDF

1 MB

7.

If not enrolled in PhD

Three choices of University/Institute and supervisors

To be filled in Text Box

-

Brief tentative write up of research to be done

To be filled in Text Box

-

Official Website

To apply online, please visit the website http://www.online-inspire.gov.in and follow the process prescribed therein.