New Delhi: Doctoral Degree, popularly known as PhD, is one of the highest academic degrees practiced in the higher education system. PhD Degree holders find great opportunities in research areas. There are many fellowships offered by government or universities or institutes (private or public) to PhD Degree holders to pursue advance research in frontier areas of science & engineering and other fields.
The National Post Doctoral Fellowship (N-PDF) implemented by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) is one of such fellowship schemes for the PhD degree holders. The primary objective of the SERB-National Post Doctoral Fellowship (N-PDF) is to identify motivated young researchers and provide them support for doing research in frontier areas of science and engineering. Here, SkillOutlook presents the key features of the National Post Doctoral Fellowship.
The selected fellows under N-PDF scheme will work under a mentor while the training will provide them a platform to develop as an independent researcher.
Eligibility of N-PDF: The applicant should be an Indian citizen. The applicant must have obtained PhD/MD/MS degree from a recognized University. Those who have submitted their PhD/MD/MS thesis and are awaiting award of the degree are also eligible to apply. However, such candidates, if selected, will be offered lower fellowship amount till they qualify the eligible degree.
MD means Post Graduate in Medicine and MS means Post Graduate in Surgery.
The upper age limit for the fellowship is 35 years at the time of the submission of application. Age relaxation of 5 (five) years will be given to candidates belonging to SC/ST/OBC/Physically Challenged & Women candidates.
Notification period: As per the SERB, the call for applications for SERB- NPDF is generally notified twice a year (April and October) through the website www.serbonline.in and www.serb.gov.in. Usually one month window is provided to submit the application along with other documents. All applications are submitted through the SERB online portal www.serbonline.in. Next window for submission of application will open from 01 April 2017.
Duration of the Fellowship: As per the scheme guideline, the fellowship is tenable only in India and can be implemented in any of the recognized academic institutions, national laboratories and other recognized R&D institutions. The host institution should provide necessary administrative and infrastructural support.
Also, the selected fellows can not work with the PhD guide/co-guide. It is also normally not availed at the same Department / institution where the candidates have earned their PhD/MS/MD degree.
The fellowship is purely a temporary assignment, and is tenable initially for a period of two years. In exceptional cases, depending on the progress of research, the fellowship can be extended for one more year. However, there is no provision to extend the tenure beyond three years.
Financial Support: The eligible fellows are entitled to receive monthly a fellowship of Rs 55,000/- per month (consolidated). But for those who have submitted the thesis but degree not yet awarded, monthly fellowship amount is Rs 35,000/ pm. Further, fellows are eligible for getting research grant of Rs 2,00,000/- per annum and overheads Rs 1,00,000/- per annum .
The scheme guideline mentioned that the fellows are not eligible to receive any other fellowship from any government or non-governmental source during the tenure of the fellowship.
Selection process: The selection is based on the recommendations of an Expert Committee that will be constituted by the SERB. If required, the applicants may be called for personal interview.
