Prime Minister's Research Fellows (PMRF) Revised Guidelines Released
The University Grants Commission or UGC, national level higher education regulator and funding agency, has recently released the revised guidelines for the Prime Minister's Research Fellows (PMRF) scheme. The PMRF scheme, which has been designed for improving the quality of research in various higher educational institutions in the country, was announced in the Budget 2018-19 with fellowships ranging from Rs 70,000 to Rs 85,000 in a duration of 5 years.
The scheme seeks to attract the best talent into research thereby realizing the vision of development through innovation.
The candidates will be selected through a rigorous selection process and their performance will be reviewed suitably through a national convention, said the notification released by the UGC.
Starting academic year 2020-21, according to the revised guidelines, candidates can apply for PMRF through either through Direct Entry Channel or through Lateral Entry Channel.
In lateral entry, the students, who are pursuing PhD in PMRF granting institutions (completed 12 months or 24 months as per certain requirements), can also apply to become fellow under the scheme as per new guidelines.
The revised guidelines will come into effect from the next round of selection under the PMRF Scheme.
Earlier the fellowship scheme was open only for students from Central Universities, IITs, and IISc. With the modifications in the eligibility criteria, students from the institutes which can offer PMRF include all the IITs, all the IISERs, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, the Central Universities and NITs offering science and technology degrees which appear in the top 25 institution in the NIRF Ranking.
The National Coordination Committee (NCC) will be the top body concerned with the implementation of the scheme and will be constituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
The NCC will comprise of 7-8 heads of PMRF granting institutions.