The Union Cabinet has approved the scheme at a cost of Rs 1,650 crore for a period of seven years, beginning in 2018-19.
Describing about the scheme, the Union Human Resource Development Minister said that the Research Fellowship scheme for 1,000 B Tech students for pursuing PhD courses at IITs and IISc will help convert brain drain into brain gain. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced the scheme in his budget speech in Parliament on February 1.
“The scheme will go a long way in tapping the talent pool of the country for carrying out research indigenously in cutting edge science and technology domains,” Javadekar told reporters at a press conference here. “Research under the scheme will address our national priorities at the one hand and shortage of quality faculty in premier educational institutions of the country on the other. It will help convert brain drain into brain gain,” he said.
Under the scheme, final year engineering students along with the students who have completed their B Tech or integrated M Tech/MSc at IISc, IITs, NITs, IISERs, IIITs, will be offered direct admissions to PhD programmes in IITs and IISc.
Shortlisted students would be offered a monthly fellowship of Rs 70,000 during the first two years, Rs 75,000 per month during the third year and Rs 80,000 per month during the fourth and the fifth year. During the programme students will also be provided a research grant of Rs two lakh for a period of five years to cover their foreign travel expenses. The grant will support them to present their research papers at international conferences and seminars.
