To faucet into the experience of retired scientists, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) — the newly constituted physique for funding scientific research — has introduced the Prime Minister Professorships.
Each chosen Professor will obtain an annual fellowship of ₹30 lakh, together with ₹24 lakh as a research grant for consumables, home journey, contingencies, tools and different bills. An overhead of ₹1 lakh every year has additionally been provisioned.
The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), now subsumed underneath the ANRF, had earlier administered the SERB Distinguished Fellowship for retired scientists. That scheme supplied a research grant of ₹20 lakh every year and a month-to-month fellowship of ₹60,000.
Unlike earlier fellowships, the brand new initiative can be open to abroad scientists, together with Non-Resident Indians, Persons of Indian Origin, and Overseas Citizens of India. Additionally, professionals from business and skilled Professors of Practice with a “distinguished record” of research and innovation are eligible to apply.
A key distinction of the brand new programme is that recipients have to be primarily based at State universities that qualify as “spoke” establishments underneath Category A of the not too long ago launched Promoting Advanced and Inclusive Research (PAIR) programme of the ANRF.
The PAIR initiative hyperlinks universities with nascent research ecosystems to top-tier establishments in a mentorship association. Select Central Universities, National Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Information Technology have been categorized as “spoke” establishments, whereas establishments ranked 25 or under in the National Institutional Ranking Framework are designated as “hubs”.
The chosen Professors are anticipated to relocate, if mandatory, to the host college and supply “sustained academic and research support to faculty and students in institutions with emerging research capacity”.
“Applicants with strong research credentials must be actively involved in research and innovation activities, and demonstrate a strong commitment to mentor faculty at the eligible State universities where research and innovation is still at a nascent stage,” acknowledged a word from the ANRF asserting the fellowship.
