Amendments brought in the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship Scheme

Amendments brought in the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship Scheme

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Education; 

In News:

• Recently various amendments have been brought in the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship Scheme by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development to boost research in the country.

Key takeaways:

• Now, students from any recognized university can apply for the Fellowship. Earlier it was open only for students from Central Universities, IITs, IISc, NITs, IISERs, IIEST and IIITs.
• The requirement of GATE score has also been reduced from 750 to 600.
• There will be two channels of entries i.e direct entry and lateral entry.
• National Institute of Technologies (NITs) can also become PMRF Granting institution. NITs appear in top 25 institutions in the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF). 
• A dedicated division “Research and Innovation Division” will be formed in the MHRD to boost research. 

Important value additions:

Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF) Scheme

• It was launched to attract meritorious students into research in 2018. 
• It offers direct admission to such students in the Ph.D programmes in various higher educational institutions in the country.
• The research under PMRF will be carried in cutting edge science and technology domains. 
• The institutes which can offer PMRF include all the IITs, IISERs, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and some of the top Central Universities/NITs. 
• A research grant of Rs. 2 lakh per year is provided to each of the Fellows for a period of 5 years to cover their academic contingency expenses and for foreign/national travel expenses along with monthly stipend.