Funding Opportunities for PhD Students in Life Science

This section provides details of fellowships available to Indian students to pursue PhD nationally and internationally in the area of life sciences.

Life Science Research

The life science research ecosystem is growing and diversifying rapidly. To empower India as a nucleus of research in frontier areas of life science, it is imperative to foster a world-class community of life scientists. This requires continuous and extensive support from funding agencies. There are a number of schemes by funding agencies, national and international, to support outstanding life scientists in India.

PhD Fellowships (National)

Junior Research Fellowship Programme (DBT)

The Junior Research Fellowship Programme (DBT) is aimed at applicants who wish to pursue research in frontier areas of biotechnology and life sciences. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Junior Research Fellows (JRFs) will be selected through a national Biotechnology Eligibility Test (BET). The application opens once a year. Click here for further details.

Junior Research Fellowship (CSIR/UGC)

The CSIR Research Fellowships and Associateships are provided to bright young men and women for training in methods of research under the expert guidance of faculty members or scientists working in University Departments/Institutes of National Importance/National Laboratories and Institutes of CSIR in various fields of Science & Technology and Medical Sciences. Candidates are selected for the fellowship after qualifying for the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by CSIR twice a year in June and December. Online applications for JRF-NET are invited twice a year with registrations opening in March and September. The maximum total duration of the fellowship (JRF plus SRF (NET)) is five years. Click here for further details.

Junior Research Fellowship (ICMR)

ICMR JRF fellowships support admission to PhD and research programmes to work in the fields of biomedical sciences with emphasis on life sciences (120 fellowships) and social sciences (30 fellowships). The award of JRF is based on merit in a countrywide entrance examination. The ICMR JRF entrance examination is held once a year, and the admission notice is published usually during March/April on the ICMR website as well as in leading English newspapers of India. The maximum total duration of the fellowship (JRF plus SRF) is five years. Click here for further details.

Inspire Fellowship Programme (DST)

The Inspire Fellowship is part of the Assured Opportunity for Research Careers (AORC) component of the INSPIRE programme launched by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, focused on attracting students to pursue doctoral training in basic and applied sciences including engineering, medicine, agriculture, veterinary, pharmacy sciences. The scheme provides for 1000 fellowships annually. The application opens once a year. The fellowship is tenable for a maximum period of five years. Click here for further details.

Women Scientists Scheme - A (DST)

The “Women Scientists Scheme - A (WOS - A)” for research in basic and applied sciences has been developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) for providing opportunities to women scientists and technologists who after having a break in career, desire to return to mainstream science and work as bench-level scientists. The financial support is available for three years. The applications are open throughout the year, but there will be a break of one month for the submission of applications after every two months. Click here for further details.

Women Scientist Scheme - B (DST)

Women Scientist Scheme-B (WOS-B) is aimed at providing opportunities to women scientists and technologists who aim to return into the mainstream after a career break, with a focus on projects related to Science & Technology (S&T) interventions for societal benefit. Such project proposals should address a well-identified societal challenge and deliver the possible solution(s) by way of development of viable technology/technique and/or lab-to-land technology transfer, its adaptation and scaling up. The application opens once a year. The project is tenable for a maximum period of three years. Click here for further details.

Junior Research Scholarship (Lady Tata Memorial Trust)

The Junior Research Scholarship (JRS) is offered to support candidates towards pursuing a PhD involving scientific investigations that will directly or indirectly work towards the alleviation of human suffering from a disease. The applications open every year in the first week of December. The tenure of the scholarship is five years. Click here for further details.

PhD Fellowships (International)

TWAS-NRF Doctoral Programme

The NRF-TWAS Doctoral Fellowships are provided by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF), in partnership with The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) to advance science in developing countries. The NRF-TWAS Doctoral Fellowships are awarded to scientists from developing countries other than South Africa to enable them to pursue PhD research in the natural sciences in research institutions in South Africa. The application opens once a year. TWAS-NRF Doctoral Fellowships are tenable at research institutions in South Africa for a maximum period of three years. Click here for further details.

Research Grants - Doctoral Programmes (DAAD)

The aim of this programme is to support doctoral projects in a state or state-recognized institution of higher education, or a non-university research institute in Germany. The applications open once a year. A maximum of four years; the length of the grant is decided by a selection committee and depends on the project in question and the applicant’s work schedule. Click here for further details.

Research Grants - Bi-Nationally Supervised Doctoral Degrees/Cotutelle (DAAD)

The aim of this programme is the funding of bi-national doctoral projects at the home university and at a university in Germany. This grant offers funding in two possible avenues – the sandwich model in which the candidate would be awarded the doctorate by the host institution in India; and the Cotutelle model in which the candidate would be jointly awarded doctorate by the host institutions in India and Germany. The application opens once a year. The maximum duration for the research grant is two years. Click here for further details.

Source: Means to a Beginning - IndiaBioscience