KOTHARI POST DOCTORAL SCHOLARSHIP

KOTHARI POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP

Post-doctoral research is an important enabling step in grooming young researchers for launching an academic/research career. This is a transition phase from a largely supervisor directed student at doctoral level to an independent researcher for leadership position, particularly in academia. A post-doctoral stint also provides an opportunity to acquire new skills, broaden ones horizon and offers a platform for transiting into cross-disciplinary areas. Experience in other parts of the world has shown that university faculty is best inducted from among candidates who had a year or two of post-doctoral training and is generally considered an essential requirement. Mentoring for independent research is an indispensable element of post-doctoral training. Top rated institutions in our country which value research also follow this practice but it has not permeated widely. Leading research groups around the world usually have a good mix of post-doctoral fellows and doctoral students with the former bringing in a level of experience and maturity. However, in our country post-doctoral research culture has not caught on and is practiced only sporadically in a few selected places.

Merit Selection Procedure:

a) The selection process is open all the year round in as and when mode and not restricted by any specified deadlines as thesis submission and award of Ph. D degree are open ended processes. There is a rolling advertisement on the UGC website; other institutions and UGC affiliates should be encouraged to replicate it on theirs.

b) There is a designated website (http://ugcdskpdf.unipune.ac.in/) to apply for the fellowships. The entire process is being carried out on-line.

c) There is a standing (core) peer group which is able to access the applications on the web and grade them electronically. On the basis of the grades received (electronically) from the peer group, the Chair of this group takes the final decision. Since this is a promotional scheme to inculcate post-doctoral research culture, emphasis during the review process/selection is on an appropriate mix of the candidates accomplishment at Ph. D level and the professional standing of mentor and institution where the postdoctoral research is to be carried out. In general, candidates are encouraged to move to other institutions and newer areas of research.

d) The selection process has to be completed within 6-weeks of the receipt of individual application.

e) There could be up to 500 such allotment every year, making it to about 1000 at its peak.

Scholarship Eligibility Criteria:-

The candidate must have a doctorate degree in the relevant subject preferably with published research work to their credit.

Only Ph.D. allotment unemployed applicant will be eligible for the award of Post-Doctoral Fellowship.

The upper age limit for applicants is 35 years, relaxation in age for SC/ST/OBC/Women candidates applicable as per Government of India Norms.

Financial Assistance:-

The tenure of the allotment is 3 years with no provision for further extension. The financial assistance available under the programme is as follows:-

Fellowship:-

@ Rs. 43,800/- pm for I year

@ Rs.45,000/- pm for II year

@ Rs. 46,500/- pm for III year

Contingency- @Rs.1,00,000/-p.a.

House Rent Allowance:

i) Suitable hostel accommodation may be provided to the candidates in the institutions. In such cases, the fellow is eligible to draw only hostel fees excluding mess, electricity, water charges, etc. A certification to this impact is to be review through the Registration/Director/Principal. HRA is not permitted for those applicant who are staying in Hostel accommodation.

ii) In case of non-availability of hostel accommodation, the fellow may be provided with single accommodation by the host institution. If the rent paid by the merit on actual basis can be reimbursed subject to the ceiling of HRA as per Govt. of India norms.

iii) If the fellow makes her own arrangements of accommodation, he/she may be entitled to draw HRA as per categorization of cities by the Govt. of India.

Medical:

No separate/fixed medical assistance is provided. However, the Post-Doctoral Fellow may avail of the medical facilities available in the University/Institution/College.

Leave:

i) Leave for maximum period of 30 days in a year in addition to public holidays maybe taken by the Post-Doctoral Fellow with the approval of the Head of Department. However, they are not entitled to any other vacations, such as summer, winter and workship vacations.

ii) Candidates are eligible for maternity/ paternity leave at full rates of the fellowship as per Government of India rules once during the tenure of the award.

iii) The merit, in special cases can be allowed by the Commission, academic leave without merit and contingency for a period not exceeding one year during the tenure of allotment on the recommendation of the Head of the department of the institution concerned to undertake academic/ teaching assignment or foreign travel in connection with academic work. The consumption on travel cannot be claimed from University Grants Commission. The period of leave without merit will be counted towards the tenure.

Application Procedure for release of grant by the UGC

The candidate should join the fellowship within 3 months from the date of issue of Award letter, failing which the award will be treated as cancelled.

It may be noted that the fellowship amount shall be disbursed through UGC designated Bank into the bank account of the awardee directly. The list of designated branches of UGC identified bank is available on the UGC portal i.e. www.ugc.ac.in.

The awardee is required to approach the designated branch along with a Copy of the Award Letter and Joining Report with photograph, address and contact number in the prescribed proforma Annexure-I. The awardee is also required to submit the following documents to the designated branch of the UGC designated Bank at the stipulated period interval. The approved Agency may verify the genuineness of records before disbursal of funds.

1) At the end of every three months the fellow shall submit a Continuation Certificate in the prescribed proforma. Annexure-II. This will make the awardee eligible to draw the fellowship for the next three months.

2) After completion of one year of the award of fellowship, the concerned fellow/awardee shall submit and present its Progress Report in the proforma prescribed by the UGC as given in Annexure-III.

3) Merit/allotment will also submission and present accounts of contingency grants in the proforma prescribed by the UGC as given in Annexure-IV.

4) Merit/allotment will submission and present its HRA Certificate in the prescribed proforma Annexure-V

Aadhaar Seeding

The Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India vide its letter D.O. No. 18-7/2013-U1A dated 10th June, 2016 has instructed the University Grants Commission that from the financial year 2016-17 onwards the Aadhaar has been mandatory for disbursement of all Government subsidies/Scholarships/Fellowships which are to be disbursed directly into the beneficiaries account.

Procedure for monitoring the Progress of the Scheme

1. The research fellow shall submit, through the senior faculty member with whom he/she is working and the head of the department/university, an yearly report on the progress of his/her research work. (Annexure-VII). On completion of the award he/she will submit to the Commission a comprehensive report and a copy of his/her published work, if any, and an abstract of the research work in about 500 words.

2. After every years progress report of the research work done by the fellow may be examined by a departmental research committee constituted by the university/institute and recommendations/comments of the committee may be sent to the DSKPDF cell.

3. In case the progress of the work is found unsatisfactory, the award may be terminated by the Commission at any time during the tenure of the award. The decision of the Commission in this regard will be final.

4. The fellow shall not accept or hold any appointment, paid or otherwise, or receive any emoluments, salary, stipend, etc. from any other source during the tenure of the award. However, no extension is permissible beyond the total period three years, at the end of which period the awardee ceases to be a UGC fellow with immediate effect. Any claim/reference to this effect will be illegal.

5. If the Fellow is availing any other fellowship/ project from any other organization at the time of selection, he/she shall be required to surrender one award.

6. Feedback: After completion of the Research Work the student will submit his/her research work in the INFLIBNET and DSKPDF repository along with the research papers published

Note: The last 2 installments will be released only after submission of the feedback and Research work in the Repository.

Cancellation of Award

The fellowship is liable to cancellation, in case of:

1. Misconduct.

2. Unsatisfactory progress of research work.

3. Candidate is later found ineligible.

4. Applicant is already availing Merit from any other sources.

5. Candidate if found employed during the PDF research.

6. Any false information furnished by the applicant or any fraudulent activity by the Scholar/Fellow/Research Awardees.

Venue: The National Coordinator, Dr. D.S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship Cell

Address: Savitribai Phule Pune University Ganeshkhind Post Office Pune 411 007 India, Phone No: (020) 25601406,Email ID: dskpdf@unipune.ac.in website: https://scholarships.gov.in/