Amendments in Prime Minister's Research Fellowship Scheme 2020
If you are waiting for Prime Minister's Research Fellowship Scheme 2020 and want to avail this fellowship scheme, you must know the amendments made by the Union HRD Ministry. HRD Ministry has announced some amendments in the eligibility and application process. To know the details read this article.
About PMRF
Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF) scheme releases two times in a year. The scheme was announced in the Budget of 2018-19. The main aim of the scheme is to attract talented students of the country to PhD programmes of country's topmost and top 100 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranked institutes like IITs, IISc, IISERs etc. Under this fellowship scheme, the students will get an opportunity to research in highly advanced science and technology organisations. With attractive fellowships, the scheme seeks to attract the best talent into research thereby realizing the vision of development through innovation.
Recently Union Human Resource and Development Ministry has announced some amendments in Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF) scheme which includes eligibility criteria, GATE score requirements, GCPA requirements and application process.Reason for Amendment
The step intends to improve the quality of research and to increase the number of students to pursue researches in India's prestigious higher educational institutes in the country. Therefore, besides IITs, IISc, IISERs, some of the top Central Universities and NITs offering science and technology degrees are included.The Amendments made in PMRF-2020
The amendments made by the Human Resource and Development Ministry in the Prime Minister Research Fellowship, PMRF are as given below:Requirements for Lateral Entry Channel
As per the new guidelines, a candidate will be admissible through the lateral entry if he/she is pursuing a PhD in PMRF granting institutions. The criteria for lateral entry channel are: Requirements for Direct Entry Channel
He should have scored a CGPA of 8.0.
He/she should have a GATE score of 650 or above. The GATE criterion is waived off if the qualifying degree is from one of the centrally funded technical institutes.
Or
He should have scored a CGPA of 8.0.
He/she should have a GATE score of 650 or above.GATE score & CGPA requirements
After the amendments in PMRF scheme, now for the students from any recognised institute/ university other than Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), National Institute of Technology (NITs), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISERs), Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) and IIITs, the GATE scores requirement has been revised and is reduced from 750 to 650 apart from minimum CGPA of 8 or equivalent. The revised criteria would be effective from 2020-21.Application process
From the academic Year 2020-21, candidates will be able to apply for PMRF through either of these two channels I.e. direct entry or lateral entry as described above.Selection Process
Now selection process has also been revised and selection of the candidates will be done through a rigorous selection process and their performance will be reviewed suitably through a national convention. The selection of a candidate will be based on the overall performance like research exposure, publications, performance in international academic competitions, grades and recommendation letters etc.PMRF Granting Institutes
To facilitate more students to avail of the benefit under the PMRF Scheme, now NITs, which are included in top 25 institutions as per overall NIRF Ranking will also become participating PMRF Granting institution. The list of the PMRF granting institutes has been revised and is as follows:Creation of Research and Innovation Division
To improve research, the HRD Ministry has come up with the creation of a dedicated Division in the ministry itself. The name of the division will be "Research and Innovation Division". The head of the division will be a director who will be coordinating the research work of various institutions coming under the Ministry of Human Resource and Development.