DST AWSAR Award 2020 for PhD Scholars and Postdoc Fellows

About AWSAR

Details of Award

1. PhD Scholars
   1st Prize: Rs.1,00,000 will be awarded to the best entry.
   2nd Prize: Rs.50,000 Will be awarded to 2nd Prize winner.
   3rd Prize: Rs.25,000 Will be paid to their best entry.
   Besides, 100 selected write-ups will be awarded Rs.10,000 each.
   
   
2. Post Doctoral Fellowship
   One outstanding story will be given a cash prize of 1,00,000.
   20 selected write-ups submitted by the post-doctoral fellows will be awarded a cash prize of 10,000 each.

Eligibility Criteria

• The candidate who wishes to apply For DST AWSAR award must be an Indian Citizen.
• The candidates who are interested to apply for PhD scholar category must be enrolled in a PhD programme in S&T and who are applying for Postdoc fellow category must pursue Post Doctoral Fellowship in Science & Technology from any recognised University or Institute.
• The applicants with good quality published research papers will be given preference.
• For DST AWSAR award, both full-time and part-time PhD students will be eligible to apply.

Terms and Condition

• The PhD Scholars and Postdoc fellow candidates will have to submit a story on the topic related to their research work.
• Only one science story/write-up can be submitted in a year by an applicant.
• Previous years applicants can re-apply if the eligibility criteria continue to be met.
• Past award winners will not be considered in the same category for the second time.

Guidelines for Writing a Science Story for AWSAR Award

1. Why does my research matter?
2. Why is the research important?
3. Why does it interest researchers?
4. Why should it interest the reader?

1. Language of the article should be very simple and understandable by the general public.
2. Article should have:
   Word limits: It written in 1000-1500 words in MS word
   Paper Size: A4-size with 2.5 cm margin on all sides, single column,
   Font: Times New Roman font,
   Font size: 12,
   Line Spacing: 1.5 line spacing
3. Followings are the details that must be mentioned in the submitted article:
   The theme of the article
   Title of the paper
   Name of the applicant
   Affiliation and contact details of the applicant.
4. At the end of the article, there must be a declaration mentioning "that the article submitted is original and has not been previously published elsewhere."
   
5. The article should not include any complex figure, graph, equation or formula. Only self-explanatory infographics may be included in the article for better understanding.
   
6. To be eligible for acceptance, the science story/research article submitted for this award must be original. The articles which are already published anywhere or are under consideration for publication elsewhere, will not be accepted for the award.
   
7. Applicants found guilty of plagiarism and multiple submissions by the same author will be blacklisted and debarred from being taking part.
   
8. All science stories must be submitted through an online portal.

Selection of Science Stories

1. The panel will review all the entries and select them based on accuracy, clarity, insightfulness, fairness, and resourcefulness.
2. The entries must answer the following queries:
   Why does the research matter?
   Does the article explain the research of the writer in an easy to comprehend way?
   Is it a convincing write-up?

Declaration and Distribution of Awards

Contact Information

• Department of Science & Technology (DST)
  Technology Bhavan, New Mehrauli Road,
  New Delhi-110 016.
  Phone: +91-11-26590541
  
  
• Vigyan Prasar (Autonomous Organization of DST)
  A-50, Institutional Area, Sector-62, Noida-201309, UP, India
  Phone No: 0120-2401725, 0120-2404432
  Email: connect.awsar@gmail.com
  Website: https://www.awsar-dst.in/