Union Minister for Science and Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan recently announced four schemes to promote young scientists and researchers in the country. The schemes primarily aim at early recognition and reward to young talent in the field of science. “The schemes focus on youth to empower, recognize and motivate them,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said, while announcing the new schemes.
The Minister said that in a bid to tap the potential of trained faculty in Universities, colleges and private academic institutions, 500 teachers will be assisted under the Teacher Associateship for Research Excellence (TARE) scheme. It will connect them to leading public funded institutions like IIT, IISc or national institutions like CSIR, preferably nearer to their place of work to pursue research. They will be paid Rs. 5 lakh yearly, and a monthly out-of-pocket expense of Rs. 5,000. This will be in addition to the salary from their existing employer.
The second scheme – Overseas Visiting Doctoral Fellowship offers support to 100 PhD scholars for training in universities/laboratories abroad upto 12 months during their doctoral research. They would be given a monthly fellowship equivalent to US $ 2000, one-time contingency allowance of Rs. 60,000/- to cover travel and visa fee.
The Distinguished Investigator Award offers a maximum of 100 fellowships to principal investigators of SERB/DST projects. “This one-time career award will be judged on the basis of a completed project,” said Dr Harsh Vardhan. “This is aimed at giving early recognition and reward to young scientists, he added.”
The selected 100 researchers will be given a monthly fellowship of Rs. 15,000/- for three years and an optional research grant, based on peer review of the project proposal submitted.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that these schemes will be notified and applications invited from across the country on February 1.
Source: NDTV