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GUIDELINES FOR RECOGNITION OF RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS RECEIVING PROGRAMME BASED FUNDING OF ICSSR

1. OBJECTIVES:

The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), by these guidelines, will grant recognition to selected social science research institutions through programme based funding to promote studies and research in various social science fields.

The research institutions recognized by the ICSSR under these guidelines will be eligible for becoming a part of ICSSR supported network of research institutions. They will be eligible for participating in ICSSR -sponsored research activities and relevant research funding.

 

2. ELIGIBILITY

A Research Institution shall be deemed to be eligible to be considered for recognition by the ICSSR if it satisfies the following conditions: -

  1. It should be of an All-India character in the sense that its facilities are open to students and social scientists from all parts of the country;

  2. It should have been in existence for a period of not less than three years;
  3. It should have been registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1960; or as a public trust, or created with the assistance of a department or Ministry of the State or Central government;
  4. It should have complied with all relevant requirements of standard financial accounting practices;
  5. It should have minimum of three research faculty and adequate physical and research infrastructure;
  6. The research institutions should have contributed to policy research and academically relevant. The research institutes should have credible publications in the form of books, articles in journals, conference papers    etc.

 

3. APPLICATION FOR RECOGNITION

  1. Any eligible social science research institution may apply to the ICSSR in  the prescribed format for recognition under these Guidelines, along with a processing fee as decided by the ICSSR from time to time.

  2.  All applications received for recognition shall be scrutinized by a screening committee comprising of three members of the Research Institutes Committee (RIC) of the ICSSR.

 

4. PROVISION FOR VISITING COMMITTEE

(i)         If the screening committee is satisfied that an institution fulfils the eligibility criteria and may have the necessary competence or potential, the ICSSR may appoint a Visiting Committee.

(ii)        The Visiting Committee shall consist of five eminent social scientists – one of whom shall be nominated as the Chairperson of the Committee, and two of whom may be members of the Governing Council of the ICSSR. The Chairperson of the Committee shall ordinarily be a former Chairperson or Member Secretary of the Council; a present or former member of the Governing Council; or a present or former Vice-Chancellor  of a University. The Committee will be assisted by a designated officer of the ICSSR.

 (iii)      The applicant institution shall coordinate and arrange for the visit of the Visiting Committee, while the expenditures shall be borne by the ICSSR.

(iv)    The visiting committee shall submit its report and recommendations to the   Council.  In doing so, it will be guided by the criteria mentioned in Clause 5 below.

(v)        Based on the recommendations of the Visiting Committee, the Council shall take a decision as to whether it should grant the status of "ICSSR recognised Institution" to the Institution concerned.

 

5. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF THE RESEARCH INSTITUTION

The Visiting Committee, in preparing its report, will take into account the following, along with any other specific criteria that it may choose to apply:

(i)         Whether the Institute fulfils all the eligibility criteria as mentioned in paras of Clause 2.

(ii)        Whether the fields of specialisation of the Institute can be considered to be priority or important/deficient areas in the field of social science research, as provided in clause 6 below.

(iii)       Whether the Institute is governed by the principles of governance.

 

6. PRIORITY AREAS FOR RESEARCH INSTITUTES

The following priority areas shall be taken into account for considering the priority areas for grant of status of Recognized Research Institutes of ICSSR:

(i)         Areas that are so designated by the Government of India from time to time.

(ii)        Areas as notified by the ICSSR as the “Thrust Areas” of social science research in India, from time to time.

(iii)       Areas of innovative and important interdisciplinary studies, especially areas of interface between social sciences and other disciplines of study.

 

7. ELIGIBILITY OF RECOGNISED RESEARCH INSTITUTES FOR PARTICIPATION IN ICSSR ACTIVITIES:

The Council may consider a Recognised Research Institute eligible for participation in the following ICSSR activities:

(i)         In case the Institute is eligible to guide doctoral research, in affiliation with a UGC – recognised University, the ICSSR may allocate Ph. D. Fellowships to the Institutes on the lines of the ICSSR supported Institutes.

(ii)        The Recognised Research Institute shall be eligible to host post-doctoral   and other Fellowship programmes of the ICSSR, and also to host foreign scholars under the various foreign collaboration schemes of the ICSSR.

(iii)       The Recognised Research Institute may participate in research networks and research programmes hosted by the ICSSR.

(iv)       The Recognised Research Institution will be eligible to participate in any information or data-base network, or e-library, hosted by the ICSSR.

 

8. ELIGIBILITY FOR RESEARCH FUNDING:

Subject to availability of funds for the purpose, the ICSSR may consider a Recognised Research Institution for the grant of funds for research related activities out of its Plan funds.

Provided that:

  1. The grant of such funds in any financial year shall not be construed to entail any future continuing liability on the ICSSR.
  2. The grant of such funds will be subject to the normal budgetary approval processes of the ICSSR.
  3. The grant of such funds shall not be made at the cost of existing development commitments of the ICSSR and its Institutes.

 

9. WITHDRAWAL OF RECOGNITION: 

(i)         The ICSSR may withdraw recognition at any time, if the research institution concerned does not fulfill satisfactory governance or financial norms, or its academic performance is deemed to be unsatisfactory by the Council of the ICSSR.

(ii)        The ICSSR shall periodically review the functioning of these Recognized Research Institutes once in three years by a review committee set up by ICSSR, as being done in case of the existing Research Institutes funded and established by the ICSSR.

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