Senior Fellowships are awarded to senior Indian researchers who have made significant contribution in the field of Social Sciences through projects/ publications, including books published by reputed publishers and research papers in peer-reviewed journals with high impact factor. The studies made by the Senior Fellows are expected to have the potential to contribute in the development of the nation by providing evidence-based solution to current and future challenges in different fields.

Eligibility

• The scholar should be an Indian citizen and should not be less than 45 years of age and not more than 70 years of age as on the last date of application.
• The scholar must possess Ph.D. Degree and have, in the opinion of the ICSSR, the necessary competence to conduct research in social sciences or allied disciplines in addition to having outstanding research publications, including books published by reputed publishers and/or research papers in peer-reviewed journals with high impact factor, at the time of application.
• A fellow must affiliate himself/herself to UGC recognized Universities / Deemed-to-be-Universities, Institutes of National Importance as defined by MoE / UGC, and ICSSR Research Institutes. Funds are disbursed through the affiliating/administering institution.
• Faculties with regular service in public funded universities/colleges and research institutes getting UGC pay-scales may be considered for pay protection in exceptionally meritorious cases, which is to be decided by the Expert Committees of the ICSSR. The Expert Committees of the ICSSR also reserve the right to convert a fellowship proposal into a Project Proposal.
• A gap of minimum 02 years is required from submission of Final Report of Post-Doctoral Fellowship/ Research Project/ Programme of the ICSSR and application of Senior Fellowship.
• Defaulters of any previous fellowship/project/grant of the ICSSR will not be eligible for consideration.
• A fellow is not entitled for the same fellowship more than once.

Duration And Value

• Senior Fellowship is a full-time research engagement.
• The duration of fellowship shall be for two years and no extension will be considered.
• The value of fellowship is Rs.45,000/- per month and contingency grant of Rs.40,000/- per annum and will be in line with the directives of the Ministry of Education from time to time.
• Under Salary protection, a fellow is entitled to salary and allowances admissible as per rules and contingency grant. However, special allowances like children education allowance, medical reimbursement, LTC, etc. are not admissible from the ICSSR. The parent institution may, however, pay/reimburse the same as per its rule.
• The ICSSR shall also pay the leave salary and pension contribution or contribution towards CPF and gratuity for the period for which he/she holds the ICSSR’s fellowship as per rules of the parent institution.

Application Procedure

• Applications will be invited through open advertisement on ICSSR website and its social media platforms.
• The procedure for the award of the fellowships will include evaluation and interaction/presentation of applications by the panel of subject experts in multiple phases.

Important Points

Acceptance of offer

The scholar has to join the fellowship within one month of the date of the award letter by submitting all required documents through the affiliating institution. This may be extended by the ICSSR in exceptional circumstances.

Instalment details

• The first-year fellowship and contingency will be released in two equal instalments. The first instalment will be released after receiving the Grant-in-Aid-Bill (GIB) and the second after receiving a satisfactory Six-Monthly Progress report in the prescribed format along with the Statement of Account.
• The second-year fellowship and contingency will be released in three instalments. The first instalment of six-month fellowship will be released on receipt of the Grant-in-Aid Bill (GIB). The second instalment of 03 months fellowship will be released on receipt of a satisfactory Progress Report of next six months in the prescribed format along with the Statement of Account. The final instalment of remaining fellowship along with contingency will be released after receiving the final report and its acceptance by the ICSSR and Statement of Accounts with Utilization Certificate in GFR-12A Form of the entire sanctioned amount of fellowship duly signed by the competent authority of the affiliating institution. However, in case of non-public funded institution, the final instalment of fellowship will be released on receipt of the Audited Statement of Accounts with Utilization Certificate in GFR-12A Form and verification of the documents by the ICSSR.
• The 7.5% overhead charges to the public funded affiliating institution will be released only after the submission of the Audited Statement of Accounts with Utilization Certificate in GFR-12A Form and verification of the documents by the ICSSR.

Progress Monitoring

• Regular monitoring of Fellowship is done on the basis of Six Monthly and Annual Progress Reports in the prescribed formats submitted by the scholar. In cases of delayed Progress Reports, the scholar may be asked to give the justification of the delay on which the final decision shall be taken by the ICSSR. The scholar may be asked to furnish an Undertaking specifying the date of final report submission to the ICSSR.
• The ICSSR may ask for annual presentation/mid-term appraisal of the research work.

Research outcome

• During the course of the fellowship, the scholar is required to publish at least two research papers peer-reviewed research journals or edited books on the theme of the research undertaken.
• The Copyright of the manuscript of final report will rest with the ICSSR. The ICSSR reserves all rights to publish the fellowship report funded by it, provided the work is recommended for publication by Expert/Experts. The scholars can get it published themselves only after seeking permission from ICSSR.
• The scholar shall acknowledge ICSSR’s support in all publications resulting from the research output of the fellowship.

Post sanction requests

• During the tenure of fellowship, the fellow will be governed by the rules of the affiliating institution in all matters including TA/DA, holidays/leave and contingency grant, etc. However, the duration and amount of fellowship will not exceed twenty-four months.
• While accepting any fellowship from the ICSSR, a fellow should not accept any other fellowship or research project or regular assignment from any other institution.
• The scholar should not have been subjected to any disciplinary/legal action/proceedings/financial penalties in his/her career/ research career.