NIT,Tiruchirapalli gets Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship

NIT,Tiruchirapalli gets Prime Minister’s
Research Fellowship (PMRF) Scheme

The Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme has been designed for improving the quality of research in various higher educational institutions in the country. With attractive fellowships, the scheme seeks to attract the best talent into research thereby realizing the vision of development through innovation. The scheme was announced in the Budget 2018-19.

The scheme was open to IITs, IISc and IISERs. However, this year, NITs and Central Universities which are in 25 institutes in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking (overall) in the previous year have been included. National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli being the only NIT in the top 25 Institutions, has 
been included in the PMRF awarding Institutions along with 6 Central Universities. According to this scheme the Institute will get around 20 PMRF scholars who are eligible to get a fellowship of Rs.70,000/- per month for the first two years, Rs.75,000/- per month for the 3rd year, and Rs.80,000/- per month in the 4th and 5th year. Apart from this, a research grant of Rs.2.00 lakh per year will be provided to each of the Fellows for a period of 5 years to cover their academic contingency expenses and for foreign/national travel expenses.

The scholars will be selected by a rigorous process. Only candidates with GATE scores, participated in science Olympiad and outstanding performance in their basic degrees will be granted this fellowship. It should be noted that the stipend paid in this scheme is more than double the amount paid to research scholars.PMRF awardees will work on state-of-the-art research problems and contribute to nation building. There will be a rigorous review of the performance of Prime Minister's Research Fellowship holders and continuation of the next year fellowship shall be contingent upon successful review. The National Coordination Committee (NCC) will periodically review and monitor implementation of the scheme.

NIT Trichy Director, Prof. Mini Shaji Thomas opined that this is a great recognition for the institute and will improve the research output a great deal. She congratulated each and every member of the 
NIT Tiruchirappalli family, including Faculty, Staff and Students who worked hard to achieve a better Ranking which led to this feat.