Students from All Universities Can Apply for Prime Minister Research Fellowship

Union HRD Minister, Mr. Prakash Javadekar confirmed that students from all the universities across the country can apply forPrime Minister Research Fellowship (PMRF) scheme .So far, the scheme was strictly restricted to centrally funded IIITs, IITs, IISERs, NITs and IISc. PMRF is a popular scheme launched by the central government last year that aims to encourage research in India. As a part of the PMRF scheme, students will receive amonthly fellowship of Rs. 70,000apart from a research grant ofRs. 2 lakhper year.

The decision to allow students from all the universities to apply for PMRF scheme was taken at a three-day national conference of Vice-Chancellors on July 27, 2018. Union HRD Minister, Mr. Prakash Javadekar chaired the meeting and laid certain conditions for the admission to full-time Ph.D. course under PMRF scheme .

Also Read:PMRF Scheme Receives only 1,890 Applications in the First Year

During the meeting, Mr. Prakash Javadekar also releasedAISHE(All India Survey of Higher Education) report and confirmed that the GER (Gross Enrollment Ratio) in India has gone up from 25.2% in 2016-17 to 25.8% in 2017-18. The GER is calculated for the age groups of 18-23 years. The minister expressed his concern over the lack of quality research and innovation in India which is the foremost challenge before the country. Reforms in teaching are necessary to boost innovation and research in the country, he added.

Also Read:Jammu & Kashmir Govt. Launches Study Abroad Fellowship

Mr. Javadekar also announced that all research projects of HRD Ministry includingIMPRINTwould be opened to teachers and students of all universities. The ministry will soon launch HOSHE (Higher Order Skills for Higher Education) scheme for all non-tech students at the Under Graduate (UG) level.