The UGC has initiated a scheme of Post Doctoral Fellowship for Women to those candidates, who are unemployed holding Ph. D. degree in their respective subject areas with an aim to accelerate the talented instincts of the women candidates to carry out the advanced studies and research. The total duration of the fellowship is five years with no provision for further extension. The number of slots available under the scheme is 100 per year.
Objective of Post Doctoral Fellowship for Women
The objective of Post Doctoral Fellowship for Women is to provide an opportunity to carry out the advanced studies and research in Science, Engineering and Technology, Humanities and Social Sciences in Indian Universities/Colleges/Institutions as indicated below:
i. Universities/Institutions/Colleges included under section 2(f) and 12(b) of UGC Act, 1956.
ii. Deemed to be Universities under section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956 which are eligible to receive grant in aid from UGC.
iii. Universities/Institutions/Colleges funded by Central/ State Govt.
iv. Institutes of National Importance.
Eligibility of Post Doctoral Fellowship for Women
The followings are the conditions under Post Doctoral Fellowship for Women:
1. The candidate should be unemployed.
2. The candidates must have been awarded the Ph.D. degree to be eligible to apply (Provisional Certificate may be accepted in case the degree is not awarded).
3. The candidate should not be more than 55 years of age as on the last date of submission of online application. There shall be age relaxation for SC/ST/OBC/PWD (Persons with Disabilities for 5 years.
4. In case of general category minimum 55% of marks at UG level and minimum 60% of marks at PG level. For reserved categories (SC/ST/OBC/PWD), minimum 50% of marks at UG level and minimum 55% of marks at PG level.
5. Candidates applying for PDF must upload the No Objection Certificate from the proposed research centre duly signed by the HOD and Registrar/Principal/ Director of the University/College/Institute as per Annexure-I.
6. Transgender candidates are eligible to apply under the scheme. The reservation shall be followed as per the Govt. of India norms.
Reservation
There shall be reservation for SC/ST/OBC/PWD candidates as per the Govt. of India norms.
Aadhaar Seeding
The Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India vide its letter D.O. No. 18- 7/2013-U1A dated 10th June, 2016 has instructed the University Grants Commission that from the financial year 2016-17 onwards the Aadhaar has been made mandatory for disbursement of all Government subsidies/Scholarships/Fellowships which are to be disbursed directly into the beneficiary’s account. Accordingly, Aadhaar will be used as an Identifier for release of grant under the scheme.
Nature of Assistance available under the Scheme
The financial assistance available under the scheme is as follows:
| Fellowship | @ Rs. 47,000/-p.m. 1st year |
| @ Rs. 49,500/- p.m. 2nd year
@ Rs. 54,000/ p.m. 3rd year onwards |
|
| Contingency | @ Rs. 50,000/-p.a. for five years |
| Escorts/Reader | @ Rs. 2000/- p.m. (fixed) in cases of PWD
(Person with disability) |
* The revised rate of fellowship is applicable w.e.f. 01.01.2019
Note: At the end of tenure, the books, journals and equipment purchased out of the contingency grant will become the property of the department of the University.
HRA
1. Suitable single-seated hostel accommodation may be provided to the candidates in the institutions. In such cases, the fellow is eligible to draw only hostel fees excluding mess, electricity, water charges, etc. A certificate to this effect is to be furnished through the Registrar/Director/Principal. HRA is not permissible for those candidates who are staying in Hostel accommodation.
2. In case of non-availability of hostel accommodation, the fellow may be provided with single accommodation by the host institution. In such cases, the rent paid by the fellow on actual basis may be reimbursed subject to the ceiling of HRA as per Govt. of India norms.
3. If the fellow makes her own arrangements of accommodation, she may be entitled to draw HRA as per categorization of cities by the Govt. of India.
Note: In all the above cases, the fellow will submit a relevant certificate (Annexure-VI) through the concerned University/College/Institute to the identified Agency for settling the claim.
Medical
No separate/fixed medical assistance is provided. However, the Post-Doctoral Fellow may avail the medical facilities available in the University/Institution/ College.
Leave
1. Leave for maximum period of 30 days in a year in addition to public holidays may be taken by the Post-Doctoral Fellow. However, they are not entitled to any other vacations, such as summer, winter and pooja vacations.
2. Maternity leave as per the Govt. of India norms issued from time to time would be available at full rates of the fellowship once during the tenure of their award.
3. Academic leave (without fellowship and other emoluments) shall be permissible only for one year throughout the tenure (for any kind of academic/teaching assignment/foreign visit in connection with research work). The period of leave without fellowship will be counted towards the tenure. Expenditure on foreign visit in connection to research work cannot be claimed from UGC.
Note: All kinds of leave should be approved at the level of the University/ Institution/ College.
Procedure for applying for the scheme
Applications are invited through online mode once in a year through advertisement in leading newspapers & employment news. Short notification is also uploaded in the UGC website.
Note: Candidates have to apply strictly as per the instructions given in the online portal. Incomplete application will not be considered.
Selection Procedure
1. The online applications received will be scrutinized by the screening committee. Later, the shortlisted candidates will be called to appear before the expert committee, constituted by the Commission. No TA/DA will be paid for appearing in the interview to the candidates. The decision of the Commission will be final. Result shall be published on UGC website i.e. www.ugc.ac.in. Award letters can be downloaded from UGC online application portal.
2. If the fellow is availing any other fellowship/ project from any other organization at the time of selection, she shall be required to surrender one award.
3. The award is subject to UGC guidelines and will be effective from 1st April of the selection year or the actual date of joining in the University/College/Institute, whichever is later.
4. The Commission reserves the right to withdraw/cancel the award without assigning any reason.
Joining of Fellowship
The candidate should join Post Doctoral Fellowship for Women within 3 months from the date of issue of Award letter, failing which the award will be treated as cancelled.
Procedure for release of grant by the UGC
Under Post Doctoral Fellowship for Women, the fellowship amount shall be disbursed through UGC designated Bank into the bank account of the awardee directly. The list of designated branches of UGC identified bank is available on the UGC portal.
The awardee is required to approach the designated branch along with a Copy of the Award Letter and Joining Report with photograph, address and contact number in the prescribed proforma as per Annexure-II. The awardee is also required to submit the following documents to the designated branch of the UGC designated Bank at the stipulated period interval. The approved Agency may verify the genuineness of records before disbursal of funds.
1. At the end of every three months a ‘Continuation Certificate’ in the prescribed proforma as per Annexure-III. This will make the fellow eligible to draw the fellowship for the next three months.
2. After completion of one year of the award, the concerned fellow shall submit the Progress Report in the proforma prescribed by the UGC as given in Annexure-IV.
3. The fellow shall also submit accounts of contingency grants in the proforma prescribed by the UGC as given in Annexure-V.
4. Fellow/awardee shall submit its HRA Certificate in the prescribed proforma as per Annexure-VI.
Disbursement of fellowship for Non-DBT/Legacy cases
UGC has developed a dedicated web portal (https://scholarship.canarabank.in/AdminLogin.aspx) for capturing data for eligible scholars/fellows through which the legacy cases (Non-DBT) shall be transferred on DBT platform. The Universities/ Colleges/ Institutions will submit the master data of the eligible beneficiaries on the portal with a unique user’s profile (user name and password). The bank account numbers of the beneficiaries will be validated through PFMS for creation of beneficiary ID.
The Universities/Institutions/ Colleges shall update the information in the master data (regarding continuation, HRA, up-gradation, resignation etc.) of the beneficiaries monthly. Based on the master data received from the concerned Universities/Institutions/Colleges the payment of the fellowship will be made to the beneficiaries
Procedure for monitoring the Progress of the Scheme
Progress report: On the progress of research work, the research fellow shall submit yearly progress report duly signed and forwarded by HOD and Registrar/Principal/Director of the concerned institution to the identified agency.
Departmental Research Committee Report: After 2 years, progress report of the research work done by the fellow may be examined by a departmental research committee constituted by the university/institute and recommendations/comments of the committee may be sent to the identified Agency (Annexure-VII).
In case the progress of the work is found unsatisfactory, the award may be terminated by the Commission at any time during the tenure of the award. The decision of the Commission in this regard will be final.
Fellowship/Assignment /Job: The fellow who is awarded Post-Doctoral Fellowship for Women will not accept or hold any other fellowship or any appointment, paid or otherwise, or receive any emoluments, salary, stipend, etc. from any other source during the tenure of the award (except in case of academic leave of one year).
If the fellow wishes to apply for any other fellowship/paid assignment/examination during the tenure of the fellowship, she is not required to obtain NOC from UGC. In case of selection, she would be required to tender resignation from the UGC fellowship.
Feedback: The fellow shall have to submit feedback in form of the report on the research work done. After completion of the Research work the fellow shall submit her research work in the INFLIBNET repository along with the research papers published. At least 4 research papers (2 National and 2 International) must be submitted.
- 2 National/International publications at the time of submitting departmental review committee report.
- 2 National/International Publications by the end of the tenure.
Note: The last 2 installments will be released only after submission of the feedback and research work in the repository. The fellow will be issued a PDF Completion Certificate after successfully submitting comprehensive report of research work and publication in INFLIBNET repository.
Resignation
Resignation of the Post Doctoral Fellowship for Women will be forwarded by the concerned University/ College/ Institute to the designated agency under intimation to UGC office. The grant will be released upto the date of resignation tendered by the fellow.
Transfer of Research Place
Transfer of the Research Place should be done by concerned University/College/Institute under the intimation to UGC and designated agency. Transfer of Research place will be allowed only once during the entire tenure.
Cancellation of Award
The award is liable to be cancelled in the following cases:
i) If the awardee is found to be ineligible to receive the award, at any point of time during the entire duration of the fellowship.
ii) Any false information furnished by the applicant.
iii) Misconduct of Awardee.
iv) Unsatisfactory progress of research work of the awardee.
v) Any other fellowship/scholarship is drawn from other source(s) during the tenure of the award.
vi) Candidate if found employed during the PDF research.
Post Doctoral Fellowship for Women – Official Website
Recommended:
Mphil and PhD Fellowships
UGC NET Study Materials for Paper 1 (Download PDF)