Prime Minister Early Career Research Grant

About This Scheme

The “Prime Minister Early Career Research Grant” is a program initiated by the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. It aims to assist researchers to initiate their research career in a new institution with a flexible budget and progressive initiatives for ease of doing research. To empower and support the early career researchers in their pursuit of research excellence, providing them with an enabling environment to effectively conduct research with ease and flexibility. To contribute in positioning the country as a global leader in science and technology as well as creating a vibrant research ecosystem. To produce research of the highest quality, bringing in new skills, breakthrough ideas and the zest to explore new frontiers, thereby expanding the boundaries of knowledge.

What You Get

As set out by Ministry Of Science And Technology.

• Nature & duration of support:
• Research rant up to ₹60 lakh plus overheads for a period of three years.
• The measures for ease of doing research include flexibility to utilize resources under recurring head; flexibility in manpower recruitment; enhanced travel, contingency and overhead charges; and support for expenses related to open access publications and patent filing charges.
• International travel for project related activities is also permitted.
• Maximum of 700 grants would be awarded per year across all subject areas.

Am I Eligible?

You may be eligible if all of these are true for you.

• The applicant should be an Indian citizen.
• The applicant should hold a Ph.D. degree in Science or Engineering or an MD/MS/MDS/MVSc degree.
• The applicant should be in a regular academic/research position at a recognized academic institution, national laboratory, or any other recognized R&D institution.
• The applicant is eligible to apply within two years of joining the institution.
• The upper age limit is 42 years, with a relaxation of three years for SC/ST/OBC/Physically Challenged and women candidates.
• The applicant should not have received funding under YSS, ECR, SRG, CRG (erstwhile EMR), EMEQ, or any other project grant from the erstwhile SERB or ANRF.
• Other conditions
• An applicant is eligible to apply only one proposal during a call.

Final eligibility is decided by the government department handling this scheme.

Who Cannot Apply?

Applications are commonly rejected for these reasons, so check them before you start.

• Research Associates, Post doctoral Fellows, Ad-hoc faculties, Guest faculties, Visiting Scientists, Consultants, Project Fellows and faculty members whose contract is renewed every year are not eligible.
• Co-PIs are not allowed except in the case of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) or Person of Indian Origin (PIO).

Required Documents

The official source does not publish a document checklist for this scheme. Check the scheme guidelines below, or ask at the office where you apply, before you set off.

How to Apply

1. 1 Applicants should first register in the ANRF online portal, Click here to register.
2. 2 After log-in, applicants are required to fill in all the mandatory fields under User Profile section, which includes Bio-data, Photo, Institute address, etc.
3. 3 Some of the details of a proposal like Project Title (max 500 characters), Project summary (max 3000 characters), Keywords (max 6), Objectives of the project (max 1500 characters), Expected output and outcome of the proposal (max 1500 characters), Budget (Research Personnel, Consumables, Travel, Equipment, Contingency, Overheads) have to be entered at the time of proposal submission.
4. 4 Other relevant information of the proposal has to be uploaded as a single PDF file, not more than 10 MB, as a Technical Document (TD). Download Template

Official Documents and Links

Published by the department that runs this scheme.

• Guidelines
• Scheme Details