Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) Senior Research Fellowship 2024

Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) Senior Research Fellowship 2024 is an opportunity offered by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Ministry of Education, Government of India, for outstanding Indian social scientists with Ph.D. degrees to undertake full-time research on themes and issues of national and social concern. Selected fellows receive a fellowship of ₹45,000 per month and an annual contingency grant of ₹40,000 irrespective of the pensionary benefit.

Source: Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR)

Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) is offering the fellowship.

To be eligible, an applicant must:

• be between 45 and 70 years of age as of the last date of application
• possess a Ph.D. degree from a recognised university/institution
• demonstrate the necessary competence to conduct research in social sciences or allied disciplines, in the opinion of the ICSSR
• have outstanding research publications at the time of application.
  Be affiliated with an ICSSR Research Institute/Regional Centre, Institute of National Importance approved by the Ministry of Education (MoE)/government, research institute, or public-funded university (including deemed universities) of their choice

The value of the fellowship for unemployed and superannuated scholars is ₹45,000 per month. Additionally, they will receive a contingency grant of ₹40,000 per annum, irrespective of any pensionary benefits they may be receiving.

Under salary protection, fellows are entitled to their regular salary and allowances as per their institution's rules, along with a contingency grant of ₹40,000 per annum. However, special allowances such as children's education allowance, medical reimbursement, and LTC are not provided by the ICSSR. These may still be offered or reimbursed by the parent institution according to its policies.

The ICSSR will also pay leave salary and contribute towards pension, Central Provident Fund (CPF) and gratuity for the fellow during the fellowship period following the rules of the parent institution.

Eligible candidates can apply for the fellowship using the steps listed below:-
Step 1: Click the ‘Apply Now’ button below.
Step 2: Click on the 'Register' button on the right-hand side of the dashboard and fill in the required details to 'Register'. (Note:- If already registered, log in using the registered email ID.)
Step 3: Read the details carefully, navigate to the 'Login to Apply' button at the bottom of the page and click on it.
Step 4: Now, click on the 'Click here for Register' button and provide the relevant details to 'Register'.
Step 5: After successful registration, fill in the required details, upload the necessary documents (if any) and submit the application.
Step 6: Take a printout of the duly submitted application and send it along with all the necessary documents within 10 days from the last date of the submission of the application through speed post to the address below:
In charge, RFS Division, 
Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), 
Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi – 110067

Note:-

• The applicants can apply through open advertisement on the ICSSR website.
• At this stage, the candidates need not submit any document other than those referred to in the application form.
• For more details of the fellowship, kindly check the 'Fellowship Detail Document'.

• Research proposal in either Hindi or English (Note:- Use Unicode 8 (UTF-8) to fill the form in Hindi)

Upon completion of the fellowship, the scholar is required to submit the following documents - 

• A book-length final report along with a summary of the report in 3,000-4,000 words
• Two published research papers preferably in Scopus Indexed or UGC care-listed research journals or edited books on the theme of the research undertaken

Note:- These documents are required to be submitted in hard copy (two copies of the final report and two copies each of the summary and research articles) and a soft copy.

The selection of candidates will follow the procedure outlined below:

• Initial Screening: Applications will be scrutinised and shortlisted by a screening committee.
• Merit-Based Shortlisting: Subject-specific expert committees will further shortlist meritorious proposals from the eligible applications.
• Expert Interaction: Shortlisted applicants will be invited to present their proposals and interact with an expert committee.
• Recommendation and Approval: Following the interaction, the expert committee(s) will prepare recommendations for the award, which will be submitted to the relevant committee(s) for approval.
• Announcement of Results: The list of selected candidates will be uploaded on the ICSSR website.

Application Deadline: 27th February 2024

• Incomplete applications in any respect will not be considered for the fellowship.
• A fellow is not eligible for the same fellowship or pay protection more than once.
• ICSSR follows the Government of India Rules and Directives regarding SC and ST and persons with benchmark disabilities.
• Fellows who have completed their fellowship duration but wish to continue using the title with their name should prefix 'Former' and suffix the fellowship name with 'the duration', e.g. Former National/Senior/Post-Doctoral Fellow ICSSR (2016-18).
• The ICSSR expert committee also reserves the right to convert a fellowship proposal into a project proposal. 
• The fellowship is initially sanctioned for one year, effective from the scholar's joining date.
• The renewal of the fellowship for the subsequent year is subject to receiving a satisfactory annual progress report and a statement of account for the entire first-year fellowship grant.
• The fellowship may be discontinued if the fellow's research is unsatisfactory or violates any ICSSR rules.
• Upon accepting the position, a fellow cannot hold any other fellowship, research project, or regular financial benefit/assignment from any other institution. 
• The scholar must join the fellowship within one month of the award letter date by submitting all required documents to the affiliating/administering institution. Extensions up to a few months may be granted in exceptional circumstances with prior ICSSR approval. 
• Faculty with regular service in public-funded universities/colleges and research institutes receiving UGC pay scales may be considered for pay protection in exceptionally meritorious cases, as decided by ICSSR expert committees. 

• The fellowship can be transferred from one affiliating institution to another upon the scholar's request under special circumstances, subject to ICSSR approval and submission of the following documents:

  • A satisfactory progress report.

  • No-objection certificates from both the previous and proposed universities/institutions.

  • An audited statement of accounts and a utilisation certificate, along with any unspent balance.

Note:- For more details of the fellowship, kindly check the 'Fellowship Details'.