National Post Doctoral Fellowship (N-PDF)

Objective:
The SERB-National Post Doctoral Fellowship (N-PDF) is aimed to identify motivated young researchers and provide them support for doing research in frontier areas of science and engineering. The fellows will work under a mentor, and it is hoped that this training will provide them a platform to develop as an independent researcher.


Eligibility:
  • The applicant should be an Indian citizen
  • The applicant must have obtained Ph.D/M.D/M.S degree from a recognized University. Those who have submitted their PhD/M.D/M.S thesis and are awaiting award of the degree are also eligible to apply. However, such candidates, if selected, will be offered lower fellowship amount till they qualify the eligible degree
  • The upper age limit for the fellowship is 35 years at the time of the submission of application, age will be calculated by taking the date of closure of the respective call. Age relaxation of 5 (five) years will be given to candidates belonging to SC/ST/OBC/Physically Challenged & Women candidates
  • NPDF can be availed only once by a candidate in his/her career.
  • Mentor must hold a regular academic/research position in a recognized institution in India.Should hold Ph.D. degree in Science or Engineering.
  • A mentor shall not have more than two SERB NPDF fellows at any given time.
  • Applicants of NPDF, SRG and EMR can submit their proposal only once in a calender year in any of these schemes.

Nature & Duration of Support:
  • The fellowship is tenable only in India and can be implemented in any of the recognized academic institutions, national laboratories and other recognized R & D institutions. The host institution should provide necessary administrative and infrastructural support
  • The fellows will not be allowed to work with the Ph.D. guide/co-guide. It is also normally not availed at the same Department / institution where the candidates have earned their PhD/M.S/M.D degree.
  • The fellowship is purely a temporary assignment, and is tenable for a period of 2 years.
  • The fellows will be entitled to receive the grants as given below:
    • Sl. No. Budget Head Amount
    1 Fellowship Rs. 55,000/- per month (consolidated) and Rs. 35,000/ p.m for candidates who have submitted the thesis but degree not awarded
    2 Research Grant Rs. 2,00,000/- per annum
    3 Overheads Rs. 1,00,000/- per annum
  • Research grant can be used for minor equipment, consumables, contingencies and domestic travel. There is no provision for providing manpower support under this scheme. The Fellow is expected to undertake the research objectives by himself/herself during the entire duration of the fellowship.
  • The fellows are not eligible to receive any other fellowship from any Government or Non-Governmental source during the tenure of the fellowship.
  • The fellows must seek the consent of SERB if he/she intends to be away from the implementing institute (except for field work related to the project) continuously for a period more than eight weeks.

Selection & Mode Of Application
  • The call for applications for SERB-N PDF will be notified through the website www.serbonline.in and www.serb.gov.in
  • The application form along with a research proposal highlighting the objectives of the research work to be undertaken should be submitted online through the website www.serbonline.in
  • The applicant must identify a suitable Mentor under whom the proposed research would be carried out.
  • The selection will be based on the recommendations of an Expert Committee that will be constituted by the Board. If required, the applicants may be called for personal interview.

How to apply online:
For successful online submission of the application the following points may be noted:
  • Applicants should first register into the online website   click here to register
  • After log-in, applicants are required to fill all the mandatory fields in Profile Detail section under User Profile. which includes Bio-data, Photo, Institute Address etc.
  • Please ensure that your proposed Mentor is registered into the system by following the same procedure. After log-in, Mentor is required to fill all the mandatory fields in Profile Detail section under User Profile. which includes Bio-data, Photo, Institute Address etc.
  • Details including Project Title (max 500 characters), Project summary (max 3000 characters), Keywords (max 6), Objectives of project (max 1500 characters), Expected output and outcome of the proposal (max 1500 characters) should be provided online at the time of submission of the application.
  • Work Methodology and Research plan has to be uploaded in single PDF file not more than 3 pages (max 10 MB).
  • For details one may visit http://serbonline.in/CDAC/npdf
  • Please ensure that your proposed Mentor is registered into the system by following the same procedure as PI. After log-in, Mentor is required to fill all the mandatory fields in Profile Detail section under User Profile. which includes Bio-data, Photo, Institute Address etc.
Complete guideline for Principal Investigator for SERB-online system

Documents required (in PDF) should be in prescribed format:
  • Bio-data (under user profile section) Download Template
  • Age Proof Certificate
  • Qualification Certificate
  • Category Certificate (in case of Age Relaxation)
  • Undertaking Certificate by the applicant Download Template
  • Endorsement Certificate from the Mentor & Host Institute Download Template
  • Short CV of the mentor (see online portal for its format)
  • CV of Mentor Download Template

Termination of the Fellowship
  • If any fellow wishes to terminate the fellowship, he/she shall inform the SERB through the mentor and host institute immediately. The implementing institute should not incur any expenditure from the date of termination of the project or the date of resignation of PI. The institute will also arrange for submission of documents mentioned above.
  • SERB reserves the right to terminate the Fellowship at any stage if it is convinced that appropriate progress is not being made or the grant has not been utilized properly.

Leave

SERB PDFs are entitled to leave as per rules of the host institution. Participation in scientific workshops held in India or abroad will be treated as on duty. Maternity leave as per the Govt. of India instructions issued from time to time would be available to female candidates in all categories.