ICMR offers financial support, Invites Applications From Medical, Dental Graduates Interested In Pursuing PG Courses, details

Delhi: The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has invited applications from eligible medical and dental graduates interested in pursuing postgraduate courses (MD, DM, MS, MCh, DNB, DrNB, and MDS at NMC, DCI, NBE-recognized medical and dental institutes in India and seek financial support.

The online registration and application submissions process will continue till 2nd February 2024 (5.30 pm).

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, the apex body in India for formulation, coordination, and promotion of Biomedical Research in the country is also engaged in promoting a critical mass of human resources as well as fostering research temperament amongst medical/dental graduates. Amongst its several human resource development programs, the ICMR is providing financial support to pursuing postgraduate medical/dental students at NMC/DCI/NBE-recognized medical institutions.

This program is primarily aimed at promoting good quality research in medical/dental students pursuing postgraduation courses as well as improving the visibility and accessibility of their research work to a larger research audience. The ICMR through financial support to medical/dental graduates ensures publication of at least one research paper in an indexed journal, preferably PubMed or JCR indexed.

Terms & Conditions –

1. Fellowship: The ICMR will provide one-time financial support of Rs one lakh to selected candidates pursuing postgraduate courses viz. MD/MS/DM/MCh/DNB/ DrNB/MDS.

2. Number of seats: Limited to 100 per year, 50 seats per batch of June and December. The number of Awards for the MDS course is limited to 10%, i.e. 45 seats for Medical and 05 seats for Dental (kindly note: As the June 2023 call was not commenced due to administrative reasons hence, a total of 100 fellows will be selected in the December 2023 batch).

3. Eligibility: Medical/dental graduates who are admitted within one year of taking admission to the Post-graduation course (NMC/DCI/NBE recognized) in an Institute/ College and who wish to avail of ICMR award/financial support for pursuing their thesis research project.

4. Upper age limit: 45 years of age (as of the last date of the application).

5. Nationality: The candidate must be an Indian citizen and is required to submit a copy of the Aadhar card (as per GoI rules) for the payment to be reimbursed.

6. Duration of fellowship: Three and a half years from the date of issue of Award letter by ICMR.

7. The research topics should mainly aim and focus on thrust areas of ICMR in the field of biomedical research, research outcomes of which can be used to translate them into tangible products useful for society and the country.

Application & Selection Process –

1. The call for online application will be notified twice a year i.e. in June and December on the ICMR website.

2. Candidates must apply within 12 months of admission/enrolment/joining the PG course, the enrolment/admission letter duly issued by the competent authority of the host medical/dental college is to be submitted along with the application.

3. The application should be routed and forwarded through the guide and the competent authority of the host medical/dental college.

4. The application for financial support should include, the curriculum vitae of the candidate, a description of the proposed research activity (1000 words) and an honest statement of the candidate about his/her dedication to the area of the proposed research.

5. The candidate and the guide will indicate their choice of the research topic as per ICMR mandate and will give a brief description of the aims, objectives, methodology, study design, expected outcome, review of literature, and references.

6. An undertaking is to be submitted by the candidate forwarded through the Guide and the competent authority of the host institute/college that the candidate will be permitted to undertake the proposed research activity and facilities available at the institute/college for conducting the research work as per the proposed protocol will be provided to the candidate.

7. Selection will be done by an expert committee duly constituted by the DG, ICMR and it will be based on merit and objective scoring will be used to assess the applications with respect to innovativeness, relevance of work, application of research, etc.

8. The preparation and submission of the thesis will be the responsibility of the fellow and the guide.

9. The candidate will acknowledge the financial support provided by ICMR for any publication emerging out of the thesis and in the thesis also.

10. In the event that any fellow leaves the proposed course/program in the first year, the whole amount received by the fellow till that date will have to be remitted to ICMR with suitable justification, through the guide and competent authority of the host college.

Selection of the candidates is done at the sole discretion of ICMR. The program can be withdrawn at any time. The program is not linked with any other research capacity-building programs under which the students receive stipends, etc.

Financial Support –

The fellowship amount will be released in two instalments to the selected candidates as given below - 

First instalment of Rs. 25,000/- after submission of the undertaking (Click here) and the mandate form (click here) for receiving e-payment along with a photocopy of the cancelled cheque for the purpose of verification of the concerned bank account where money is to be remitted.

The second and final instalment of Rs. 75,000/- upon submission of thesis summary, copy research articles originating from the thesis work published in PubMed (preferably) or JCR-indexed journals along with the thesis submission letter issued by the concerned competent authority.

The grant shall be issued in the name of the candidate directly with a copy to the Guide and the Head of the Institute.

 The amount will be used by the candidate for pursuance of research and it may be used for purchase of reagents, preparation of the thesis, secretarial assistance, or any other activity related to the research project following fair and reasonable procedure.

The fellow shall submit the information to ICMR regarding the manner in which the funds were utilized duly signed by the guide and Head of the Institute/College.

The fellow should submit the documents listed in item no. 4.2 within three months of submission of the thesis to the institution/organization failing which, the award will be treated as cancelled and all financial support provided will have to be reimbursed to ICMR.

To view the notice, the candidates must visit the official ICMR website.