A postdoctoral stint also provides an opportunity to acquire new skills, broaden one’s horizon and offers a platform for transiting into cross-disciplinary areas. Experience in other parts of the world has shown that university faculty is best inducted from among candidates who had a year or two of postdoctoral training and is generally considered an essential requirement.
There are no deadlines. The application will be received throughout the year.
Eligibility and duration
Candidates below 35 years of age (Up to 3,5 & 10 years of age relaxation as per the mentioned rule*),who have either received a Ph.D. degree or submitted their Ph.D. thesis are eligible to apply. It is necessary that candidates identify Mentor for their postdoctoral Research work and obtain his/her consent for the guidance.When selected, those holding the Ph.D. degree will be directly awarded the PDF.Those who have submitted their Ph.D. thesis may be awarded a ‘bridging fellowship’ (with marginally reduced stipend)until they are formally awarded the Ph.D. degree.
Teachers below age of 35 (Up to 3, 5 & 10 years of age relaxation as per the mentioned rule*), working on confirmed posts in Academic Institutes may also apply. However, along with the hard copy, they will be required to submit a certificate from their Head of the Institution (Registrar of University / Principal of a college) that the teacher will be given one year of sabbatical / special leave for carrying out their postdoctoral work.
The fellowship will be awarded on a yearly basis with renewal/termination clause on the basis of PDF mentor/peer group appraisal. However, the maximum duration of the PDF award would be 3 years. No extension is possible under any circumstances. Candidates should give an undertaking while availing the award, along with the endorsement of the research mentor, that they would stay in place for a minimum of six months Once the candidate is awarded the DSKPDF, and he/she joins the fellowship, he/she will not eligible to apply ever again for DSKPDF in the same or other workplace.
Candidates whose valid Application has already been considered for Dr. D. S. Kothari Postdoctoral fellowship Scheme, are not permitted to apply for the same within One Year.
Stipend: [Effective from 1st June 2010]
The monthly stipend for these awards would be Rs.28,000 – 30,000 as applicable with an annual increase of Rs.1000. The monthly “bridging fellowship” stipend would be Rs. 22,000 as applicable. And the “Higher Fellowship” stipend would be Rs. 30,000 as applicable.The Empowered committee enhanced PDF contingency grant of Rs. 50,000 p.a. to Rs. 1,00,000 p.a. w.e.f. 1st April 2012.
Application process (How to Apply)
The selection process will be open all the year round in ‘…as and when…’ mode and not restricted by any specified deadlines. This is because thesis submission and award of Ph.D. degree are open ended processes. There would be a rolling advertisement on the UGC website; other institutions and UGC affiliates should be encouraged to replicate it on theirs. The details of this scheme are being worked out. However, the exact starting date will be announced on this website later.
Applications should be uploaded electronically on forms that can be found on the indicated website.It is mandatory that the applicant has received a Ph.D. degree or has submitted the thesis. It is also necessary to obtain the concurrence of the mentor to accept the applicant as a postdoctoral fellow. The proposed mentor must have at least three Ph.D. students guided/supervised towards successful completion of the Ph.D. work.The application will be processed further on satisfying these requirements. However, it is necessary that a signed printout of the application is mailed to the National Coordinator of the Scheme, along with the Degree certificates of Master’s and Ph.D. Degrees. In case of applicants for Bridging Fellowship, a certificate of submission of the Ph.D. thesis duly signed by the guide or the Registrar of university/Institute should be attached.Further, a signed letter from the proposed mentor [that he/she is willing to accept the candidate for postdoctoral work] should be attached.Interested candidates may look for this announcement on the UGC / unipune websites. However, no interim queries will be attended to.
A standing (core) peer group will access the applications on the web and grade them electronically. On the basis of the grades received (electronically) from the peer group, the National Coordinator of the scheme will make the final recommandation to UGC. Since this is a promotional scheme to inculcate postdoctoral research culture, emphasis during the review process/selection will be on an appropriate mix of the candidate’s accomplishment at the Ph.D. level and the professional standing of mentor and institution where the postdoctoral research is to be carried out. In general, candidates would be encouraged to move to other institutions and newer areas of research.
The peer group review process is expected to be completed typically within 8-10 weeks of the receipt of individual application. The result will be intimated by the UGC, to the applicants at their email address typically within 60 days of the date of receiving of hardcopy of application. The whole process would be akin to that employed for manuscript handing and evaluation by leading international journals and will be a paperless exercise. No interim enquiries will be entertained.These PDFs also have an international flavor and are open to students from other parts of the world, particularly to those from developing and neighboring countries.
There could be up to 300 to 400 such awards every year, making it to about 1000 at its peak.
Application steps
You should apply for Login ID and Password before uploading the actual application. For getting the Login Id, you should fill the simple form available at option 3 where you have to enter some basic information about yourself and about your Degree. It is necessary that the name given by you should match the one on your Master’s and Ph.D. degree certificates for obtaining the Login ID and Password. After filling the basic form, you will receive an e-mail just for the email verification. Simply Click on the link given in your email, and your authenticated information will reach us
After verification of the information at our side, You will receive a mail containing a Login ID and Password at the E-mail address provided by you within 7 working days of your request.
You may upload your actual application form by using the above Login ID and Password. To fill the online form please click on the Option 4. Please fill-in all the columns and attach the summary of your Ph.D. work, a summary of the proposed research work and a Mentor’s CV in specified format (Click here to download Mentor CV format) limiting to 100 kb size individually. You may choose to attach a PDF or doc file for this purpose.
All the valid applications will receive an acknowledgement from Dr. D. S. Kothari Fellowship Cell. This will be accompanied by a file containing your complete application. A unique Application no. will be assigned to you. Please note this number.
You are requested to take a printout of the Application file provided at the end of Application Filling procedure. You have to sign on the last page of the application in the indicated place and attach duly attested copy of your Postgraduate degree and Ph.D. degree certificate. In case of candidates who are yet to obtain the Ph.D. degree, a certificate from the guide/registrar of University/Institute [certifying that the Ph.D. thesis (with proper title) has been submitted] needs to be enclosed. If employed as a teacher, please submit a certificate from your Head of the Institution (Registrar of University / Principal of a college) that you will be given one year of sabbatical / special leave for carrying out their postdoctoral work. Also attach a letter from your Mentor that he/she is willing to accept you as a full time Postdoctoral Fellow. You may send the signed hard copy with the above documents to
The National Coordinator,
Dr. D.S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship Cell,
C/o Interdisciplinary School of Scientific Computing
Savitribai Phule Pune University
Ganeshkhind Post Office, Pune 411 007.
India
Please mention the application No. on the envelope to you after you have successfully uploaded your application. The result of the award of Dr. D. S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship will be announced typically within 8-10 weeks of the receipt of the hard copy of your application. No interim correspondence will be entertained within this period.
If you have already applied for Dr. D. S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship and have been decleared unsuccessful, you are permitted to apply again only after one year.
Register and Apply online
Due to Server/system maintenance, clearance of pending applications and the review of Dr. D.S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship (DSKPDF) scheme by the UGC, DSKPDF website will remain unavailable from April 20, 2015 to June 30, 2015 for filing new applications.New login requests will be accepted only after a date to be announced on July 1, 2015.
***Please note that link to fill basic information in order to seek Login and password, will not be available after 6 PM, April 10, 2015.