Newton-Bhabha PhD Placement Program 8356 views

Newton-Bhabha PhD placement program is cooperatively funded by the British Council India, Dept. of Science and Technology and Dept. of Biotechnology (DBT) and offers short-term (2-4 months) PhD placements for Indian and UK doctoral scholars to spend a period of their study at UK or Indian higher education or research institutions.

Number of fellowships:

• DST in collaboration with British Council will support up to 30 PhD scholars from India and up to 5 from the UK in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Life Sciences (From India – only INSPIRE Fellows)
• DBT in collaboration with British Council will support up to 35 PhD scholars from India in Life Sciences (other than INSPIRE)

Subject areas:

• Biological and medical sciences: Life sciences, Biotechnology, Botany, Zoology, Micro biology, Bio chemistry, Medicine , Pharma and Veterinary Sciences
• Engineering Physical and space sciences: Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Physical Mathematics, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
• Environment Food and Agriculture sciences
• Public health and well being

Eligibility:

1. On the UK side: The scheme is open only for UK scholars pursuing their doctoral at a UK home institution. Applications will be considered from scholars from all institutions which are strong in research in the priority sectors
2. On the Indian Side: The scheme is open only for Indian scholars registered at Indian higher education institution with following criteria:

• INSPIRE PhD Senior Research Fellows (SRFs) of Batch 2015 are eligible to apply for a STEM subject.
• PhD Scholar who have qualified through national level test and are pursuing PhD in mid second or IIIrd year of Life sciences is eligible to apply.
• The following national level tests are considered – CSIR/UGC-NET, GATE, BET, INSPIRE, ICMR-NET, ICAR-NET (upload certificate of succeeding the national level test as a supporting document).

3. The applications must be in accordance to the subject priority areas (mentioned above).
4. Both sides of scholars must have a valid passport before applying for the funding.
5. The scholar would be required to submit their doctoral thesis only after completion of the Newton-Bhabha PhD placement.

Application Process:

• Each application must come with commendation letters from both the sending and receiving mentors.
• The host supervisor’s letter must confirm that they will host the PhD scholar and give them all necessary academic and pastoral support; the duration of the stay; and the level of bench fees they will charge.
• Commendation letters from UK Universities must mention if any bench fees will be charged. If (in case) UK University charges any registration or other fees, it must be revealed to an applicant in advance.

Link for Indian applicants for submission the form online and upload the supporting Documents.

Link for UK applicants for submission of the form online

Funding Arrangements for UK scholars

British Council will cover the following items as part of Newton Bhabha Fund

• UK scholars’ travel – International return airfare (economy class), visa fees to India and travel Insurance (if required) – Maximum up to £900 (all including)
• DST or DBT (as relevant per subject area) will cover the following items as part of Newton Bhabha Fund: arrival allowance in India – INR 10,000; stipend in India- INR 25,000/month and accommodation charges @10%,20% or 30% of stipend, based on the class of city, basic medical care insurance.
• Exemption from tuition fees, experiment fees and basic teaching material costs.

Funding arrangements for Indian Scholars

British Council will cover the following items as part of Newton Bhabha Fund

• Indian scholars’ bench fees in the UK – Max. £5,000
• The host supervisor can apply to the British Council for up to £5,000, which must be included in the Indian applicant’s application and should be stated in the commendation letter.
• Indian scholars’ stipend in the UK – £1300/month; cover meals, accommodation and domestic travel, etc.