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The HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said that the main purpose of relaxing the eligibility criteria for PMRF scheme is to allow more and more talented students in the country to take up Research.
To encourage more and more students to take up research in India, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) have relaxed the eligibility criteria for the Prime Minister Research Fellowship (PMRF) scheme. The announcement was made by Ramesh Pokhrial, the Education Minister of India, via his official twitter handle on the 07th of May.
Earlier, only students from institutes like the IITs, IISc and other Central Universities were eligible to apply for the Prime Minister Research Fellowship (PMRF) scheme but now with the modified eligibility criteria to apply for the PMRF scheme, students from any recognized University can apply for the same. The minimum GATE score required to apply for the fellowship has also been relaxed. Earlier the minimum GATE score required was 750 which has been reduced to 600.
He added that there will be two modes of entry, i.e direct entry and lateral entry to the fellowship programme. PhD pursuing students of PMRF granting institutions can also apply for the fellowship scheme according to the new guidelines. Also, under the revised module, any NIT which is listed in the top 25 institutions according to NIRF ranking will be able to become a PMRF granting institution.
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As per the HRD Minister, a “Research and Innovation Division” will also be formed to boost research. The division will be lead by a director who will oversee the research works of various MHRD institutions.
A robust selection process will be in place through which the candidates will be screened in. Candidates applying for the scheme via the direct entry method, their recommendation letter, grades international academic competitions performance, publications, research exposure will be assessed for selection. For lateral entry candidates, grades, publication records and strong research proposals will be the metrics on the basis of which the selection will be made. Candidates’ publications in reputed conferences/journals will also be given due weightage.
