Newton-Bhabha PhD placement programme ( 2016-17)
The programme aims to develop individual capacity of scholars through PhD placements.
The programme is jointly funded by the British Council India, Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and offers short-term (2-4 months) PhD placements for Indian and UK PhD scholars to spend a period of their study at UK or Indian higher education or research institutions.
DST will support 20 students each from India and UK in STEM. DBT will support 20 students each from India and UK in Life Sciences. The funding to the selected scholars will be disbursed by March 2017 and placements can take place between April and December 2017.
Applications are invited in STEM and Life Sciences subjects including the Grand Challenges areas and underpinning capabilities identified by the UK-India Task Force on Science and Innovation, which are:
- Biological and medical sciences – This includes Life sciences, Biotechnology, Botany, Zoology, Micro biology, Bio chemistry, Medicine , Pharma and Veterinary Sciences
- Engineering Physical and space sciences – This includes Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Physical Mathematics, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
- Environment Food and Agriculture sciences
- Public health and well being
Eligibility: Applications are welcome from PhD scholars from India and UK in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Life Sciences.
On the UK side: The scheme is open only for UK scholars pursuing their PhD at a UK home institution. Applications will be considered from scholars from all institutions which are strong in research in the priority sectors (please refer to the above section)
On the Indian Side: The scheme is open only for Indian scholars enrolled at Indian higher education institution with following criteria:
- INSPIRE PhD Senior Research Fellows (SRFs) of Batch 2013 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 third year of Life sciences are eligible to apply. The following national level tests are considered – CSIR/UGC-NET, GATE, BET, INSPIRE, ICMR-NET, ICAR-NET. Please upload certificate of succeeding the national level test as a supporting document.
The applications should be with reference to the mentioned priority areas.
For both Indian and UK scholars – The scholar should have a valid passport before applying for the funding. The scholar would be required to submit their PhD thesis only after completion of the Newton Bhabha PhD placement.
Please ensure that you also meet eligibility criteria mentioned in Annexure 1
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 – Maximum £5,000, Where the UK host university cannot waive the bench fees (or consumables costs). 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 endorsement letter.
- Indian scholars’ stipend in the UK – £1300 per month. The Newton Bhabha Fund will pay Indian scholars a monthly stipend of £1,300 to cover meals, accommodation and domestic travel, etc.
DST or DBT (as relevant per subject area) will cover the following items as part of Newton Bhabha Fund:
- Indian scholars’ visa fees
- Indian scholars’ international return airfares (economy class) as per GOI norms
- Indian scholars’ travel insurance as per GOI norms
Evaluation Criteria :
- The scholars should ensure their applications meet the criteria set out below. The principles underlying the assessment of applications will be:
- All questions on the Application Form are answered;
- The activities are planned to deliver the outcomes in the most effective way;
- The application articulates a plausible pathway showing how the research may lead to positive impact and contribute in to the economic development and social welfare of India.
- The placement will add value to the PhD research and to the activities of the two research groups;
- The support offered to the researcher will ensure that the placement is as productive as possible and facilitates cascading of learning gained through the placement
- The research is relevant to the priority sectors (mentioned above) of the Newton-Bhabha Programme.
- The mobility programme will contribute towards developing a long term sustainable partnership between UK and Indian universities
- The scholar will return to complete their PhD at their home university.
Evaluation Process
British Council, Department of Science and Technology (DST), and Department of Biotechnology(DBT), India will conduct the first level of assessment independently and based on that will shortlist the number of scholars. Later the Joint Panel between the agencies will be organized to take a final decision.
Applications will be screened for their relevance to the priority sectors (mentioned above) of the Newton-Bhabha Fund programme and to the economic development and social welfare of India.
Contracting and Financial Arrangements :
- For UK PhD Scholars :
British Council : will sign a grant agreement with the UK home Institution to disburse the UK scholar’s airfare, visa fees and insurance. The UK home institution will be responsible for disbursing the grant to the respective scholar. British Council will disburse the grant to UK home institution after receiving signed grant agreement from the UK home institution within the specified timeline which will be notified as a part of the grant agreement. The home institution / scholar is responsible for submitting receipts for the cost of visa, airfare and insurance along with the final report to British Council.
DST or DBT (as relevant per subject area) will inform Indian host institutions of the final selection of UK scholars and will release funds towards scholar’s per month stipend, accommodation and one time travel allowance to the Indian institution followed by sending a sanction letter. Indian host institution will be responsible for disbursing the grant to the respective scholar
- For Indian PhD Scholars
British Council will sign a grant agreement with UK host Institution to disburse Indian scholar’s stipend and bench fees (if any). The Grant will only be released once British Council receives signed grant agreement from UK host institution within the specified timeline which will be notified as a part of the grant agreement. The UK host institution will be responsible for disbursing the stipend to the respective Indian scholar.
DST or DBT (as relevant per subject area) will release the funds for Indian PhD scholars to their respective Indian Home Institutions. Their Indian Home institutions will disburse that money for their Visa, Airfare and Insurance as per Government of India norms to the scholar. (This will also be mentioned in the sanction order).
Grant disbursement for both Indian and UK Scholars – 90% of the total grant will be disbursed to the home and host institution before the placement begins. The remaining 10% of the grant will be disbursed after completing the placement and submitting the financial and narrative reports to both British Council and DST or DBT. (as relevant per subject area) provided that the final report demonstrates that the placement has been completed as planned. If this is not the case, the British Council may recover a portion of the grant.
Application Procedure:
- The application should be submitted by PhD scholar with endorsement from both the sending and receiving supervisors with the latter’s confirmation that they will host the PhD scholar; duration of the stay and level of bench fees they will charge.
- 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.
- Endorsement letters from UK Universities should outline if any bench fees will be
charged. If in case UK University charges any registration or other fees, it should
be disclosed to an applicant in advance. - Please note, applications without the endorsement letters will not be considered
for funding.
Indian applicants should submit the form online at the following link:
UK applicants should submit the form online at the following link :
The deadline for receipt of applications is 16th August 2016.
The announcement of the selection results will be made by 8th November 2016.
N.B: Candidates applying in Life Sciences from India should submit a copy of uploaded form with supporting documents to DBT as detailed in contact points at S. No. 10
Support to PhD scholars
The Newton-Bhabha PhD Placements programme expects that the host institution offers high standards of supervision, management and mentoring to placement scholars. In your proposal, you might want to consider the following:
- The host institution’s standards of supervision, management and mentoring
- Experience of the supervisors to train and mentor doctoral scholars so that they provide the highest-quality supervisory support for their doctoral scholars.
- Mechanisms that are in place to assess, provide for and monitor individual doctoral student needs and offer the student appropriate development opportunities
- Professional and transferable skills training offered to doctoral scholars, including training in the principles of good research conduct in their discipline and in the relevant ethical, legal and professional frameworks
- Learning and training opportunities available to doctoral scholars to raise awareness of the broader context of their research area, particularly in reference to societal and ethical issues, and the importance of engaging the public with research
- UK scholars may explore List of Indian institutes ranked by Ministry of Human Resource Development, India to identify suitable Indian institute in their area of research for placement. However this source does not limit you to explore any other relevant institutions. For further support in identifying Indian institute for aforementioned priority sectors, please contact Purti Kohli at [email protected]
- Indian scholars may visit Postgraduate support service page provided by International Unit, UK to identify UK institutions.
Reporting and Monitoring
1. Selected scholars will be asked to complete an online baseline survey before the placement begins and baseline follow up survey after 6 months of the placement.
2. Beneficiary and host institution would have to submit the financial and narrative report to the British Council India and DST/DBT respectively within 30 days of completion of their placement. Details will be shared with the selected scholars.
3. If the PhD scholar is quitting or is unable to complete the period of the placement, they must immediately report to British Council, DBT or DST as relevant explaining their decision, and submitting a letter showing the agreement of their supervisor.
4. If in case scholar is unable to complete full tenure of the placement at host institute, his / her final report should demonstrate that the objectives of the placement are met and placement has been completed as planned.
Important Details :
- Call announcement : 5th July 2016
- Call Close : 16th August 2016
- Notification to selected scholars : 8th November 2016
- Placements to be undertaken : April to December 2017
- Report submission Within 30 days of the completion of the placement
Contacts:
- For British Council India – Purti Kohli
- For DST – India – Dr S Mallikarjun Babu
- For DBT – India – Dr. Sanjay Kalia
Email ID – [email protected]
Downloads:
Newton-Bhabha PhD Placements – Call Guidelines
Sample Application form for Indian Scholars
Sample Application form for UK Scholars
Key Dates:
Deadline for receipt of applications: Friday 16th August 2016 by 17.00 hrs UK time.
Result to be announced by mid November 2016
Placements to take place between April to December 2017
