IRDFP 2022 Fellowship. Department of Science & Technology (DST) and India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) are pleased to launch Industry Research & Development Fellowship
Programme 2022 (IRDFP) call for applications under the DST Industry-Academia
Fellowship Programme. The fellowship will enhance the skills of the Fellow and will
be of mutual benefit to both the industry and academic partners.
DST sets out the vision that India will be a global innovation leader in scientific and
engineering research for the advancement of India’s economy and society. DST seeks
to foster academia-industry interactions by building strategic partnerships with
industry to perform cutting-edge research to address industry-informed challenges
Researchers placed in or collaborating with industry will have the opportunity to gain a
working knowledge of relevant business drivers and will gain from industry’s established contacts. The up-skilling and industry exposure provided to academic researchers through the DST-IESA Industry-Academia Fellowship Programme will prepare them for a career in industry and maximise the impact of the training received by these researchers so far. For faculty researchers, it is expected that their Fellowship will help seed subsequent industry collaborations and shape the direction of their research goin
AIM:
IRDFP 2022 seeks to support academia-industry interactions in order to address
industry‐informed challenges with the primary goal to create a pathway to support
academic researchers in establishing careers in industry. The programme aims at
encouraging recent PhDs with appreciable track record in the field of Clean Energy to
pursue research with the industry as a career by providing the Fellowship for a
duration of 12 months. The programme also drives research collaboration, translation
and commercialization of outcomes across a range of industry settings. Awards under
this programme are made to academic researchers wishing to work on industryinformed research problems that are of relevance to India through the temporary
placement of with an industry partner.
OBJECTIVES:
The objectives of the Industry Research & Development Fellowship Programme
2022 (IRDFP) are to:
- Encourage recent PhDs and PhD students (within 3 years of completion of PhD)
to pursue research on industry-informed research problems relevant to India in
areas related to Clean Energy with particular focus on energy storage, electric
mobility, and green hydrogen technologies. - Foster impactful innovation by supporting research on industry-informed
challenges relevant to India and exchange of knowledge and expertise between
academia and industry. These challenges could be related to areas such as
energy storage, zero-carbon energy, smart grids, e-mobility, renewable energy,
policies in energy sector, economics affecting energy sector, social sciences for
energy sector or other relevant studies impacting clean & green sector.
Examples of research problems of interest include but are not limited to (not a
comprehensive but only a representative list):
- Use of advanced energy storage technologies for supporting large-scale
integration of renewable energy in India’s electric grid. - Supporting economic development in remote areas by improving clean
energy access. - Clean energy solutions for commercial and industrial customers – e.g.,
rooftop photovoltaics, improving power quality, etc. - Solutions to promote electric mobility and charging infrastructure in
India. - Scaling of manufacturing of Advanced Chemistry Cells, electric vehicles,
and green hydrogen technologies. - Enhance the breadth of training of researchers, and their employability.
- Facilitate increased participation in research, development and innovation by
Small, Medium and Large enterprises across India.
DURATION OF THE FELLOWSHIP:
Awards under this programme will be awarded for a duration of 12 months.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT:
Fellowship amount per student Rs.50,000/- per month (consolidated)
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
- The applicant must be an Indian citizen.
- The applicant must be 35 years old or younger and within 3 years of completion
of PhD as on the last date of submission of the application. - The applicant must
1) have a PhD degree from an approved or accredited university or institute
no longer than 3 years before the deadline of submission of the
application, OR
2) be close to completion of a PhD degree from an approved or accredited
university or institute, so that he/she will have earned the PhD degree
before the start date of this Fellowship.
The applicant must have demonstrated strong research interest and record in
areas related to Clean Energy with particular focus on energy storage, electric
mobility, or green hydrogen technologies. The applicant’s research interest may
be in science, engineering, business management, public policy, or interdisciplinary aspects of the aforementioned technology areas.
IRDFP 2022 Fellowship
APPLICATION REVIEW PROCEDURE AND CRITERIA:
- All applications will be evaluated by a DST constituted/nominated EPC (Expert Panel
Committee) based on merit and compliance to the eligibility conditions. The decision
of the committee will be considered as final and binding. - Proposals will be reviewed by EPC comprised of a large number of domain-specific reviewers; where each member of the panel receives a number of applications.
- Proposals are assigned to each reviewer based on expertise. All reviewers engaged by DST are required to adhere to the DST guidelines.
- Only applications demonstrating a strong potential for deepening intersectoral engagement, academia-industry exchange of knowledge and upskilling of researchers are recommended for Fellowship by the panel.
- DST reserves the right to modify the review process at any point of time. Applicants will be notified of any relevant modification to the procedure.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS AND RESOURCES:
1. During the tenure of the Fellowship, the Fellow will work on a research problemas
agreed upon by the industry organization. It is preferred that the applicant finds an
Industry Partner, who is an IESA member in good standing. The list of IESA member organizations can be found at https://indiaesa.info/community/members. If an applicant cannot find an industry partner, then he/she can still submit the
application with a Research Statement, in which case matchmaking with an
Industry Partner will take place during the selection process.
2. Although of particular interest to the industry partner, the research problem is also
expected to be of broader relevance to Clean Energy ecosystem in India,
particularly in energy storage, green hydrogen, and electric mobility technologies.
3. The Research Statement/Proposal submitted by the applicant must demonstrate
strong interest in addressing research problems that are of importance to advance
clean energy industries and market in India. The Statement should describe the
research problem(s) of interest to the applicant, execution plans to address those
problems during the Fellowship, and expected outcomes.
4. The awardee will abide by the conduct, rules & regulations of the host organisation
and the country. DST will not be responsible for violation of any Rules & Regulations by the awardee.
5. DST grant is only for supporting monthly fellowship. No other cost is included in
the fellowship programme.
6. DST and IESA will disburse grant in INR to the Indian bank account of the
awardee or the academic institution, if any where the awardee will be hosted for
the duration of the Fellowship.
7. The awardee shall commence his/her visit within 6 months from the date of the
award letter.
8. Extension in duration of Fellowship shall not be entertained.
9. The awardee/host mentor must intimate DST through email/letter if the awardee
discontinues the Fellowship before completion of the tenure.
10. Within 4 weeks of completion of the Fellowship, the awardee must submit a
detailed Fellowship completion report endorsed by the host mentor in the
prescribed format along with representative photos to DST.
11. The awardee must recognise and acknowledge DST & IESA – Industry Research &
Development Fellowship Programme 2022 (IRDFP) in all online/print documents,
communication, reports, publications, etc. on work resulting from the Fellowship.
IRDFP 2022 Fellowship
Last Date of Submission: 15th January 2023
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