NFSC-Guidelines

Students from Scheduled Castes who have achieved success in one or more of the following examinations are eligible to apply for one of the new fellowships under this programme. 

There will be 1,500 Junior Research Fellows awarded in the field of humanities and social sciences, and 500 Junior Research Fellows awarded in the field of science.

These fellowships will be awarded on an annual basis.

Under the programme, there will be a total of two thousand fellowships given out to students who are members of the Scheduled Castes each and every year. 

The National Eligibility Test-Junior Research Fellowship (NET-JRF) of the University Grants Commission (UGC) (for Humanities/Social Sciences)

will allot 1,500 of the available slots under the National Fellowship scheme for SC students to the humanities/social sciences stream,

and the remaining 500 slots will be allocated to students in the science category through the UGC-Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (UGC-CSIR) NET-JRF joint test. 

The National Fellowship scheme was established (for Science stream including Engineering & Technology).

National Fellowship scheme for Scheduled Caste Students

National Fellowship scheme for providing fellowship to Scheduled Caste Students is a Central Sector Scheme that was introduced during

 the financial year 2005-06 to provide opportunities to Scheduled Castes students for pursuing higher education leading to M.Phil./Ph.D degrees in Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Engineering & Technology streams.

The goal of the scheme is to provide opportunities for students from Scheduled Castes to pursue higher education leading to M.Phil./Ph.D degrees.

Every year, there are 2,000 available seats for SC applicants across all academic areas. 

According to the law of the Government of India, there is a reservation of three percent of the fellowships for physically handicapped candidates who belong to the SC categories. 

Eligibility

The candidate must be a member of a historically oppressed social class and must have received a passing grade on the PostGraduate Examination in the relevant field. 

The candidate has to be enrolled in an M.Phil. or Ph.D. programme. The amount of the fellowship is as follows: for a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) or a Senior Research Fellowship (SRF), it is Rs. 25000 or Rs. 

The contingent payment for Humanities and Social Sciences is Rs. 100,000 per year for the first two years, and then it increases to Rs. 20,500 per year after that.

 For Science, the contingent payment is Rs. 12, 000 and Rs. 25, 000 for the relevant categories. The duration of the Fellowship will be for a period of five years. 

The continuation of the fellowship on an annual basis for those who have been chosen is contingent on the candidate maintaining a suitable level of performance as indicated by the relevant authorities.

The purpose of the scheme 

The purpose of this programme is to encourage younger academics who are smart, motivated, and result-oriented to engage in research that is important to the industry.

In this programme, full-time PhD scholars receive twice as much money as they normally would for their research efforts as they would under the previous system. 

The maximum amount of money that can be received as a government fellowship in India in any academic or research institute is roughly Rs 36,400 per month. 

This amount takes into account the House Rent Allowance (HRA). 

The Prime Minister’s Fellowship Scheme for Doctoral Research provides the scholars with a scholarship amount that is equal to twice that of the JRF or SRF (as per applicable slabs). 

Although the government contributes half of the funding for this scholarship, the other half comes from a private organisation that collaborates closely with the candidate on the research topic and provides the funding. 

2013 marked the beginning of the first batch. 

Since September 2014, applicants have been given the opportunity to submit their applications at any point during the first 14 months following the registration of their PhD degree.

UGC Fellowship

Under the National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste Students, 

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has just made public the amended standards that will be used to determine which scheduled caste students would be granted fellowships (NFSC). 

According to the most recent notification, the amended standards for awarding fellowships to students from SC who are pursuing higher education will become applicable retroactively beginning on November 25, 2021.

Students who are members of the SC category and wish to pursue higher education that will lead to a

Master of Philosophy or Doctor of Philosophy degree in Science, Humanities, or Social Science at an Indian university, institution, or colleges that are recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) are eligible to apply for fellowships in the form of financial assistance. The fellowship programme was initiated during the 2005-2006 fiscal year.

Candidates who intend to enrol in MPhil or PhD programmes at universities or research institutions that have been approved by the UGC full-time and on a regular basis will be eligible for fellowships. Candidates from scheduled castes who have previously been accepted into an institution and who have achieved a passing score on the NET exam will be given preference. Candidates who fall into this category will be required to begin their fellowship within three months of receiving notification that they have been awarded the JRF.The MPhil fellowship lasts for a period of two years, and the PhD fellowship lasts for a period of five years. The amount of the fellowship is Rs 31,000 for the first two years (Junior Research FellowShip; JRF), but it increases to Rs 35,000 for the final three years (Senior Research Fellowship), in addition to any other allowances that may be applicable. 

Conclusion

Each year, the University Grants Commission provides over 20,000 students with financial assistance in the form of fellowships and scholarships through the UGC programme. 

You are eligible to apply for a scholarship from the UGC if you are currently enrolled in an undergraduate programme, one that leads to a graduate degree, one that leads to a doctoral degree, or one that leads to a post-doctorate degree. 

What exactly are those scholarship opportunities? How many students are able to improve their education thanks to these scholarships? 

Examine the table that follows to learn everything there is to know about them. 

It features an exhaustive rundown of all fellowships and scholarships available through the UGC.