SR/S9/Z-07/2018
Government of India
Ministry of Science and
Technology
Department of Science and
Technology
Technology Bhavan
New Mehrauli Road
New Delhi 110 016
Dated the 5th of May, 2018
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
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Subject: Ramanna Fellowships.
The Science and Engineering Research Council
(SERC) is an apex advisory mechanism through which the Department of Science
and Technology (DST) promotes basic research in sciences and engineering. The
SERC system of DST is the single largest basic research funding mechanism which
cuts across disciplines and institutions. From budding young scientists
to women scientists re-entering the research system to active researchers ¾ it has been the
mainstay of basic research in the country for close to three decades,
especially in the academic sector.
2. DST, under the SERC umbrella,
grants a large number of research projects to scientists of varying age
groups. These projects are granted after an elaborate and thorough
peer-review. SERC projects have sustained themselves as a benchmark of
quality. The quality of peer-review, the openness and objectivity of the
SERC system is widely acknowledged. These projects are also regularly
monitored during their implementation and graded. A good fraction of these
projects are implemented excellently well which again points towards the high
standards of SERC’s peer review.
3. It has long been felt that one
needed to evolve a system whereby such performing excellent scientists could
get core financial support for maintaining their research activities without
interruption even while they are seeking major grants for upgrading their
research activities. For core financial support one needed to only judge
their performance in their past project and overall direction of their work
rather than an elaborate critical review of a new research proposal. A
scientist maintains certain level of core activity, gradually acquires higher
and higher experience and expertise and then moves on to solve bigger, more
complex problems with more sophisticated tools, techniques and equipments.
While the existing SERC schemes offer number of avenues for support to
individual researchers for their research plans after critical
peer-review, SERC does not have a mechanism at present for offering uninterrupted
core financial support to scientists for maintaining their core
activities.
4. The Ramanna Fellowship has been instituted to fill this gap. This will enable a scientist to
carry on his core research activity in an uninterrupted fashion even as she/he
is thinking of bigger and more challenging problems. As it is open for
‘performing scientists’ of all ages, with or without employment, one will be
able to sustain a group of performing scientists throughout their productive
careers. This will help maintain core competence in crucial areas. This
scheme will thus recognize the basic fact that basic research is essentially an
individual-centric activity.
5. The
details of Ramanna Fellowships are being given in Annexure I-IV. This programme will be under implementation till
further orders.
6. This
issues with the approval of Secretary, DST vide Diary No. 2982 dated 29.03.2018
and with the concurrence of the Integrated Finance Division of DST vide their
Diary No. 2762/JSF/2004 dated 31.03.2018.
(PRAVEER ASTHANA)
SCIENTIST-G
Copy to:
All Ministries/Departments of Government of
India
Heads of all autonomous
institutions/professional bodies under DST/
DG,
CSIR and Secretary, DSIR
All Divisional Heads, DST, New Delhi
Senior PPS to Secretary, DST
IFD, DST
Controller of Accounts, Ministry of Science
and Technology, New Delhi
(PRAVEER
ASTHANA)
SCIENTIST-G