Government launches 'Vaibhav Fellowship' for NRIs to mark National Science Day

Minister Dr Jitendra Singh

The government has launched a fellowship to encourage Indian-origin researchers to spend two months in a year at higher education institutions in the country.

On National Science Day, observed on February 28, science and technology minister Jitendra Singh introduced the "Vaibhav Fellowship".

The fellowship aims to enhance the country’s research ecosystem by facilitating academic and research partnerships with the best institutions worldwide through the mobility of researchers from foreign institutions to India, he said.

The fellowship gives NRI researchers the chance to work in India for a research organisation or academic institution for a minimum of one month and a maximum of two months a year.

They engage with Indian institutions for one or two months a year. The fellowship lasts for three years, during which time the government will provide researchers up to Rs 37 lakh.

The scholarship will also be open to researchers from institutions that feature in the top 500 QS World University Rankings.

Since May 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge, there has been a visible change in priorities and shift in goals for the science and technology ministry and other science departments like space, atomic Energy, and ministry of earth sciences, Singh said while delivering the keynote address at an event at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.

There was no dearth of talent and capabilities, but the vindication came in 2014, both at the policy planning level as well as at the political dispensation, the minister said.

A programme specifically for overseas scientists, academicians, and researchers—with a focus on NRIs—to work as adjunct or visiting faculty for a set period of time in Indian Public-funded academic and research institutions was launched in 2017. It is called VAJRA (Visiting Advanced Joint Research) Faculty Scheme.

The faculty member is qualified to work for one to three months each year in an Indian institution. For travel and honoraria, the VAJRA Faculty will receive a lump sum payment of US$15,000 in the first month of their engagement in a year and US$10,000 a month in the next two months.