Focus: GS II: Government policies and Interventions
Why in News?
The Government of India has launched a new fellowship programme to connect the Indian Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM)diaspora with Indian academic and R&D institutions.
About VAIBHAV Fellowships Programme:
- The VAIBHAV (Visiting Advanced Joint Research) Fellowships Programme is designed to promote collaboration and research engagement between outstanding scientists and technologists of Indian origin residing outside of India and Indian institutions.
- The fellowship is open to NRIs (Non-Resident Indians), OCIs (Overseas Citizens of India), and PIOs (Persons of Indian Origin) who are actively involved in research activities in their respective countries.
- VAIBHAV Fellows are required to identify an Indian institution for collaboration and can spend up to two months per year for a maximum period of three years in India.
- Funding provided by the government for the fellowship amounts to INR 4,00,000 per month for the entire duration.
- The primary aim of the programme is to enhance the research ecosystem in Indian higher educational institutions by facilitating collaborations between Indian institutions and renowned global institutions.
- The programme achieves this by promoting the mobility of faculty and researchers from overseas institutions to India.
- To be eligible for the fellowship, researchers must be affiliated with institutions ranked in the top 500 of the QS World University Rankings.
- Applicants must hold a Ph.D., M.D., or M.S. degree from a recognized university.
- A total of 75 fellows will be selected and invited to work in 18 identified knowledge verticals, including quantum technology, health, pharmaceuticals, electronics, agriculture, energy, computer sciences, material sciences, and more.
- The implementation of the VAIBHAV Fellowships Programme is overseen by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
