Prime Minister Professorships

The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), a newly constituted body for funding scientific research, has announced the Prime Minister Professorships to leverage the expertise of retired scientists.

Key Features of the Prime Minister Professorships:

• Target Group: Primarily aimed at retired scientists.
• Financial Support:
  • Each selected Professor will receive an annual fellowship of ₹30 lakh.
  • A research grant of ₹24 lakh will be provided for consumables, domestic travel, contingencies, equipment, and other expenses.
  • An overhead of ₹1 lakh per annum is also provisioned.
• Eligibility Expansion:
  • Unlike previous fellowships, this initiative is also open to overseas scientists.
  • This includes Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs).
  • Professionals from industry and experienced Professors of Practice with a “distinguished record” of research and innovation are also eligible.
• Placement Requirement: A key distinction is that recipients must be based at State universities.
  • These universities must qualify as “spoke” institutions under Category A of the recently introduced Promoting Advanced and Inclusive Research (PAIR) programme of the ANRF.

(Source: The Hindu)