INTRODUCTION TO THE SCHEME
National Education Policy 2020 indicates the need for nurturing research at Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). While more and more faculty members are joining HEIs with research degrees, more funding opportunities are needed to head start their research.
A grant provided at the beginning of their career helps them to begin their research immediately. This support is expected to provide an encouraging research ecosystem in every HEI.
OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE
This scheme aims to provide grants to the newly recruited faculty members at the level of Assistant Professor to establish a research setup and start their independent research without any financial constraints.
The primary objectives are:
- To provide an opportunity through funding for the newly recruited faculty members to start their research.
- To encourage talented research-oriented faculty members to take a systematic research approach.
OPERATION OF THE SCHEME
The Goa State Research Foundation (GSRF) will operate this scheme.
PATTERN OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
The nature and quantum of assistance under this Scheme will be as follows:
- It will be a one-time grant.
- The grant will be Rs. 5,00,000/- for the faculty in the field of STEM and Rs. 3,00,000/- for the people from other disciplines.
- The duration to utilise this money will be two years from the date of the sanction letter.
- The grant can be utilised towards minor equipment, consumables, contingencies, analytical charges, travel, fieldwork, etc. There is no provision for overhead charges. Purchase of Desktops/Laptops, printers, and furniture not permitted. PI can decide the proportion of money to spend under each head.
- Grant cannot be used for international travel or appointing research personnel or project assistants.
ELIGIBILITY
ELIGIBILITY FOR RESEARCH START-UP GRANT SCHEME
- The newly joined faculty members with PhD degrees or M.D/M.S/M.D.S/M.V.Sc. in the fields of Medicine, Dental and Veterinary, and appointed against the permanent position at the level of the Assistant Professor in Goa University or its affiliated or autonomous colleges are eligible to apply within two years from the date of joining.
- They should have published a minimum of three research articles in UGC-CARE-listed journals.
- The applicant should not have received any other grant from funding agencies.
PROCEDURES
PROCEDURE FOR APPLYING FOR THE SCHEME
An application can be made once in a year after the call is made by the GSRF through its web portal.
Documents required and procedure to be followed during application:
- Online registration with all the details
- Write-up of proposed work in about 500 words
- Scanned copy of category certificate and/or Differently Abled certificate.
- Declaration from the candidate (in prescribed format).
- Endorsement from the Head of the Institute (in prescribed format)
- Proper proposal including justification of heads of expenses / amounts and final outcome to be clearly stated in the application.
PROCEDURE FOR SELECTION
The Expert Committee constituted for this purpose will review the applications and make recommendations. The Governing Council of GSRF will take the final decision based on recommendations made by the Expert Committee and the availability of funds under the scheme.
PROCEDURE FOR RELEASE OF GRANTS
- With the sanction letter, 80% of the grants will be released as the first instalment. The remaining 20% will be released in the second year against the submission of UC of the first instalment.
- PI shall submit 06 months(half yearly) report to GSRF within one month of the end of the 06 months.
- PIs shall spend the sanctioned money by the closure date, i.e. within two years of the first sanction letter.
- At the end of two years, PI shall submit UC, Statement of Expenditure and other details along with Terminal Report to the GSRF within one month of the closure date.
- All the grants will be released to the College/Goa University, as the case may be.
CONDITIONS
GENERAL TERMS & CONDITIONS:
- Selected candidates will be informed of their selection, and the awardees should send their acceptance certificate duly forwarded by the Head of the institution immediately to the GSRF to enable the office to send the approval/sanction letters.
- Research Start-up grant is not transferable.
- It is expected that at least one research paper is published in a reputed journal through the the work carried out through the grant
- The recipients of grants are encouraged to publish research papers based on the research work done during this period in journals of high repute (UGC CARE list Group II journals). The investigator should acknowledge the support from the GSRF in their publications.
- The recipients shall also inform GSRF about any publications that have resulted because of the award of the grant, even if the articles are published after the completion of the tenure of the support. A soft copy of the published paper should be sent to the GSRF.
- No extension in tenure is permissible.
- Grantees must submit a Final Technical Report, Utilization Certificate, Statement of Expenditure and Copies of publications (both hard and soft copies) at the end of the grant period. In addition, they must fill in a questionnaire or give a presentation on their work or both on submitting their terminal report.
- If found appropriate, instruments/infrastructure developed through this scheme can be moved to a centralised facility/institute during or on completion of the grant period, as decided by GSRF.
RELAXATION OF CONDITIONS
The Governing Council shall be empowered to relax any or all clauses or conditions of the Scheme in genuine cases.
INTERPRETATION
Any question arising regarding the interpretation of any clause, word or expression of the scheme, the decision about the interpretation shall be with the GSRF, which shall be final and binding on all concerned.
AMENDMENT
The GSRF reserves the right to amend the terms and conditions of the scheme as and when required for better and effective implementation of the Scheme.
The Governing Council of Goa State Research Foundation approved the scheme during its first meeting on 21st July 2023.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
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I completed two years after joining. Can I apply?
This scheme is for people within two years of joining a regular position. However, you can apply for GSRF Minor Grants Research Scheme.
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I don’t have a PhD degree. Can I apply?
You can, provided you are a M.D/M.S/M.D.S/M.V.Sc. degree holder
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I have registered for PhD degree. Can I apply?
No! You should have PhD degree on the date of your application.
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I have applied for another project. Am I eligible to apply?
You can! When sanctioning this grant, you should not have had any other project sanctioned for you.
Documents required
- Category certificate in applicable cases (in pdf format to upload)
- PwD certificate in applicable cases (in pdf format to upload)
- Certificate (Declaration) from PI (in pdf format to upload)
- Endorsement from the Principal/HoI/Registrar (in pdf format to upload)
- Curriculum Vitae (Biodata) (in pdf format to upload)
- Aadhar Card (Self Attested) (in pdf format to upload)
Document formats
| 1 | Application format for Research Start-up Grant scheme | Download PDF | Download Doc |
| 2 | Declaration of candidate | Download PDF | Download Doc |
| 3 | Endorsement from the Principal/HoI/Registrar | Download PDF | Download Doc |
| 4 | Curriculum Vitae | Download PDF | Download Doc |
