ICSSR Doctoral Fellowships 2024-25

The Fellowship Programme of the Institute of Public Enterprise supported by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) is one of the oldest and largest in the field of social sciences. IPE is recognized as a ‘Centre of Excellence’ for doctoral studies by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Ministry of Education, Government of India. The research wing of the Institute is complemented with a strong faculty contingent and a number of Ph.D. research scholars, sponsored by ICSSR and IPE, who work on various fields of management and social sciences as well as on identified thrust areas of research.

The Institute has assisted 110 Ph.Ds., who now occupy eminent positions in reputed organizations and institutions across the nation and the world

Doctoral Fellowships are awarded to selected scholars, who are registered for Ph.D. in UGC recognized Institutes of national importance, universities/ deemed universities, ICSSR research institutes and colleges having approved Ph.D. programme with requisite infrastructure as defined by MoE/UGC to pursue and complete their doctoral research in any social science discipline.

The broad disciplines of study within the domain of social sciences identified by ICSSR are:

1. Economics
2. Management (Finance, Marketing, HR, Strategic Management, Behavioural Sciences, Operations Management, etc.)
3. Commerce
4. Sociology
5. Social Work
6. Social Anthropology
7. Cultural Studies
8. Socio-Sanskrit Studies
9. Socio-Philosophical Studies
10. Social Linguistics
11. Gender Studies
12. Health Studies
13. Political Science
14. International Studies
15. Public Administration
16. Diaspora Studies
17. National Security and Strategic Studies
18. Education
19. Social Psychology
20. Legal Studies
21. Social Geography
22. Environmental Studies
23. Modern Social History
24. Media Studies
25. Library Science

 IPE is confined to the following disciplines of study within the domain of social sciences identified by ICSSR are:

1. Management
2. Economic
3. Commerce
4. Gender Studies
5. Public Administration
6. Environmental Studies

• The candidate must have a confirmed Ph.D. registration (Research Degree Committee (RDC) approved) at any of the institutions in UGC recognized Institutes of national importance, universities/ deemed universities, ICSSR research institutes and colleges having approved Ph.D. programme with requisite infrastructure as defined by MHRD/UGC as on 10.09.2024 It includes the requirements of clearance of Research Entrance Test (RET); The Ph.D. topic must have been confirmed.
• Minimum 45% marks in Graduation and 55% in Post-Graduation or equivalent grades in any social science disciplines. Five per cent (5%) relaxation of marks will be given to the SC/ST candidates. The submission of Marks Sheet, particularly of Graduation and Post-Graduation are mandatory otherwise the candidate shall be considered as Not Eligible.
• NET/SLET and M. Phil from a recognized university will carry weightage in the assessment of research proposal. NET/SLET qualification are not mandatory for eligibility purposes, however, the submission of the NET / SLET Certificate is mandatory to secure weightage in assessment.
• The scholar should not be more than 40 years of age as on 10.09.2024. There shall be an age relaxation of 5 years for SC/ST Candidates & Persons with benchmark disability;
• Candidates who have already availed UGC Junior Research Fellowship (JRF)/ Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship (RGNF)/ Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF)/ ICSSR/ ICAR/ CSIR/ ICPR/ ICMR/ ICHR or any such doctoral fellowship are not eligible to apply. Candidates drawing UGC NOn-NET Fellowship are eligible.

• The ICSSR will follow the ceiling imposed by the UGC on number of doctoral supervisions under a particular category of guide (Professor/Associate Professor/Assistant Professor).
• The Fellow shall not accept or hold any appointment, paid or otherwise, or receive any emoluments, salary, stipend, etc. from any other source during the tenure of the Fellowship.
• The Fellow shall not, without the prior permission of the Institute, join any other regular course of study.
• In case a Fellow wishes to leave the fellowship before the end of the tenure, he/she shall obtain prior approval of the IPE/ICSSR. Application to the effect shall be submitted through the supervisor one month in advance of discontinuance of the fellowship indicating specific reasons for same;
• The tenure of fellowship is strictly for two years. Any extension can be granted under exceptional circumstances without any additional financial implications to ICSSR. The ICSSR reserves the right to determine exceptional circumstances.
• The contingency grant may be utilized for books, stationery, computer consumable costs and field work expenses related to the research work.
• The ICSSR reserves the first right to publish the Ph.D. thesis funded by it, provided the work is recommended for publication by the ICSSR expert(s).
• The scholar shall prominently acknowledge IPE and ICSSR’s support in all publications resulting from the research output of the fellowship and should submit a copy of the same to IPE and ICSSR during the fellowship and even after its completion.
• Defaulters of any previous ICSSR fellowship/project/grant will not be eligible for consideration until the applicant obtains the clearance from the concerned administrative division.
• A fellow is not entitled for same type of fellowship more than once.
• The selected fellows are expected to do full-time research in India. They could, however, undertake data collection outside India in exceptional cases, if warranted by the needs of the proposal. For this, they are required to apply separately for consideration under the Data Collection Scheme of the International Collaboration Division of ICSSR and the decision of the ICSSR in this regard will be final. ICSSR will not be bound to support data collection from abroad and in no way, the completion of study should be consequent upon that.
• The scholar should not have been subjected to any disciplinary / legal action / proceedings/ financial penalties in his/her research career.
• Books/periodicals/equipment purchased by the scholar out of the contingency grant should be deposited with the administering institution and a certificate to this effect be submitted along with the final report.
• ICSSR reserves the right to reject any application without assigning any reason. It is also not responsible for any postal delay/loss.
• Incomplete applications in any respect shall not be considered for fellowship.
• The final authority for the interpretation of the guidelines or any such issue is vested with the ICSSR.
• No queries will be entertained by the ICSSR secretariat until the final declaration of results which will be placed on ICSSR website.
• The Fellow shall submit six monthly reports on his/her work in the prescribed form duly forwarded by the supervisor.
• The Scholar should have IPE faculty as one of the Supervisor (Guide / Co-guide)
• The final output of every Research Fellow shall be a) Publication of atleast two research papers in reputed journals, and b) submission of thesis and award of the Degree of Ph.D.

• Doctoral Fellowship is for full time research work. Doctoral Fellow should be a full-time bonafide Ph. D student at the affiliating university throughout the duration of fellowship tenure.
• The duration of the fellowship is strictly for two years or till the date of Ph.D. thesis submission at the university, whichever is earlier.
• The value of the fellowship is Rs.20,000/- p.m. and contingency grant is Rs.20,000/- p.a.

          The last date for submission of online application is 3rd September 2024.

The last date for submission of hard copies to IPE, Shamirpet is 05th September 2024.

• Applications (both hard and soft copies) should be received before the deadline mentioned.
• The candidate has to download the application form from the website of IPE, fill it and submit the application form along with the annexures (both soft copy and hard copy).
• Filled in application form (pdf format) along with all the relevant annexures (pdf format) has to be mailed to research@ipeindia.org on or before 5th September, 2024
• The hard copy is to be sent by post to

Dean (Research) – Shamirpet Campus

Survey No. 1266, Shamirpet (V&M),
Medchal,Malkajgiri district,
Hyderabad – 500101
Telangana, India.

The complete format for research proposal consisting of the following contents/sections is a part of the Application Form, namely, Section IV: Details of Research Proposal. No separate research proposal or a section thereof, needs to be submitted separately.

In all, the research proposal shall be in about 3,000 words comprising of the following sections:

1. Title of the Research Proposal: The research proposal should have a clear, meaningful and confirmed topic reflecting the scope of the study.
2. Abstract of the research proposal should be summarized (in about 300 words).
3. Introduction: The introduction should clearly state the research problem to be investigated in the light of its theoretical and/or empirical context in the relevant area. The proposal should include a statement on the relevance of the study and the anticipated outcomes (in about 300 words).
4. Review of Literature: (National and International): A Survey should have been undertaken involving at least 20 major research literature related to the theme of study under investigation and their list must be given in this section (in about 400 words).
5. Identification of Research Gaps:  The scholar should summarize the current status of research in the area and major findings, including the researcher’s own work in the area. Existing empirical findings may also be discussed. The overview should clearly demonstrate the inadequacies/ gaps in the existing findings or approaches and its relevance (in about 200-300 words).
6. Objectives of the Study: The general aim of the study along with the specific objectives to be accomplished should be clearly stated while providing a rationale of the proposed study in the present context (in about 100-150 words).
7. Research Questions or Hypotheses: Given the conceptual framework and the specification of dimension, the specific questions to be answered through the proposed research should be sharply formulated. In case of an explanatory research design, specification of variables and positing of relationship among them through specific hypotheses must form a part of the research proposal (in about 250-300 words).
8. Research Methodology: The researcher must describe in detail (a) the scope and coverage of her/his study; and (b) approach and methodology with adequate justification to conduct the research. The details of the methodology may include research design, data to be collected and empirical and analytical methods to be used. The description of the methodology must be clearly linked to the aims of the research and the research questions/hypotheses of the study (in about 300 words).
9. Innovation/Pathbreaking aspect of the research: Here, the emphasis should be laid to spell out the innovativeness in approach and novel concepts that have been envisaged in the study (in about 150-200 words).
10. Proposed Outcomes of the Study:  A brief note on the proposed plan of publications, during the course of research and after its completion, must be provided, in that, the section should enlist the proposed outputs from the study in terms of publications in the form of research papers / articles in journals, particularly Scopus/ UGC’s Care-listed journals, books, monographs, etc.) (in about 150 words).
11. New Data to be Generated: A note on deficiencies/inadequacies found in the existing data and description of the new data to be generated for the proposed research (in about 100 words).
12. Expected Contribution of the Study: A concise note needs to be given on the significant contributions the research work is expected to make to the theory and methodology on the subject as well as its practical importance to the society and its implications for policy-making (in about 300 words).
13. Duration of the Study with Quarterly Timelines: A note on the present stage of doctoral work, expected duration for the completion of the work. Timelines must be set for each successive quarter and its completion (in about 200 words).