M K BHAN YOUNG RESEARCHER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME (MKB YRFP)

1. The applicant should be Indian National and possess a Ph.D. in any branch of Life Sciences/ Biotechnology/allied areas.
2. Applicant should not be holding a permanent position in any institute/university.
3. The applicant should have an excellent track record as evidenced by peer-reviewed publications, technologies developed, and patents (if any). Those who have submitted their PhD are also eligible to apply; however, the fellowship can be implemented only after the award of the degree. Applicant should not take up a fellowship at the Institute where he/she has done his/her PhD.
4. Each applicant must identify a host institute and a mentor.
5. The upper age limit will be 35 years as of the closing date of the submission of the application.
6. Applicants cannot have more than one fellowship at a given point in time.
7. The application has to be routed through a host institute (DBT Autonomous Institute) chosen by the applicant to take up the fellowship and has to be signed by both, the mentor and head of the institution.
8. In case a fellow is offered a permanent job, he/she can avail only of either the fellowship or the salary.
9. The fellowship is a co-terminus with the project duration.

Stated amount: 2,000,000

1. The scheme provides a consolidated monthly remuneration of Rs. 75,000/- p.m.
2. MKB-YRFP fellows in addition will receive a research/contingency grant of Rs. 20.00 lakh per year for hiring manpower, purchase of consumables, minor equipment, domestic travel and other contingent expenditure to be incurred for the implementation of research proposal selected for the fellowship.
3. Can engage one manpower (JRF/SRF/Project Assistant/Project Associate) under him/her. Capital equipment will be procured in the name of the institute where the fellow proposes to work and the value of the whole set of equipment should not exceed Rs.10.00 lakh.
4. MKB-YRFP fellows will be eligible for regular research grants through extramural and other schemes of various S&T agencies of the Govt. of India, provided that Co-PI is a regular faculty. However, they can take research grant from anywhere but salary from only one source. Upto 50 fellowships will be provided each year. The duration of the fellowship will be for a maximum period of three years and in exceptional cases the duration could be extended by another two years on a fresh appraisal.

A national-level Selection Committee constituted by the Department of Biotechnology for the purpose will select the final candidates for MKB-YRFP. Other Info OTHER CONDITIONS

1. A letter from the mentor, giving consent to provide laboratory space where the applicant desires to work, should be enclosed with the application. The laboratory should be able to support major needs of the project. (ii) Fellows are not entitled to any kind of salary during the fellowship. If during the fellowship, the fellow finds a regular employment in DBT AIs or receives any other fellowship, he/she should immediately inform to the DBT. In that case fellow can avail only the manpower, consumable, travel and equipment components of the fellowship. If fellow accepts a permanent position in other than DBT AIs, he/she needs to opt out of the MKB-YRFP fellowship. (iii) The financial transactions of the award programme will be handled by the host institute, which will be responsible for submitting the Utilization certificate (UC) and Statement of Expenditure (SE) every financial year. (iv) Each Institute will be sanctioned a consolidated budget for the number of fellows selected for each Institute. Budget will include the Fellowship amount and Contingency/Research Grant.
2. The awardees will be the corresponding author for any publication emanating as a result of the research carried out on account of the award. The mentor and others could be coauthors. The support of DBT should be suitably acknowledged in the publications (papers, reports etc.) arising out of the research work done under this award programme. (vi) The Fellow will submit annual progress report through Host Institute. (vii) Institute will constitute an Expert Review Committee to review the scientific work done by the Fellow and submit minutes of the Review Committee to the DBT along with UC/SE. (viii) A mentor can endorse only one application each year. A DBT-AI can forward/endorse any number of applications to DBT for consideration.