1.

INTRODUCTION
1.1 The main objective of ICSSR Post-Doctoral Fellowship is to encourage and retain young
Indian social science scholars who have completed their Ph D and who wish to pursue a
regular career in teaching and research. They should have a high potential and promise for
conducting full time research on specific themes and issues. These studies are expected to
contribute to theoretical and conceptual advancement in different disciplines, help to generate
field work based empirical data and contribute towards policy making.
1.2 The broad disciplines of study, within the domain of social sciences are:
(i) Sociology and Social Anthropology;
(ii) Political Science / Public Administration;
(iii) Economics;
(iv) International Studies;
(v) Social Geography and Population Studies;
(vi) Commerce and Management;
(vii) Social Psychology;
(viii)Education;
(ix) Social Linguistics / Socio-Cultural Studies;
(x) Law / International Law;
(xi) National Security & Strategic Studies; and
(xii) Other allied Social Science disciplines (Library Science, Social Work, Media Studies,
Modern Social History, Health Studies, Gender Studies, Environmental Studies, Diaspora
Studies, Area Studies, Sanskrit-Society & Culture etc.) to promote interdisciplinary and
multidisciplinary research.

2. ELIGIBILITY
2.1 The scholar should not be more than 45 years of age on the last date of application. There
shall be an age relaxation of 5 years for SC/ST/Persons with Benchmark Disability
candidates;
2.2 The scholar must possess a Ph.D. degree in any of the social science disciplines at the
time of application.
2.3 A fellow is required to affiliate himself/herself to an ICSSR Research Institute/ institutes
of national importance as approved by MHRD/ government research institutes/ UGC
recognized Indian university including deemed university/college having approved Ph.D.
programme and requisite research infrastructure of his/her choice. Funds are disbursed
through the affiliating/administering institution.
2.4 Faculties with regular service in public funded universities/colleges and research
institutes getting UGC pay-scales may be considered for pay protection in exceptionally
meritorious cases to be decided by the Expert Committees of the ICSSR.
2.5 The selected fellow has to work under the guidance of a senior social scientist (not below
Associate Professor with sufficient research supervision, experience and publications). The
supervisor should not be superannuated and be in employment at the affiliating institution in
the same discipline as that of the applicant. In case of inter-disciplinary proposals, the
supervisor should have proven expertise in the area of research proposed by the scholar. The
selection of the supervisor is subject to the approval of the ICSSR.
3. HOW TO APPLY
3.1 Applications will be invited through advertisements in leading Newspaper(s)/Association
of Indian University (AIU) Newsletter and on ICSSR website and should be received before
the deadline mentioned in the advertisement.
3.2 After submitting online application, a hard copy of the same, along with all enclosures,
must be sent to: In-charge, RFS Division, Indian Council of Social Science Research,
Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067 before the last date mentioned in the
advertisement duly signed and stamped by the affiliating institution.
3.3 Research proposal & Abstract (3000 and 300 words respectively) should be either in
English or Hindi.

4. PROCEDURE FOR THE AWARD

4.1 Applications are initially scrutinized by the ICSSR Secretariat.
4.2 Thereafter Subject Group(s)/Expert Committee(s) will short-list the meritorious proposals
from the eligible applications.
4.3 Such applicants would then be invited for an interaction/presentation at ICSSR before an
Expert Committee.
4.4 Post interaction recommendations of the Expert Committee will be placed before the
Research Committee/Council for its final approval.

5. DURATION AND VALUE

5.1 Post-Doctoral Fellowship is a full time research work.
5.2 The duration of the fellowship is strictly for two years.
5.3 The value of the fellowship is Rs.28,000 p.m. and contingency grant is Rs.20,000/-p.a.
5.4 Under Salary protection, a fellow is entitled to salary and allowances admissible at the
parent institution and contingency grant of Rs.20,000/-p.a. However, special allowances like
children education allowance, medical reimbursement, LTC, etc. are not admissible from
ICSSR. The parent institution may, however, pay/reimburse the same as per its rule.
5.5 The ICSSR shall also pay the leave salary and pension contribution or contribution
towards CPF and gratuity for the period for which he/she holds the ICSSR’s fellowship as per
rules of the parent institution.

6. JOINING & RELEASE OF FELLOWSHIP

6.1 The scholar has to join the fellowship within one month of the date of the award letter by
submitting all required documents through the affiliating/administering institution. This may
be extended by the ICSSR up to six months in exceptional circumstances.
6.2 The sanction of the fellowship will be issued initially for a period of one year, effective
from the date of joining of the scholar in the Fellowship. The renewal of the Fellowship for
the subsequent year shall be subject to the receipt of satisfactory Annual Progress Report and
statement of expenditure for the entire fellowship released for first year.
6.3 The first year fellowship and contingency will be released in two equal instalments. The
first instalment will be released after receiving the Grant-in-aid-Bill (GIB) and the second
instalment after receiving a satisfactory Six Monthly Progress Report in prescribed
format along with Statement of Expenditure.
6.4 The second year fellowship will be released in three instalments. The first instalment of
six month fellowship along with contingency will be released on receiving a satisfactory
Annual Progress Report preferably along with a copy of one published research paper and
Statement of Expenditure. The second instalment of 03 months fellowship along with
contingency will be released on receipt of a satisfactory Progress Report of 18 months
in prescribed format with a copy of published research paper (if not submitted with earlier
progress report) along with Statement of Expenditure. The final instalment of remaining
fellowship along with contingency will be released after receiving the final report (including
revised based on the of Expert comments) along with second research papers and Statement
of Accounts with Utilization Certificate in GFR-12A Form of the entire sanctioned amount of
fellowship duly signed by the competent authority of the affiliating institution. However, in
case of non-public funded institutions, the final instalment of fellowship will be released on
receipt of the audited statement of accounts with utilization certificate in GFR-12A Form and
verification of the documents by the ICSSR.
6.5 The 7.5% overhead charges to the public funded affiliating institution will be released
only after the submission of the audited statement of accounts with utilization certificate in
GFR-12A Form and verification of the documents by the ICSSR.
6.6 The accounts and utilization certificate will be signed by the Finance Officer/Registrar/
Principal/Director in case the accounts of the Institution are audited by the CAG/AG.
Otherwise, they need to be signed both by the competent authority of the affiliating
institution along with a chartered accountant.
6.7 In case of salary protection, the leave salary and pension contribution or contribution
towards CPF and gratuity, will be released only after the completion of fellowship in all
respects and on receipt of due & drawn statement from the parent organization and
verification by the ICSSR. In case the employee comes under the New Pension Scheme
(NPS), the employer’s contribution will be released along with the salary.

7. MONITORING OF FELLOWSHIP
7.1 Regular monitoring of Fellowship is done on the basis of Six Monthly and Annual
Progress Reports in the prescribed format submitted by the scholar.
7.2 The fellowship may be discontinued if research progress is found unsatisfactory or any
ICSSR rules are violated. 7.3 The ICSSR may ask for annual presentation/mid-term appraisal
of the research work. 7.4 During the course of the fellowship, the scholars are required to
publish at least two research papers in peer reviewed journals on the theme of the research
undertaken.

8. COMPLETION OF FELLOWSHIP
8.1 If a fellow leaves the fellowship within one year, he/she has to submit a detailed progress
report of the work done with publications, if any, duly forwarded by the supervisor and the
affiliating institution ensuring the final settlement of account by the affiliating institution up
to the period of fellowship. However, if a fellow leaves the fellowship after one year, he/she
has to submit a detailed progress report along with an undertaking to complete the study and
submit the final report on completion of the duration of fellowship along with two published
research papers, duly forwarded by the supervisor and the affiliating institution within the
duration of fellowship of two years. If a candidate leaves the fellowship without completion,
 he/she will have to apply to ICSSR for permission and the ICSSR will take the final decision
in this regard.
8.2 If, as a special case, a scholar remains on leave due to maternity/medical/extra ordinary
circumstances (not to exceed six months) duly approved by the ICSSR, the tenure of
fellowship will be extended by that period but the total amount of fellowship will not exceed
24 months.
8.3 On completion of the fellowship, the scholar should submit the following:
a. A book-length final Report in a publishable form along-with a Summary of the report (3000-
4000 words) and published research papers.
b. These documents should be submitted in hard copy (two copies of final report and five copies
each of the Summary and research articles) and a soft copy in pen-drive.
c. A certificate of settlement of assets and books purchased out of the contingency grant issued
by the affiliating Institution.
8.4 A maximum of three months period can be granted for submission of the final report after
completion of the fellowship.

9. OBLIGATION OF THE AFFILIATING INSTITUTION

9.1 The affiliating institution is required to provide the requisite research infrastructure to the
scholar and maintain proper accounts. For this, the Council shall pay to the
affiliating/administering institution overhead charges of seven and a half percent (7.5%) of
the total Fellowship (fellowship amount plus contingency).
9.2 The affiliating institution is required to give an undertaking in the prescribed format
contained in the Application Form to administer and manage the ICSSR fellowship amount.
9.3 The affiliating institution will be under obligation to ensure submission of the final report
and audited Statement of Accounts along with Utilization Certificate (in the prescribed
Performa GFR 12-A) duly certified by the competent authority of the institution.
9.4 The overhead charges shall be paid only after the completion of the fellowship and on
receipt of the final audited Statement of Accounts.

10. CONDITIONS
10.1 The post-doctoral research work should not be the same as Ph.D work.
10.2. The duration of full time regular fellowship shall be strictly for two years. In no case the
fellowship beyond two years will be considered. However, extension for submission of final
report may be granted on justified reasons without any additional financial commitment of
the ICSSR.
10.3 The applicants under salary protection should have been in regular service for two years
in an academic institution. The institution shall certify that it will maintain their lien on the
post during the period of fellowship and allow them to return after the fellowship period.
10.4 The contingency grant may be utilized for books, stationery, computer related costs, and
the field work expenses connected with the research work.
10.5 The ICSSR reserves the right to publish the fellowship report funded by it.
10.6 The scholar shall acknowledge ICSSR’s support in all publications resulting from the
research output of the fellowship and should submit a copy of the same to the ICSSR.
10.7 All fellowships are subject to income tax deductions as per the Government of India
rules at the level of the affiliating/ administering institution.
10.8 ICSSR follows Government of India Rules & Directives with regard to SC, ST and
persons with benchmark disability.
10.9 Defaulters of any previous fellowship/project/grant of the ICSSR will not be eligible for
consideration until the applicant obtains the clearance from the concerned administrative
division.
10.10 A fellow is not entitled for the same fellowship or pay protection more than once.
10.11 While accepting any fellowship from the ICSSR, a fellow should not accept any other
fellowship or research project or regular financial benefit/assignment from any other
institution.
10.12 The research proposal/final report of the fellowship cannot be submitted for the award
of any University degree/diploma or funding by any other institution. The ICSSR however,
will have no objection if the scholar utilizes the research data for this purpose.
10.13 The fellowship may be transferred from one affiliating institution to another on the
request of the scholar under special circumstance with ICSSR approval, subject to submission
of the following documents:
(1) Satisfactory progress report;
(2) No objection certificate from both previous and the proposed university/institute;
(3) Consent letter along with C.V. of the new supervisor;
(4) Audited statement of account and utilization certificate along with unspent balance, if
any.
10.14 During the tenure of fellowship, the fellow will be governed by the rules of the
affiliating/administering institution in all matters including drawls of TA/DA, holidays/leave
and contingency grant, etc.
10.15 The selected fellows are expected to do full time research in India. They could,
however, undertake data collection outside India in exceptional cases and 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 ICSSR International Collaboration Division.
10.16 ICSSR makes positive efforts to encourage less represented sections such as women,
people belonging to Educationally Backward Areas/Districts, minorities, etc.
10.17 The scholar should not have been subjected to any disciplinary/legal
action/proceedings/financial penalties in his/her career/ research career.
10.18 The final report submitted by the scholar will be considered satisfactory only after its
evaluation by the ICSSR.
10.19 Books/periodicals/equipment purchased by the scholar out of the contingency grant
should be deposited with the affiliating/administering institution and a certificate to this effect
may be submitted along with the final report.
10.20 Application submitted against one Call will not be considered for the subsequent Calls.
10.21 The Council reserves the right to reject any application/nomination. It is also not
responsible for any postal loss/delays in communications.
10.22 Incomplete applications in any respect shall not be considered for fellowship.
10.23 The final authority related to the interpretation of the guidelines or any issue left is
vested with the ICSSR.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL FORMAT

Other than the mandatory information accompanying each application, candidates should
submit their research proposal in two parts:
A) Abstract of the research proposal (about 300 words).
B) Detailed research proposal (about 3000 words). An indicative outline for the detailed
research proposal is given below:
1. Title: The research proposal should have a clear, meaningful and concise title reflecting
the scope of the investigation.
2. Introduction: The research proposal should begin by clearly stating the research problem
to be investigated in the light of its theoretical and/or empirical context in the relevant area.
3. Objectives of the Study: The general aim of the study as well as well as its specific
objectives should be clearly stated in the proposal.
4. 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 the 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.
5. Review of Literature (National & International): The proposal 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 relevance as well as inadequacy of existing findings or approaches and
provide a rationale for the proposed study.
6. 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. Emphasis
should be given to bringing out innovativeness in approaches proposed to be followed. The
detailing 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.
7. Relevance and Anticipated Outcomes: The proposal should include a statement on the
relevance of the study and the anticipated outcomes. It should bring out the significance of
the research problem, the contribution which the proposed study is expected to make to
theory and to methodology as well as its practical importance to society and policy making. It
should also describe the proposed outputs from the study (Books, research papers, occasional
papers with themes etc.)
8. Tentative Chapterisation: Details chapterisation should be clearly spelt out in the
research proposal
9. Bibliography: Bibliography should be prepared in Chicago Manual Style.