The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is implementing Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) scheme to attract, nurture and retain meritorious youth to study natural sciences areas at the college and university level and to pursue research careers in both basic and applied science areas including engineering, medicine, agriculture and veterinary sciences. The ultimate objective is to expand the R&D base of the country. It is implemented on pan India scale through four components. INSPIRE schemes component-wise salient features are given below:

 

INSPIRE Internship component of INSPIRE aims at providing exposure to the top 1% students at Class X Board level by organizing Science Camps either during summer or winter and provide opportunity to them to interact with Science icons from India and abroad, including Nobel Laureates, to experience the joys of scientific pursuit. These science camps nourish the curiosity of students in science, help them to think out-of-the box and attract students at an early age of 16-17 years to choose science subjects for further studies.

2553444370076668. for Higher Education (SHE) component of INSPIREaims to enhance the rate of attachment of talented youth to undertake higher education in science intensive programs by providing scholarships and mentorship support. The scheme offers 12,000 scholarships of 5 year duration @ Rs 0.80 lakh per year to undertake Bachelor and Masters level education in basic and natural Sciences area for the top 1% talented youth as per central and state education board data in the age group 17-22 years.

INSPIRE Fellowship component of INSPIREaims to provide fellowship to M.Sc. 1^st Rank holders in Basic & Applied Sciences including engineering, medicine, agriculture, veterinary at the University/ academic institute of national importance i.e. IITs, NITs, IISERs level examination as well as Inspire Scholars having secure 70% marks in aggregate at the MSc level who are eligible for admission to the Ph.D. program in any recognized university/ academic institutions in the country every year. The Fellowships are tenable for maximum 5 years (2 years as JRF @ Rs.37000/pm + HRA + Contingency grant of Rs.20000/annum and 3 years as SRF @ Rs.42000/pm + HRA + Contingency grant of Rs.20000/annum) or completion of PhD, whichever is earlier to pursue full-time Ph.D. program. Maximum 1000 INSPIRE Fellowships per year are tenable.

INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship component of INSPIRE aims to provide opportunities to post- doctoral researchers in the age group of 27-32 year (the upper age limit for SC/ST/Women candidates and persons with benchmark disabilities is 37 and 42 years respectively) for 5 years in both basic and applied sciences area including engineering, agriculture, veterinary and medicine every year. Aspirants having Ph.D. degree with strong academic and research track record are considered on competitive basis. It grants an attractive fellowship for a duration of 5 years with a consolidated emolument of Rs. 1,25,000/- p.m. with annual increment of Rs.200 per annum and a research grant of Rs.7 lakh per annum. This scheme has motivated young researchers to pursue high-quality post-Ph.D. research within the country. Maximum 150 INSPIRE Faculty Fellowships per year are tenable.

The details of the number of students selected from the States/Union Territories during 2024-2025 till 21.03.2025 under the said scheme are given below:

S. No.	State/UT	INSPIRE-Internship	INSPIRE-SHE	INSPIRE-Fellowship	INSPIRE-Faculty Fellowship
1	Andhra Pradesh	530	5	11	0
2	Arunachal Pradesh	0	0	2	0
3	Assam	0	84	24	4
4	Bihar	0	172	6	1
5	Chandigarh	0	3	10	0
6	Chhattisgarh	150	421	13	0
7	Delhi	200	61	53	8
8	Goa	0	6	10	0
9	Gujarat	350	93	21	0
10	Haryana	0	66	7	1
11	Himachal Pradesh	450	138	7	1
12	Jammu And Kashmir	150	2	21	3
13	Jharkhand	0	23	5	3
14	Karnataka	150	60	46	16
15	Kerala	150	376	31	3
16	Madhya Pradesh	0	573	28	2
17	Maharashtra	200	198	34	8
18	Manipur	0	138	2	1
19	Meghalaya	0	49	1	0
20	Mizoram	0	13	4	0
21	Nagaland	0	9	1	0
22	Odisha	0	108	23	2
23	Puducherry	0	2	3	0
24	Punjab	550	61	30	2
25	Rajasthan	0	2879	9	0
26	Sikkim	0	0	2	0
27	Tamil Nadu	975	44	59	6
28	Telangana	450	31	36	4
29	Tripura	0	3	1	0
30	Uttar Pradesh	1200	5374	40	4
31	Uttarakhand	400	387	22	0
32	West Bengal	350	362	52	9

 

This information was given by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

***

NKR/PSM

(Release ID: 2115859) Visitor Counter : 574