About Junior Research Fellowship (JRF)
The Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) scheme of the University Grants Commission (UGC) is open to candidates who qualify in the National Eligibility Test-Junior Research Fellowship (NET JRF) of the UGC and the UGC-Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (UGC-CSIR) joint test. However, please note that these are qualifying tests only and do not bestow a fellowship upon the candidate.
Eligibility Conditions for Fellowships
Candidates who have qualified in NET-JRF or the UGC-CSIR joint test. However, the registration for the M.Phil/PhD is made by the Universities/Institutions/Colleges within stipulated period of two years from the date of declaration of result or date of issue of award letter/date of joining the fellowship.
Click here for UGC NET exam for JRF
NATURE OF ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE UNDER THE SCHEME:
The tenure of fellowship is initially for two years under the JRF scheme. Upon expiry of this period, the work of the Fellow will be evaluated by experts. If the research work is found satisfactory, his/her tenure will be extended for a further period of three years under the enhanced emoluments of the Senior Research Fellowship (SRF).
In case the work for the first two years is not found satisfactory, an additional year will be given to him/her for improvement. However, during this period he/she will be designated as a Junior Research Fellow. In such cases work will be evaluated again after three years, and if improvement is found, the Fellow will get two more years under the SRF. Thus, the total period of fellowship (JRF and SRF) is five years and there is no further provision of extension.
AMOUNT OF FELLOWSHIP:
|
Fellowships |
₹ 25,000 per Month for Initial two Years | JRF |
|
₹ 28,000 p.m. for remaining tenure |
SRF |
|
|
Contingency A |
₹10,000 p.m. for initial two Years |
Humanities & Social Sciences
|
|
₹ 20,500 p.m. for remaining tenure |
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|
Contingency B |
₹10,000 p.m. for initial two Years |
Science |
|
₹ 20,500 p.m. for remaining tenure |
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|
Escort/Reader Assistance |
₹ 2,000 per month in case of physically Handicapped & blind candidates. |
|
| HRA |
As per Categorization of cities by Government of India |
|
HRA:
- Suitable single-seated hostel accommodation may be provided to the candidates in the institutions. In such cases, the fellow is eligible to draw only hostel fees excluding mess, electricity, water charges, etc. A certificate to this effect is to be furnished through the Registrar/Director/Principal. HRA is not permissible for those candidates who are staying in Hostel.
- In case of non availability of hostel accommodation, the fellow may be provided with single accommodation by the host institution. In such cases, the rent paid by the fellow on actual basis may be reimbursed subject to the ceiling of HRA as per Govt. of India.
- If the fellow makes her own arrangements of accommodation, she may be entitled to draw HRA as per categorization of cities by the Govt. of India.
Medical:
No separate/fixed medical assistance is provided. However, the fellow may avail of the medical facilities available in the institution/university/college.
Leave:
- Fellows are entitled for a maximum period of 30 days of leave in a year in addition to public holidays. They are not entitled to any other vacations.
- Candidates are eligible for maternity/ Paternity leave as per Govt. of India norms issued from time to time at full rates of fellowship once during the tenure of their award.
- Beside this an ‘Intermittent Break’ for a maximum period of 1 year may also be permissible to the women candidates. The leave can be availed 3 times during the entire period of fellowship. However, the total duration of leave shall not exceed one year. This Flexi Time period should not be counted towards the tenure of the fellowship and thus effectively the total period of fellowship will remain the same.
- Academic Leave: Academic leave without fellowship shall be permissible only for one year throughout the tenure (for any kind of academic assignment/teaching/foreign visit in connection with research work). The period of leave without fellowship will be counted towards the tenure. Expenditure on foreign visit in connection to research work cannot be claimed from UGC.
Note: All kinds of leave should be approved at the level of the University/ College/ Institute. Prior approval of the University/Institution/College is mandatory for all types of leaves.
Tenure of Fellowship:
These are integrated five year fellowship for M.Phil. and Ph.D. subject academic criteria in force for selection of Ph.D. programme.
The duration of fellowship is as under:
|
Name of the Course |
Maximum Duration | JRF |
SRF |
|
M.Phil. +Ph.D |
5 years | 2 years | Remaining 3 years |
| Ph.D | 5 years | 2 years |
Remaining 3 years |
Tenure of fellowship is for five years from the date of joining. M. Phil is for two years. Fellowship will be granted upto date of submission of Ph.D. Thesis or 5 years whichever is earlier.
Procedure for Applying for the Scheme (JRF):
Only NET/UGC-CSIR joint tests qualified candidates are eligible to apply (for fellowship) under the scheme. The qualified candidates have to apply against the advertisements given by the universities/institutions/colleges recognized under
- 2 (f) and 12 (B) of the UGC Act, 1956.
- Grant-in-aid Deemed Universities, Universities/Institution funded by State/Central, and Institution of National Importance.
Joining in Fellowship & Registration in Ph.D.:
- The candidate must join the fellowship within 6 months from date of issue of the award
- For the candidates already registered/admitted in Ph.D./M.Phil., the fellowship shall commence from the declaration of UGC NET-JRF/CSIR-UGC-NET-JRF result, whichever is applicable.
- For the candidates who are not yet registered/admitted in Ph.D./M.Phil., the fellowship shall commence from the date of joining as a research fellow in M.Phil/Ph.D programme
- The tenure of the fellowship is of five years from date of commencement of fellowship.
- In case of integrated Ph.D. or M.Phil. to Ph.D., the maximum tenure is 5 years including M.Phil period of
- Registration for Ph.D. is mandatory within 2 years from the date of joining as a research fellow. If candidate has not registered himself/herself within 2 years from date of joining, then fellowship will be discontinued upto his registration for D.
- In the cases where the fellowship has been discontinued as per clause (vi) above, the fellowship may be resumed after the registration in Ph.D within 5 years from the commencement of fellowship subject to satisfactory performance (verified by Supervisor and counter signed by the Registrar/Principal/Director of the University/College/Institute concerned). However, the tenure of fellowship in such cases will be limited to 5 years from the date of joining in fellowship including the M.Phil period of fellowship.
Procedure for release of grants by the UGC:
- Joining:- On receipt of the Joining Report in the prescribed proforma (Annexure-II) and eligibility certificate from the university/institution, the UGC office will accept the candidature of the Fellow and will release the first instalment of admissible grants to the individual JRFs as per
- Continuation Certificate:- At the end of every three months a ‘Continuation Certificate’ in the prescribed proforma as per Annexure-III. This will make the fellow eligible to draw the fellowship for the next three MONTHS
Disbursement of fellowship for NON-DBT/Legacy Cases
UGC has developed a dedicated web portal (https://scholarship.canarabank.in/AdminLogin.aspx) for capturing data for eligible scholars through which the legacy cases (Non-DBT) shall be transferred on DBT platform. The Universities/ Colleges/ Institutions will submit the master data of the eligible beneficiaries on the portal with a unique users profile (user name and password). The bank account numbers of the beneficiaries will be validated through PFMS for creation of beneficiary ID.
The Universities/Institutions/ Colleges shall update the information in the master data (regarding continuation, HRA, up-gradation, resignation etc.) of the beneficiaries monthly. Based on the master data received from the concerned Universities/Institutions/Colleges the payment of the fellowship will be made to the beneficiaries.
Aadhar Seeding:
The Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India vide its letter D.No. No18-7/2013-U1A dated 10th June, 2016 has instructed the University Grants Commission that from the financial year 2016-17 onward the Aadhar has been mandatory for disbursement of all Government subsidies/Scholarships/Fellowships which are to be disbursed directly to the beneficiary’s account.
Procedure for Commencement of fellowship:
- Already registered JRFs can avail fellowship from date of declaration of
- The actual payment of fellowship will be made with effect from the date of joining or date of declaration of result, whichever is
- On completion of the above formalities, the Joining Report of the candidate duly signed by the Supervisor/Head of Department is to be sent to the designated branch of Canara Bank through the Registrar/Principal/Director alongwith their attested copy of NET JRF Certificate
Transfer of the Research Place:
Transfer of the Research Place should be done by university concerned under the intimation to UGC and designated agency. Transfer of Research place will be allowed only once during the entire tenure.
Resignation from the Fellowship:
Resignation of the candidate will be forwarded by the concerned university to the UGC designated agency under intimation to the UGC office.
Departmental Assistance will not be given under the DBT disbursal mode.
Fellowship/scholarship shall be disbursed once in every 3 MONTHS
Procedure For Monitoring The Progress Of The Scheme:
- The performance of the Junior or Senior Fellow is monitored by their respective supervisor/guide and reflected in the yearly progress report submitted to the University for submission to the UGC office.
- On completion of first two years of award, the fellow may apply to the department/university concerned for the up gradation of SRF. For this a three member committee will be constituted with a Supervisor, Head of the Department and External Expert subject expert to evaluate the research work. The Minutes of the Constitution of Committee and recommendation of the Committee for up gradation may be sent to University Grants Commission. Therefore, the fellow will be upgraded and designated as SRF. The recommendation of the Committee in the prescribed proforma may be submitted to UGC designated agency. The approval from UGC for up gradation is not mandatory.
- The fellowship may be terminated at any time during the tenure and the decision of the Commission will be final and binding. The tenure of the fellowship is for five years from the date of joining, subject to satisfactory progress report of the Fellow or submission of Ph.D. thesis, whichever is earlier. No extension is permissible beyond the total tenure of five years and the awardee ceases to be a UGC JRF/SRF immediately after expiry of the due date. Any claim/reference to this effect will be illegal and the individual may have to face disciplinary action for such an act.
Note: The last 2 installments will be released only after submission of the feedback and Research work in the Repository.
GAP PERIOD:
The gap period for continuation from M.Phil to Ph.D. under Doctoral Fellowship schemes shall be 1 year. However the total tenure of fellowship will remain for five years.
Paid Assignment/Job:
The fellow shall not undertake any paid assignment during the tenure of the fellowship (Except in case of leave without fellowship upto one academic year during the entire tenure).
OTHER CONDITIONS
The Fellow, with the consent of the guide/head of department, may assist the university/institution in its academic work, including tutorials, evaluation of the test papers, laboratory demonstration, supervision of fieldwork, library activities like group seminars and symposia, provided such work is not likely to hinder the research programmes on hand. The total amount of time to be spent on such activities should not exceed ten hours a week.
CANCELLATION OF AWARD
The fellowship is liable to cancellation in case of:
- Registration not within two years from date of
- Misconduct;
- Unsatisfactory progress of research work/failure in any examination related to M.Phil/Ph.D. or,
- He/She is found ineligible
- Any false information furnished by the applicant or any fraudulent activity by the Scholar/Fellow/Research Awardees shall lead to Penal action against him/her.
Useful links for Qualifying NET Junior Research Fellowship (JRF):
Free Study material for UGC NET Paper 1
Updated NTA UGC NET Syllabus of All Subjects
Previous Question Papers of UGC NET Exam