Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) in Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences

Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) in Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences

XIth PLAN GUIDELINES

INTRODUCTION:
The Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) scheme of the University Grants Commission (UGC) is open to candidates who qualify in the National Eligibility Testing (NET) of the UGC and the UGC-Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) joint test. However, please note that these are qualifying tests only and do not bestow a fellowship upon the candidate.

OBJECTIVE:
The objective of the JRF scheme is to provide opportunities to NET-qualified candidates to undertake advanced studies and research leading to M.Phil / Ph.D. Degrees in Humanities and Social Sciences including Languages and Sciences.

TARGET GROUP/ELIGIBILITY:
Target Group: Candidates who have qualified in NET or the UGC-CSIR joint tests.

Eligibility: Candidates who have qualified in NET or the UGC-CSIR joint test. However, the selection for the JRF is made by the universities / institutions / colleges.

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, will no further provision of extension.
______________________________________________________________________________
Fellowship @ Rs.12,000/-p.m. for initial two years JRF SRF
@ Rs.14,000/-p.m. for remaining tenure

Contingency A. @ Rs.10,000/-p.a. for initial two years Humanities & Social Sciences
@ Rs.20,500/-p.a. for remaining tenure

Contingency B. @ Rs.12,000/-p.a. for initial two years Science
@ Rs.25,000/-p.a for remaining tenure

Departmental Assistance @ Rs. 3,000/-p.a. per student to the host institution for providing infrastructure

Escort / Reader Assistance HRA @ Rs. 2,000/-p.m. in case of physically handicapped & blind candidates as per rule of the concerned institution Or Categorization of cities
_____________________________________________________________________________

House Rent Allowance: Suitable single-seated hostel accommodation may be provided to the JRF candidate in the institutions. In case of non-availability, HRA as per rules of the university/institution will be paid, to the fellow subject to the submission of HRA Certificate through the Registrar/Principal. Junior Research Fellows provided with accommodation in a hostels recognized/maintained by the institutions may be reimbursed the hostel fee, excluding mess, electricity and water charges, etc. A certificate to this effect is to be furnished through the Registrar/Principal (Annexure I). If the fellow makes his/her own arrangements of accommodation, he/she may be entitled to draw HRA as per categorization of cities by the Government of India. The fellow will submit a certificate for the purpose to the UGC for claiming HRA through the concerned university/institution/colleges.

Medical: No separate/fixed medical assistance is provided. However, the fellow may avail of the medical facilities available in the institution / university / college.

Leave: JRFs 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. Women candidates are eligible for maternity leave of 180 days at full rates of fellowship once during the tenure of their award. Beside this an ‘Intermittent Break’ for a maximum period of 2 years may also be permissible to the women candidate. This Flexi Time period should not be counted towards the tenure of the fellowship and thus effectively the total period of fellowship should remain the same.

In special cases Junior Research Fellows may be allowed leave without fellowship by the Commission upto one academic year during the entire tenure of the award for accepting teaching assignments on a temporary basis, provided the assignment is in the same city/town. In other cases, leave without fellowship will be restricted to a period not exceeding three months during the tenure of the award on the recommendations of the supervisor and the institution. The period of leave without fellowship will be counted towards the total tenure of the award. JRF/SRFs are advised to apply for leave through universities/institutions/colleges well in advance for the approval of the Commission.

Procedure For Applying For The Scheme:-
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 Sec. 2 (f) and 12 (B) of the UGC Act. The selection is made as per the procedure of respective institutions. Those Universities/Institutes
are not recognized under UGC Act. They may be enclosed notification of Govt. of India.

Procedure For Approval By The UGC:-
The award of JRFs is made candidates by the universities / institutions / colleges on the basis of UGC-CSIR / NET examinations for admissions to Ph.D., including M.Phil.
● The candidate must get himself / herself registered for M.Phil / Ph.D. at the first available opportunity but not later then a period of two years from the issue of Eligibility Certificate of UGC NET/UGC-CSIR Examinations.
● The actual payment of fellowship will be made with effect from the date of joining only.

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 UGC through the Registrar / Principal / Director along-with their attested copy of NET Certificate.

Procedure For Release Of Grants By The UGC :-
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 installment of admissible grants to the institution/university / colleges on a financial year basis, that is, April to March each calendar year.

The university/institution/college may pay the fellowship amount to the Fellows, out of the grant paid in lump sum by the Commission for the purpose in accordance with the rules, to avoid any hardship to the Fellow, due to delay in payment to them. The next installment of fellowship grant will be released to the university/institute/college on receipt of the Complete Utilization Certificate along-with item-wise Statement of Expenditure of the previous grant released by the UGC for the purpose, duly signed by the competent authority (Registrar/Finance Officer in case of universities and principals in case of colleges) (Annexure III, IV, V and VI) In special cases the Commission may place a JRF in an institution not covered by the
UGC Act if the institution concerned agrees to provide all the infrastructure for the research of the fellow and to meet all expenditure out of departmental assistance as per rules. The Commission in such cases will either provide advance funds to such institutions and accept a Utilization Certificate/Statement of Expenditure duly signed by the JRF, countersigned by the head of the concerned institution or reimburse the expenditure incurred in accordance with the rules.

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. (Annexure VII).

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.(Annexure- VIII). The recommendation of the Committee in the prescribed proforma may be submitted to this office for record. 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.

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. In special cases the fellow is entitled for transfer of fellowship once during the tenure of their award. The fellow may apply to the UGC along-with No Objection Certificate from both Institutions duly forwarded by Registrar/Director/Principal for transfer of fellowship.

CANCELLATION OF AWARD:
The fellowship is liable to cancellation in case of:
● Misconduct;
● Unsatisfactory progress of research work/failure in any examination related to M.Phil/Ph.D. or,
● He/She is found ineligible later.

Desiring and deserving candidates are suggested to check the official information and website for more details:

Official information: Click here 

Official website: www.ugc.ac.in