14 BHU SCHOLARS AWARDED PRIME MINISTER’S RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

Varanasi : Bringing laurels to Banaras Hindu University, fourteen research scholars of the varsity have been selected for the coveted Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship. The scheme, which is open to very few Central Universities, is aimed at fostering high quality research. Launched in the budget 2018-2019, the PMRF seeks to attract the best talent into research.

The students who have been selected for the current cycle of PMRF are Bandan Kumar, Aindabi Maitra, Kuhoo Madhav, R B Ananth, Raju Rai, and Sudipa Bhunia (Dept. of Geology), Deepika Sharma, Karmdeo Prajapati, Nikhil Srivastav, and Ritesh Tolani (Dept. of Chemistry), Ankita Gupta (Institute of Environment & Sustainable Development), Garima Kandwal (Dept. of Biochemistry), Prashasti Pandey (Dept. of Botany), and Syona Tiwari (Dept. of Bioinformatics).

Congratulating the research scholars for securing the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sudhir Kumar Jain said the university is making remarkable progress in opening up new avenues of growth and excellence for its students and researchers. “We have made effective several procedural and structural changes to enable greater representation of BHU in milestone schemes and fellowships. The increased number of PMRF to BHU scholars is reflective of the varsity’s forward looking measures. We hope to further improve our performance in the days to come”, said Prof. Jain.

Prof. Mousumi Mutsuddi, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, and coordinator of PMRF in BHU informed that modification in coursework syllabus and timely declaration of results has aided in the whole process. The massive jump from 4 to 14 PMRF awards is indeed a moment of pride and happiness for the university fraternity, she added.

As part of the scheme selected research scholars receive an attractive fellowship and a research contingency grant. The fellowship amount for the first two years is Rs. 70,000 per month, followed by Rs. 75,000 per month for the third year and Rs. 80,000 per month in fourth and fifth years. During the course of the fellowship, researchers are also eligible to get a research contingency grant of Rs. 2 lakh per annum. The candidates are selected through a very rigorous selection process carried out at the national level.