SCHEME GUIDELINES FOR
AICTE POST-DOCTORAL
FELLOWSHIP (PDF)
2024-25
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SCHEME GUIDELINES FOR AICTE
POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP (PDF)
1 Introduction
The main objective of AICTE Post-Doctoral Fellowship is to encourage
200 Indian Engineering, Management, Design, Hotel Management &
Catering Technology, Applied Sciences, Planning, Computer
application, Applied Arts Crafts & Design, Inter Disciplinary Area
scholars who have completed their Ph.D and wish to pursue a regular
career in research and development.
The broad discipline of study within the domain of AICTE are:
1. Engineering & Technology
2. Management
3. Design
4. Planning
5. Applied Arts Crafts & Design
6. Hotel Management & Catering Technology
7. Computer Application
8. Applied Sciences
9. Inter Disciplinary Area
2 Objective
The objective of these fellowships is to provide an opportunity to carry
out the advanced studies and research in Engineering and Technology,
Management, Design, Planning, Applied Arts Crafts & Design, Hotel
Management and Catering Technology, Computer Application, Applied
Sciences and Inter Disciplinary Area in AICTE approved institutions.
3 Number of Fellowships
200 Fellowships per year
4 Duration of Fellowship
The tenure of the fellowship is initially for one year. If the research work
is found satisfactory by the expert’s committee, his/her tenure will be
extended for a further period of one another year. Thus, the total period
of fellowship is two year and there is no further provision of extension.
5 Eligibility
(A) Eligibility criteria for scholars
a. Candidates who have been awarded the Ph.D. degree in the
relevant subject/discipline of Engineering and Technology,
Management, Design, Planning, Applied Arts Crafts & Design,
Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Computer
Application, Applied Sciences and Inter Disciplinary Areas are
eligible to apply. (Provisional Certificate may be accepted in
case the degree is not awarded).
AND
General category candidates having minimum 55% of marks
or equivalent percentage converted from CGPA score either at
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PG/ UG level are eligible to apply. A relaxation of 5% of marks
is allowed for reserved categories (SC/ST/OBC/women /
PWD (Persons with Disabilities)
b. Candidates should be below 35 years of age (as on the
date/last date of application) For admission age relaxation of
5 years would be applicable to candidates belonging to
SC/ST/Women, Physically Challenged and 3 years for OBC
category. In case, a candidate falls in more than one category,
the maximum age relaxation would be of 5 years only.
c. AICTE Post-Doctoral Fellowship can be availed only once by
a candidate in his/her career.
d. It is necessary that the candidate identifies a Supervisor
(affiliated to AICTE approved University/Institute wherein
Post-Doctoral Fellowship is tenable) for his/her post-doctoral
research work and obtain his/her consent for the mentorship.
Candidates applying for PDF must upload the No Objection
Certificate from the proposed research centre duly signed by
the Supervisor, HOD and Registrar/Director of the
University/Institute in the online application.
(B) Eligibility of Supervisor
a. The supervisor should be approved Ph.D. guide in University.
b. The supervisor should not be superannuated and must be
either regular faculty or professor of practice (may not be
superannuated).
c. The Supervisor must have been awarded the Ph.D. degree.
(C) Eligibility of research centre
The fellowship under AICTE Post Doctorate Fellowship will be
available for pursuing research work in AICTE approved
University/ Institution.
6 Nature of Assistance available Under the Scheme
(i) Emoluments:
Fellowship Rs. 65,000/- p.m.
Contingency Rs. 50,000/- p.a.
Contingency Grant: PDF students shall be entitled for a
Contingency Grant limited to Rs. 50,000/- per year to meet
the miscellaneous expenditures related to research work.
The student is not bound to follow purchase rules of the
Institute/ AICTE for procurements under contingency grant.
The bills will not be sent to the AICTE.
The PDF fellow shall also be governed by the following
conditions in addition to the emoluments:
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(ii) Dearness Allowance (DA): PDF students will not be entitled
to DA.
(iii) House Rent Allowance (HRA): PDF students may be
provided hostel accommodation wherever available. PDF
students residing in hostels shall not be entitled to HRA.
Wherever hostel accommodation is not possible, HRA is
allowed as per Central Government norms applicable in the
city where the admitting institution located. The percentage
for calculating HRA will be based on the amount of Fellowship.
(iv) Medical assistance: No separate/fixed medical assistance is
provided. However, the scholars may avail the medical
facilities available in their Institution concerned.
(v) Leave:
The PDF students are eligible for leave as per university/
institution norms.
The period spent for attending Conferences, Short-term
Training Programmes, Workshops/ Seminars and any
other outstation research work with the prior
permission of his/ her supervisor will be treated as “on
Duty”, this however, should not exceed as per
university/ institution norms.
Note:
All kinds of leave and “On Duty” period should be approved at the level
of the institute on the recommendation of his/ her supervisor and proper
record shall be maintained.
Here “Year” starts with the date of start of PDF.
7 Application Process
a. The candidate shall be allowed to apply for PDF in portal
throughout the year
b. Candidates applying for PDF must upload No Objection
Certificate from the proposed research centre duly signed by the
Supervisor, HOD and Registrar/Director of the
University/Institute in the online application.
c. Incomplete applications such as un-formatted documents,
false/misleading information etc. shall to be summarily rejected.
8 Selection Procedure
d. To promote the quality of research in the field of Engineering &
Technology/ Management/ Design/ Planning/ Applied Arts,
Crafts & Design/ Hotel Management and Catering Technology/
Computer Application/ Applied sciences and inter disciplinary
area, the evaluation committee of the AICTE will evaluate the
research proposal of the candidate before admitting candidate in
the scheme or grant of any financial benefit.
e. The evaluation includes the candidate’s accomplishment at the
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Ph.D. level, the professional standing of Supervisor and the
university/ institution where the post- doctoral research is to be
carried out.
9 Joining Procedure
f. The scholar has to join the Fellowship within one month of the
date of the award letter by submitting all required documents on
AICTE portal. In exceptional cases, joining may be extended up
to 3 months with the prior approval of competent authority of
AICTE.
g. The fellowship shall commence from the actual date of joining as
a Post- Doctoral Fellow in the University/ Institute
10 Monitoring of Fellowship
h. Regular monitoring of Fellowship is done on the basis of half
yearly by research assessment committee at institute level along
with supervisor and annually at AICTE level.
i. Scholar must submit the Annual Progress Reports in the
prescribed format through portal.
11 Roles and Responsibilities of the University/ Institute
j. The University/ Institute shall provide required facilities to the
Post-Doctoral fellow like infrastructure, office space, research
lab.
k. The University/ Institute will assign one faculty as Nodal Officer
for PDF who will interface between the university and AICTE on
various operational aspects of the fellowship.
l. The University/Institute will update joining report of the student
on the online portal of AICTE along with bank account seeded
with Aadhaar card number.
m. The University/Institute shall mark the monthly
attendance of the admitted student through online portal for the
disbursement of the fellowship directly in the student’s account
through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.
n. The University/Institute shall verify all information submitted/
uploaded by the student regularly such as half yearly, Annual
Progress Report, application for extension beyond one year etc.
before it is uploaded on the portal.
o. The maximum 5 students per University/ Institute and
maximum 2 students per supervisor may be allowed for getting
benefit of PDF.
p. The University/ Institute will encourage socially/ economically
weaker section to avail the benefit of PDF
q. University/ Institute shall indicate any discontinuation/
cancellation/ termination of student from PDF, if any,
immediately on the designated AICTE Portal.
12 Termination of Fellowship
(i) The fellowship is liable to be terminated in the
following cases:
a. If the fellow is found to be ineligible to receive the
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fellowship, at any point of time during the entire
duration of the fellowship.
b. Any false/misleading information furnished by the
applicant.
c. Misconduct.
d. Unsatisfactory progress of research work.
e. Any other fellowship/scholarship is drawn from other
source(s) during the tenure of the fellowship.
f. Candidate if found employed during the PDF research.
g. Any fraudulent activity by the fellow.
h. Violation of terms and conditions of the guidelines.
i. Plagiarism or unethical practices, in any form
j. In case student joins any employment during the
tenure of fellowship, he/she has to inform to the AICTE
through the university/ institute mentioning the date
of joining the employment. In such cases, PDF shall be
terminated with effect from the date of joining. However,
the student may be allowed to continue his/ her Post
Doc. as Full-Time/ Part-Time student as per the
university/ institute rules/ regulations. The student
will not be considered for resumption of the ADF at any
stage under such circumstances even he/ she leaves
the employment and joins back in the institute.
13 Other Terms and Conditions
a. The fellow shall not be allowed for transfer of fellowship from the
institution where admitted for Post Doc during the entire tenure
of the fellowship.
b. The fellow shall devote full-time to research during the tenure of
fellowship. In addition, the Post-Doctoral fellow should get 8
hours workload and will not be permitted to take any part-time/
full-time assignment outside the institute. He/ she will not
accept any salary, fellowship or any type of financial assistance
during the tenure of fellowship through any other source. In case
fellow receives any financial assistance from any other
organization during the tenure of fellowship, with due
permission of the university/ institute, he/ she will not be
entitled for the fellowship for the duration in which he/ she is
availing such financial assistance and it shall be resumed on
discontinuance of such external financial assistance. Further
the period for which the scholar has received external financial
assistance shall be deducted from the maximum duration of the
fellowship.
c. The fellow should submit at least one paper/ patent in a Scopus
Indexed Journal per year during the fellowship tenure.
d. The nature of the candidature (full-time AICTE Post-Doctoral
Fellow) will not be changed during the program.
e. The fellow shall give a declaration that if the results of research
are such that they can be exploited commercially by taking a
patent or otherwise, then the commercial exploitation and patent
rights would be with the Institute, student and the supervisor(s).
f. AICTE online portal will have mechanism for releasing PDF
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emoluments and allowances (HRA/ contingency etc.) directly in
the Aadhaar seeded bank account of the beneficiary through
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
g. In case fellow avails break during the tenure of the fellowship on
medical ground with due permission of the institute, the
fellowship will be discontinued from the date of start of break
and shall be resumed on re-joining the program for the
remaining period of fellowship.
h. In case fellow is granted any kind of leave (maternity/paternity
etc.) during the tenure of fellowship and goes beyond the entitled
tenure, the fellowship shall expire on the last day of completion
of entitled tenure and shall not be extended under any
circumstance.
i. The period of fellowship shall not be extended beyond 2 years
from the date of start of PDF, under any circumstance including
cancellation/ discontinuation of fellowship.
j. The fellowship may be terminated at any time during the tenure
and the decision of the AICTE shall be final and binding.
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