Enabling students from India go abroad to fulfil their academic dreams has been an endeavor that the Indian government has been working on for years now. They partner with other governing bodies and provide students with the best funding programs and fellowships. One such is the Royal Society Fellowship. It provides scholarship for researchers from North America and Asia and helps researchers to take up high quality research at UK laboratories. Indians are eligible for the Newton International Fellowship which is provided by the British Academy and the Royal Society. This scheme is the ladder which helps non-UK scientists who are just starting their career to take their research to the next level. This is the best stage for a scientist who is in his/ her early stages after completion of Doctor’s degree. This scheme covers a period of two years and it covers a broad range of discipline in natural and social sciences and humanities.
The applicant should be a PhD holder or should be in a position to be conferred with a doctorate degree by the time the funding starts and should be at the initial stages of his/her career. The applicant cannot have more than two post-doc positions. The applicant should not be UK citizen and should be working outside UK. The applicant should be excellent in both oral and written English and should have a clearly defined research proposal which will mutually benefit a UK host scientist.
The funding is around 24,000 pounds per annum which covers the living cost and up to 8000 pounds for research expenses. There is also a onetime payment of 2000 pounds which is meant for relocation. Awards are also given in the form of contribution towards the overhead expenses; around 50% of the total award of the visiting researcher will be contributed. Applicants are also eligible to receive an annual amount of 6000 pounds for ten years after completing the tenure and this will help them support networking activities with UK based researchers.
The application process is first screened by two members of the Newton International Fellowships panel and then the shortlisted application will be reviewed again by a panel and then the final shortlist is made. Every year close to 40 scholarships are offered and the success rate is close to 7%. The applications are called in around summer and the final results are announced around October.
Visit http://royalsociety.org/The-Royal-Society-and-India/ to know more on this scholarship.
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