Schemes to Promote Young Scientists and Researchers

Recently, Minister of Science and Technology, Harshavardhana launched four new schemes to promote young scientists and researchers in the country. They are

1. Teacher Associateship for Research Excellence (TARE) Scheme 
2. Overseas Visiting Doctoral Fellowship 
3. Distinguished Investigator Award 
4. Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research (AWSAR)' 

• These four schemes are instituted by the SERB (Science Engineering Research Board) of the Department of Science and Technology (DST). 
• All schemes come into force from February 1, 2018. 
• The schemes focus on youth to empower, recognise and motivate them 

TARE scheme: Teacher Associateship for Research Excellence Scheme:

• The main aim of this scheme is to connect the educators to leading public funded institutions like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Science (IISC) or national institutions like CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) to pursue research. 
• Under Teacher Associateship for Research Excellence (TARE) scheme500 teachers will be assisted 
• They will be paid Rs. 5 lakh yearly, and a monthly out-of-pocket expense of Rs.5, 000 

Overseas Visiting Doctoral Fellowship

• Under Overseas Visiting Doctoral Fellowship scheme the government of India offers support to 100 PhD scholars for training in universities and laboratories in foreign countries. 
• Under this scheme, support will be provided Up to 12 months during their doctoral research. 
• Under this scheme fellowship equivalent to USD 2,000 would be given to scholars as a monthly stipend and one-time contingency allowance of Rs 60,000 would be given to cover travel and visa fee. 

Distinguished Investigator Award

• Under this scheme, the government offers a maximum of 100 fellowships to principal investigators of Science and Engineering Research Board/Department of Science and Technology projects. 
• The selected 100 researchers will be given a monthly fellowship of Rs 15,000 for three years and an optional research grant, based on peer review of the project proposal submitted. 

Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research (AWSAR)

• The purpose of the scheme is to encourage science writing. 
• The scheme seeks to tap the potential of over 20,000 PhD scholars in science to popularise and communicate their research outcome. 
• AWSAR carries a monetary incentive of Rs. 10,000/- each of 100 best entries in a year and a Certificate of Appreciation, besides getting the story published. 
• Three leading stories from the selected 100 would be awarded Rs. 1 lakh, Rs.50, 000/- and Rs. 25,000/- respectively.