Scholarship for Higher Edn: Apply by Oct 31

Thiruvananthapuram: Department of Science and Technology has invited applications for the Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE), a component of ‘Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research’ (INSPIRE) of the Department.

Number and Value of Scholarship: A total of 10,000 scholarships are available annually under SHE. The annual value of the scholarship is Rs.80,000/-. The cash value payable to the SHE scholarship holder is Rs.60,000/- per annum. In addition, there will be a summer time attachment fee of Rs.20,000 which will be paid for undertaking summer time research project. 

Period of Fellowship: Selected scholars will get the support for a maximum of five years starting from 1st year course in B.Sc., B.Sc. (Hons), BS and integrated course leading to M.S. or M.Sc. or till completion of the course, whichever is earlier. Continuation of the scholarship for selected candidates is based on performance in the examinations conducted and certified by the institution imparting education.

Eligibility: The scholarships are limited to those who have passed Class XII in the year 2014 from various recognized Indian State and Central Boards and are studying in any one of a 3 year B.Sc., B.Sc (Hons), 4 years B.S or 5 years integrated M.Sc./M.S programs in Natural/Basic sciences at any UGC recognized College/ University/ Institutions in India. Those enrolled for Engineering, Medicine, Technology and other Professional, Technical or applied science courses are not eligible. 

The eligibility of candidates will be based on one of the different criteria fixed which include performance in Board Examinations, performance in Competitive Examinations, Recipients of Specified Fellowships, Admissions in some specified institutions & admissions based on specified examinations etc.

Based on Performance in Board Examinations- Applicant should come within the top 1% cut-off threshold for each State or Central Board Examination in the year 2014 at Class XII level. The cut-off of 2014 for respective Boards will be finalized in due course. Percentage Cut-off Marks in respect of different State-Boards for 2013 were as follows and is given only for guidelines purpose. Andhra Pradesh- 97.1  (Cut-off for 2013), Assam -75.8, Bihar- 75.2, Chhattisgarh -82.8, Goa -85, Gujarat- 75.6, Haryana-86.4, Himachal Pradesh-83.8, Jammu & Kashmir-88.8, Jharkhand- 66.4, Karnataka -89.7, Kerala -95.1, Madhya Pradesh- 86.4, Maharashtra- 78.7, Manipur- 84.6, Meghalaya- 71.6,  Mizoram-71.4, Nagaland-67.5, Orissa -78.5, Punjab- 86, Rajasthan -81.6, Tamil Nadu -95.8, Tripura- 71.8, Uttar Pradesh- 84.8, Uttarakhand -72.6, West Bengal- 80.4, CBSE -94.6, ICSE -95.2 (No cut-off has been given for  Viswa-Bharathi & AMU Boards in the Notification). Receipt of Eligibility Note or Eligibility Certificate on INSPIRE Scholarship from respective Board is not mandatory as an eligibility criteria to apply and also do not guarantee the Scholarship. 

Performance in specified Competitive Examinations: Those who have performed in any of the specified Competitive Examinations and come within stipulated cut off ranks can apply. The examinations and the cut-offs are as follows.
(i) JEE (Main) : Top 10,000 Rank as per Common Merit List (CML)
(ii) JEE (Advanced) : Top 10,000 Rank as per Common Merit List (CML)
(iii) AIPMT or NEET for Medical : Top 10,000 Rank as per Common Merit List (CML)
Recipient of specified scholarships and medals- All Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojna (KVPY) Fellows, National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) Scholars, International Olympiad Medalists and Jagadis Bose National Science Talent Search (JBNSTS) Scholars are eligible under this category.

Admissions in some specified institutions: Those who have been admitted to (i) 4 years BS or 5 years Integrated M.Sc. programs in Basic & Natural Sciences at all Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and coming within top 10,000 rank in JEE (Advanced) (ii) All Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISERs) (iii) National Institute of Science Education & Research (NISER) (iv) Department of Atomic Energy - Centre for Basic Science (DAE - CBS) are eligible. Those admitted to a University at Under-graduate or Integrated M. Sc. program in Natural Sciences and Basic Sciences through JEE (Main), JEE (Advanced), AIPMT or NEET are eligible to apply in this category. 

Eligible Courses: Applicant must have already been enrolled into a valid degree level course in Natural /Basic sciences within the scope of INSPIRE Scholarship. The subjects under Basic and Natural Sciences within the scope of INSPIRE Scholarship for pursuing BSc./BS/Int. MSc/Int. MS course are (1) Physics, (2) Chemistry, (3) Mathematics, (4) Biology, (5) Statistics, (6) Geology, (7) Astrophysics, (8) Astronomy, (9) Electronics, (10) Botany, (11) Zoology, (12) Bio-chemistry, (13) Anthropology, (14) Microbiology, (15) Geophysics, (16) Geochemistry, (17) Atmospheric Sciences & (18) Oceanic Sciences at any UGC recognized College or University or National Institute in India.

Selection: The selection will be subject to evaluation of each application based on the eligibility criteria including finalization of actual top 1% cut-off of Class 12 examination 2014 for each Board. In case there are more than 10,000 eligible applications, the selection will be on the basis of Board inclusive model within the available number of Scholarships in that year.
Applications: Online Application can be submitted at www.online-inspire.gov.in, latest by 5 pm on 31st October 2014. Applicant should have his/her own valid and functional email address for submission of the On-line application. Before filling application form, applicant must scan and store the following documents as separate files for uploading. 

The photograph should be of .jpeg type with maximum size of 50 Kb. All other documents should be in pdf format with a maximum size of 1 Mb. 
(i) Passport size photograph 
(ii) Community/Caste Certificate,  if the applicant belongs to OBC/SC/ST)
(iii) Eligibility Note/Advisory Note if provided by the State/Central Board (Not Mandatory)
(iv) Class XII Mark sheet 
(v) Class X Mark sheet or Certificate, for proof of Date of Birth
(vi) Certificate specifying Rank or Award in JEE (Main)/ JEE (Advanced)/ NEET/KVPY /JBNSTS/ NTSE / International Olympic Medalists, if the candidate is applying under this category
(vii) Endorsement Form signed by the Principal of the College/Director of the Institute/Registrar of the University (The blank format can be downloaded from http://www.inspire-dst.gov.in/EndorsementForm.pdf)
(viii) Any other supporting documents

The guidelines for filling up On-line applications is available at http://www.inspire-dst.gov.in/guidelineforSHE_Online.pdf
A student who applies for the scholarship should first register in the website www.online-inspire.gov.in, by providing the details asked and submitting. After successful registration, a pop up shall appear with a message that the user id and password has been sent to applicant’s registered email id. Applicant should open up the email and click the activation link provided therein and activate the account. The subsequent stages are given in detail in the Guidelines.

After On-line submission of application, the applicant must take a print out of the submitted application for his/her records. Neither the application nor any other documents is to be sent by Post. The status of the application will be intimated to the applicant’s email that is registered in the On-line portal. A person should not submit more than one application. Students who have passed class 12 examination in the previous years need not apply now. 

More details are available at www.online-inspire.gov.in and www.inspire-dst.gov.in.