Grants up-to 30 Crores Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE), DST Government of India Last Date 21st March 2024

Online proposals are invited for consideration of support under the Scheme “Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence” (PURSE), DST Government of India. The primary aim of the scheme is to offer assistance in reinforcing the research and development (R&D) foundation of universities across the country.

Nature of Support: The main objective of the scheme is to strengthen the research capacity of Indian Universities and provide support for nurturing the research ecosystem and strengthening the R&D base of the Universities in the country. The Scheme will provide the support to acquire research facilities (support for acquiring the teaching facilities will not be provided in the scheme), research man-power cost, acquiring research consumables, funds for travel, organizing workshops and conferences, contingencies and maintenance of the facilities. Universities are encouraged to consolidate their areas of expertise into interdisciplinary thematic endeavors, forming accomplished teams with clearly defined objectives. It is advised that universities identify excellence within specific departments through a defined process and allocate a significant portion of the program’s support to these high-performance groups, rather than uniformly distributing funds among performing and non-performing departments or groups. Universities are urged to submit consolidated proposals that ensure broad participation from Science and Engineering departments within the university. Scheme does not allow any provision for building/ construction and recruitment of staff in permanent in nature. The Manpower recruited under PURSE shall be co terminus with the project duration. The manpower shall be technical and scientific only. Individual Centric R&D proposal shall not be entertained under this scheme. The synergy and focus of research may preferably be aligned to National Missions/ priorities.

 Duration: The duration of support for each PURSE Project will be for a period of 4 years.

Eligibility: The Scheme is exclusively for the University sector. UGC Recognized Central Universities/ State Funded Universities/Deemed Universities and Private Universities are eligible to apply under the Scheme. The eligible university should not have received support under SAIF/ SATHI or PURSE program of DST. All other agency-based Universities are excluded from the scope of PURSE support. For all Non-Government Grantee Institute (Private Universities) the support would be shared on 50:50 ratio, i.e., DST share would be 50% and the management of the Non-Government Grantee Institute would need to bear 50% of the total sanctioned cost of the project. For all UGC Recognized State universities and Central Universities DST share would be 100% of the total sanctioned cost of the project.

Proposals are invited in three Categories

 The quantum of support and minimum eligibility conditions is organized into three categories as given below. The broad objective in each case is to support potentially high impact, interdisciplinary research (both basic and applied) aligned to national priorities and missions. The research should also align well with goals of Self-Reliant India (Atma Nirbhar Bharat) and Start-up India etc. Where possible, the proposed research should also be geared towards increased national competencies in fields like manufacturing, waste processing, clean energy and water and other similar national priorities.

 Screening Criteria– For screening proposals, minimum essential requirements like NIRF, H-Index, and I10 of the

University shall be considered. The proposals will be evaluated by considering the number of papers, quality of papers, patents and research projects and overall research merit.

Criterion for Selection: The proposal received will be evaluated by the Programme Management Board. Parameters of Excellence e.g., H index with I₁₀ indices will be considered along with the score of NIRF ranking to select the University. The Proposal will be selected based on the relevance of thrust areas of Research, requirement of facilities, expertise available etc. PMB will consider academic and Research Merit to select the University. The selection process will be through a peer review mechanism and visit to the Universities, if necessary. Programme Management Board of Experts will assist DST in making the final selection.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILLING ONLINE APPLICATION

1. Log on gov.in to access the home page of the “DST e-PMS Portal”.
2. Before filling up the form candidates are advised to carefully go through the Relevant Advertisement published at the DST Website (dst.gov.in) and also go through the Proposal Formats in the-e-PMS Portal after login to the portal .
3. To save your time and avoid data loss please download the proposal format, fill all the information required as per the format as a Word and PDF file ( size 5Mb) and then keep it ready for upload during submission of mandatory documents.
4. After filling all above particulars there is provision for preview your detail before final submission of application form on clicking on “Preview” Preview page will display all facts/particulars that you have mentioned on entry time if you are sure with filled details then click on “Submit” button to finally push data into server.
5. Candidates are advised to carefully fill and verify the details filled in the online application themselves as no change will be possible/ entertained after clicking the FINAL SUBMIT
6. Universities are requested to submit single proposal only from each university
7. Universities are requested to send a consolidated proposal ensuring broader participation of Science and Engineering departments at the maximum level within in the university

LAST DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS:

 Online Application must be submitted by 21 March, 2024 (Thursday ) after which the web-link will be AUTOMATICALLY disabled FOR ANY USAGE.

 For any enquiry, contact: Dr. Shivaprasad

Email id: shiva.prasad@nic.in

 PLEASE NOTE

• IT IS MANDATORY TO SUBMIT THE PROPOSALS ONLY THROUGH ONLINE MODE.
• THE UNIVERSITIES ARE REQUIRED TO SEE THE COMPLETENESS OF THE APPLICATION BEFORE IT IS SUBMITTED SINCE THREE (3) CHANCESAREAVAILABLE FOR SUBMISSION OFAPROPOSALFROM THESAME UNIVERSITY, THE LAST PROPOSAL SUBMITTED WOULD BE CONSIDERED FOR EVALUATION. THE UNIVERSITY SHALL KEEP A COPY OF THE SUBMITTED PROPOSAL FOR THEIR REFERENCE. THERE WILL BE NO NEED TO SUBMIT HARD COPY OF THE PROPOSAL AT THE DST.
• INCOMPLETE OR WRONGLY FILLED UP APPLICATION FORMAT OR APPLICATION WITH LACK OF ESSENTIAL INFORMATION/ DOCUMENTS WILL BE SUMMARILY ANY LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IN RESPECT TO ANY MATTER OF CLAIM OR DISPUTE ARISING OUT OF THIS ADVERTISEMENT AND / OR APPLICATION CAN BE LODGED ONLY IN DELHI COURTS/ TRIBUNALS/ FORUMS AND DELHI COURTS / TRIBUNAL/ FORUMS ONLY SHALL HAVE THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION TO TRY ANY CASE / DISPUTE.
• PROPOSAL SUBMITTED THROUGH E-MAIL WILL NOT BE ENTERTAINED. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL OTHER THAN THE PRESCRIBED FORMAT SHALL SUMMARILY BE REJECTED WITHOUT ANY FURTHER PROCESSING AS PER PROGRAM

Mandatory Documents to be uploaded with the Online Proposal:

 Letter from UGC about the Recognition of the University

• Endorsement Letter from the Vice-Chancellor/Registrar of the University
• Department of Science and Technology – Policy on Conflict of Interest
• Terms and Conditions for “PURSE” program
• Project Implementation Group of PURSE (PIG)
• Endorsement Letter
• Brief Summary of the PURSE PROJECT (in two pages only)

Please note that incomplete Proposal/ Proposal not in the prescribed Format would summarily be rejected and no correspondence in such cases would be made in this respect.