Keeping the aspiration to become a University Teacher or an Assistant Professor and making every possible effort to actualize this dream, is the new career trend of millions of aspirants in India.
Every year, almost 10-11 lakhs applicants register for UGC NET. On the other hand, the CSIR NET Exam authorities witness the registration of almost 3-4 lakh science students.
Apart from these major exams, there are many such competitive tests through which the teaching enthusiasts can meet their career goals.
Thanks to the University Grants Commission who holds the maintenance of higher education by providing recognition to Universities & a huge amount of fund to ease out their operations & functionalities.
Moreover, the UGC provides outstanding career benefits to University Teachers and motivate them to enhance their knowledge base by providing the funds and grants for the major researches.
If you’ve already qualified UGC NET/CSIR NET or aspiring to qualify any of these exams, you should be aware of the UGC grants for teachers as well as the guidelines to avail these grants for UGC Major Research Projects 2023.
Here in this blog, we’ll provide you an authentic information about the UGC Major Research Project & UGC Minor Research Project Eligibility Guidelines, Applying Procedures & Grants offered by the commission.
Available Grants for Faculties
Who is Eligible for UGC Research Projects?
How to Apply for UGC Research Projects (Major & Minor)
General Instruction & Guidelines
Which Grants are Available for Faculties to Handle UGC Research Projects 2023?
Do you know what kind of grants are available to you after becoming a college or university faculty? If not! Then read the following information carefully.
All grants are given to the teachers would be based on the numerous requirements.
For the needs of teachers and their support, the commission will provide financial assistance for the items like books and journals, equipment, contingency, hiring services, chemical and consumables, fieldwork and travels.
The allowable grants to the university teachers are subdivided into two categories
Non – Recurring Grants
Recurring Grants
These grants are the fixed expenses of university teachers. Let’s discuss in brief!
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Non-Recurring Grants
These are the expenses which are required by the teachers on daily basis and the grants can also be repeated again and again.
Following are the Non-Recurring Grants allowed by the commission
1. Equipment, Books & Journals –
For a proposed research work, it's essential to have the equipment, books and Grants are provided to obtain these necessary journals, books and equipment.
If there any necessity of increment in the cost of approved equipment that will be only met out of saving/re-appropriation from the Non-recurring head which will be approved by Principal/Registrar of the college/University under intimation to the commission.
After the completion of Project, the books & journals and equipment should be submitted to University/College/Institution or in the departmental library or in central
Recurring Grants
These are non-regular grants which need only one-time expenses. Recurring grants offered by commission are for teachers (working & retired), project fellows, specialized technical assistants and other project-based employees.
Following are the Recurring provided by the commission for UGC Research Projects –
1. Honorarium to Retired Teachers –
All the retired teachers up to the age of 70 years will be provided honorarium of INR 18,000 per month.
In the situation, when the Principal Investigator reaches at the age of 70 years in the middle of the project and some more work is awaiting to be done in the project, it will be the duty of the Principal Investigator to complete the work without any honorarium till the completion of the project.
If a teacher retires in between the tenure of the project, he/she will also be eligible to get the honorarium on receipt of an affidavit indicating his/her date of birth, date of superannuation and a certification that the teacher is not employed or working or drawing honorarium from any other Government/Non-Government organization.
2. Project Fellow–
Candidates who qualify the NET (National Eligibility Test) or GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) and Non-GATE/Non-Net aspirants may be appointed as Project Fellow with different consolidated fellowship.
GATE or UGC NET JRF qualified candidates will get INR 16,000 per month for initial 2 years and INR 18,000 per month for the third year.
Non-GATE/Non-NET candidate will get INR 14,000 per month for initial 2 years and INR 16,000 for the third year.
Project Fellow may also get suitable hostel type accommodation (HRA) as per rules of University/Institution.
All the female Project Fellow will be eligible for maternity leave at full rates for a period not exceeding four months once only during the tenure of the UGC Major Research Project.
Project Fellows will not be allowed to avail vacations like summer, winter, Pooja etc.
Medical facilities may be provided to the Project Fellow as per the rules of University.
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3. Hiring Services
There are some services which are based on payments. These services are meant for specialized technical work like Stenographic/Data Entry Operator etc. For such type of services, there are no infrastructures.
Such principal investigators who have not been given Project Fellow on a regular basis may hire a person for technical assistance. And the person who will be appointed must fulfill the prescribed qualifications for Project Fellow.
The hired technical assistance person may be paid remuneration at par with the Project Fellow limited to a maximum of 6 months in the total tenure of the project.
4. Contingency –
Grants which claimed under the contingency may be –
Photostat copies and microfilms.
Spares for apparatus.
Expenditure on advertisement for post of Project Fellow.
Stationary.
Telephone Calls.
Internet.
Fax.
Postage.
Computation and printing needed for the project.
5. Chemical and Consumables –
Grants are provided for glassware, chemicals and for other consumable items in the various Research Laboratories.
6. Special Needs –
Any other special requirements related to the project will be assisted which is not covered under any other ‘Head’ of assistance under the scheme.
7. Travel and Field Work –
The allocated amount for travel and field work is to be utilized for the collection of documents, data, visit libraries for the ongoing project etc.
This amount should not be used for attending the seminars, workshops, conferences and any training course.
The PI’s may travel by any of the transport modes if they permitted for the same in their parent Organisation/Institutions restricted to the allocation under the concerned head.
As per the rules of University, they may also avail special casual leave/duty for field work or collect any data.
Travels in foreign also strictly prohibited in this scheme.
8. Re-Appropriation –
Maximum 20% of the recurring grant may be re-appropriated by the Principal Investigator allocated under each head with the permission of Registrar/Principal under intimation to the UGC with the justification.
The fellowship/Honorarium/Institutional overhead grants will not be re-appropriated.
9. Institutional Overheads –
An additional UGC Grants for Research Projects will also be provided to the host institute to the tune of 10% of the approved recurring grant as an overhead cost. These grants will be provided to improve the infrastructural facilities which include office support, administrative and accounting services to the PI’s.
10. Tenure and Implantation –
The grant will tenure and implement the project for three years.
The commission will give the effective date of implementation of the project in the approval-cum-sanction
Note – All of these grants would not be valid for the UGC Fake Universities.
As a university teacher If you also want to take advantage of all these grants, then you must have to follow all the below mentioned eligibility guidelines for UGC Projects.
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Who is Eligible for UGC Research Projects? Analyze Your Eligibility!
Teachers who are working in the UGC Approved Universities and Colleges are supported by University Grants Commission under section 2(f) and 12 B of UGC Act, 1956.
As per the 12th plan guidelines, teachers must be eligible to get the support of UGC Major Research Project Online.
Below, we have shared the complete eligibility criteria which are required to be fulfilled by teachers/lecturers –
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The permanent teachers who are working in self-financing institutes or colleges are eligible under this scheme.
Adequate research facilities should be available in the universities or colleges which forward their proposal.
Teaching faculty of Library Science, Physical Education, Principals and Vice-Chancellors are eligible and can take participate in the scheme.
A working or retired teacher can take advantage of one scheme at a time. The scheme must be completed before the other offer has been accepted.
The Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator have to refund the entire amount paid by the UGC in all the schemes if they fail to abide by the rules.
All the responsibilities regarding the project will be of Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator or host institution.
If a teacher completes his/her project as per the date of finalization of accounts of the project and desire to undertake another project, it is compulsory to take a one-year gap for the next project.
After completion of the project, its compulsory to publish two papers in a reputed UGC Approved Journal by the Principal Investigator.
The paper can be in the form of Article/Books/Presentation etc.
Teachers who got retired from the University or Institute and wish to apply for the scheme are only eligible upto the age of 67 years. Retired teacher should also have a Co-Investigator from the same department, where the project is likely to be undertaken.
If your eligibility determines the above points, then you can procced for the next step of Applying for UGC Research Projects.
How to Apply for Receiving the Approval on UGC Research Projects 2023? (Major & Minor)
The teachers of universities who are eligible for the UGC Major Research Projects & Minor Research Projects should know about the complete procedure of applying for approval for the grants.
Below, we have shared the complete information on ‘How an eligible teacher submits the application form and how it will be approved?’.
Procedure to Apply for UGC Research Project for Teachers –
The teachers who are eligible for UGC Major Research Project Online Submission will have to fill the prescribed format of UGC Major Research Project which will be available on the official website of UGC.
The concerned institute should get the proposal assessed by their research bodies with a certificate and should mention that the proposed research work is in conformity with the MRP guidelines. This process should be done before submitting the application form for MRP.
The downloaded three copies of the same duly forwarded by the Principal/Registrar of the concerned University/College/Institution need to be bought at the time of interface meeting.
UGC Minor Projects will be allocated by the concerned University out of the development grants.
College teachers, who wish to avail financial assistance for their minor research project have to submit their MRP applications in the prescribed proforma at UGC concerned regional office which is located in the following cities – Bhopal, Guwahati, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and in Pune.
Teachers who are from the colleges of Northern Region including Delhi may apply to the Northern Region Colleges Bureau which is situated at 35, Feroz Shah Road, New Delhi – 110001.
Procedure for Approval of UGC Research Project for Teachers
If the proposal found to be completed in all the respect of the Principal Investigators, the applicants will be invited for making presentations before the committee.
The Participants will not be paid for any TA/DA.
The decision will be taken by the University Grants Commission on the basis of all the recommendations made by the committee and on the availability of funds under the scheme.
All those are the special key points that you should know well before applying for research projects.
Below we are going to tell some more general instructions which are very important to be known by you.
UGC Major Research Project 2023 General Instructions and Guidelines
The University Grants Commission has set some general instructions and guidelines, which are compulsory to be known by all the teachers. These instructions will help you to clear all your doubts regarding the Projects for Teachers.
When the selection procedure of the UGC Major Research Projects will get finalized, the names of all the selected PI will be announced on the official website of UGC.
To get the approval/sanction letters, the Principal Investigators have to check their names and also required to send the acceptance certificate duly forwarded by the Registrar/Principal of the institutions immediately.
Principal Investigator who need to go outside the country for an assignment should not exceed more than three months. In the absence of Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator will have to act as Principal Investigator.
The project will not be transferable in any case.
If the PI gets transferred from the original place of work to another institution, there is no requirement for furnished objection certificate from both the institutions. All the facilities will be provided as per the necessity.
Principal Investigator may publish the results of the study on the project acknowledging the contribution made by the staff appointed for the project and the support received from the UGC.
Fellows who are engaged in project may enrol for Ph.D. The generated data and results out of the project can be used by the Fellow in his/her proposal ideas by consulting the Principal Investigator.
If a PI fails to complete the project, the entire amount sanctioned has to be refunded by the Principal Investigator with the interest.
There will be no extension in tenure in any circumstances.
The candidates who perform well in the research field may also receive UGC Awards or CSIR Awards based on their performances.
So, the above-mentioned guidelines are the base for providing grants to university/college teacher for UGC Research Project.
We hope that the information given by us is beneficial for you.
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