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India Offers Fellowships For Scientific Talent
India has instituted two national research fellowships to attract the best scientific talent to boost research activities in the country, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said here Friday.
Of the two fellowships - Ramanujan Fellowship and J.C. Bose Fellowship, the former will have a value of Rs.50, 000 a month with an additional contingency amount of Rs.500,000 a year.
The Ramanujan Fellowships are meant to attract brilliant scientists and engineers from all over the world to take up scientific research positions in the country, Sibal told at a press conference.
The J.C. Bose National Fellowships are meant to recognise active and performing scientists and engineers who are below the age of 60. The J.C. Bose Fellows will be provided a fellowship of Rs.20, 000 a month in addition to their regular income during a five-year term.
Sibal said: There will be a bank of such fellowships, which will be operated by the Department of Science and Technology.
V.S. Ramamurthy, secretary in the Department of Science and Technology, expressed optimism that several Indians studying or working abroad would like to avail of this opportunity to work in their own country in their areas of scientific interest.
The fellowships are valid for five years, and those selected can work in any of India`s institutions and universities.
For those who continue as fellows after a period of three years, the fellowship value will be increased to Rs.60, 000 a month for the last two years. The Ramanujan Fellows will be eligible for regular research grants from various science and technology agencies.
The fellowships are named after Srinivasa Ramanujan and Jagdish Chandra Bose, two of India`s best-known pioneering scientists.
Ramanujan was one of India`s greatest mathematical geniuses and made substantial contributions to the analytical theory of numbers. He also worked on elliptic functions, continued fractions and infinite series.
Bose was a leading physicist of his age and pioneered the investigation of microwave optics in the late 1800s. He made the first public demonstration of radio communication and is also credited with proving plants have nervous responses similar to those of animals.