The great Indian physicist CV Raman founded The Indian
Academy of Sciences in the year 1934.
The very cause of establishing an academy of such a kind was to promote
the progress and upholding the cause of science.
It has three functioning bodies as
follows:
1)The Indian National Science
Academy-New Delhi
2)The National Academy of
Sciences-Allahabad
3)Indian Academy Of
sciences-Bangalore
Since then the IAS has seen a huge number of
applicants applying for this prestigious and most sought fellowship among
students and teachers across India.
Let me walk you through few
questions on how I managed to get my Summer Research Fellowship.
The most important question is
when to apply?
Each year the INSA-NAS-IAS invites applications for
its well-reputed Summer Research Fellowship Programme (SRFP). The applications
are accepted through an online forum in the month of November. The selected candidates are required to work for a period of not less than 56 days under any circumstances.
What is the procedure?
The application is designed to be a two-tier
process where both the student and a point of contact from the place of the
institution you are currently studying in needs to participate for successful
completion of the application.
Let us first focus on the tier 1
At the very first the applicant
has to choose for any 1 out of the 6 disciplines offered by the
academy where you wish to work in. The 6 disciplines are as follows
1. Chemistry
2.Earth & Planetary Sciences
3.Engineering including Computer
Sciences
4.Life Sciences
5.Mathematics
6.Physics
Here the student is required to fill in personal
information. Well, what makes a difference here is that you also need to upload
scanned copies of your academic scorecards from class 10th right up-till your
current semester. Following this, the student is required to elaborate upon
what he/she intends to work on and how this is going to benefit you if you are
provided the fellowship in about 300 words. Then there is a section where you
need to discuss the projects you have undertaken, courses, training or papers
published by you if any. Lastly, you have to provide the details of a point of
contact from your institution. By the point of contact what I mean to say is
anyone from the institution like your HOD or any professor who knows you
well.
Lets move on to tier 2
Once you are done with tier 1 and submit the
application. A secure mail would be sent directly through mail to the
point of contact. The POC has to open the link provided through their mail and
fill in 5 positive and negative qualities about the applicant, ability to work
in a team and caliber of the student to take up and finish a research project.
Make sure that your POC submits this within a timeline of 2-3 days upon which
your application is said to be submitted successfully.
Who can apply?
The fellowship is awarded to students meeting the
following criteria
·
BS / BSc / BVSc (II year only)
·
BPharm (III and IV years only)
·
BE / BTech / BCA (II and III years
only)
·
BArch(II,III and IV years only)
·
MS / MSc / MVSc / MPharm (I year
only)
·
ME / MTech / MCA / MArch (I year
only)
·
(5-year incorporated ) MS / MSc
/MTech / MBBS (II, III, IV years only)
·
PharmD (III, IV years only)
·
(dual degree) BTech + MTech
(II/,III,IV years only)
·
(dual degree) BE + MSc (II, III, IV
years only)
·
(dual degree) BS + MS (II, III, IV
years only)
·
Integrated PhD (I, II years only)
·
MSc Tech (I, II years only)
When is the list of selected
candidates displayed?
The names of the selected applicants and the name
of your guide(the one who you would be working with)from the host
institution gets displayed on the SRFP website from
February end.
Here is the catch, don't get disheartened if you
can't find your name in the list initially. The list gets updated with new
names as soon as your guide makes an approval to the IAS.
What to do after your selection?
The academy will send you a selection letter
through email within a few days and provide you with your application number
and a password along with a link.
This link will take you to a login page of the
SRFP. Once you log in, you need to provide the complete bank details to which
your fellowship amount will be transferred post successful completion of your
project. Then you need to plan your visit by contacting your guide and as per
your convenience and notify your date of arrival in that web page.
The academy will also issue you a hard copy of your
selection letter along with a letter of acceptance(a pink leaflet)by post which
you are required to fill in and send it back to the academy. Failing to do so
your fellowship stands canceled. Even if you are not able to take up the
fellowship due to any reasons you have to notify this to the academy both
online and offline.
What are the benefits of SRF Programme?
Obviously it will speak a lot in your resume.
Access to a varied field of knowledge through the
numerous talks presented by subject matter experts and researchers. From my
experience, if you are alien to biology then you are going to learn a lot.
Talks presented for SRF's posted here at Bangalore
are as follows:
Also, the SRF's are invited for dinner with guest
speakers which is fun.
The SRF's are provided with monthly expenses to
meet with. For SRFP-2019 the fellowship amount was Rs 12500/- pm. The amount
would be released after you make your 4-week and 8-week report submission.
Accommodation is also taken care of by the IAS, but it is provided on first cum
first basis.
Overall it is the research culture and the
knowledge that you will be taking away from this programme.
What does matter, Is it the grades, CGPA or papers
published that gets you selected?
Let me share my very own academic profile and other
details as required in the application form.
Class 10th:
9 CGPA
ClasS 12th:
79%
B.Tech (uptill 5th sem): 8.2CGPA
Papers Published:
NIL
Projects Done:
Quite a few related to robotics
Online MOOCS:
NPTEL-robotics
Training:
PLC and SCADA and Motor Drives
So if it was all about marks and number of papers
published, I would have not been coming here to IISc and writing this blog.
MAGIC POTION
All that matters is how clearly you express your
motivation, excitation and the innovation you want to bring through those
150-250 words in your application.
Remember that those 150-250 words should be truly
yours and transfer your thoughts clearly to the reader. Never ever copy someone
else's style as everyone has their own unique way of writing.
How did I get to IISc, Bangalore and what project
am I doing?
Once the academy receives your application, it
tries to streamline your area of research with a professor, researcher or
scientist whose work is centered around the applicant's area of interest.
I had mentioned my interest in nano-robotics
through my application and I was lucky enough to get a guide working similar to
my area of interest.
I am working with Dr. Manoj Varma and my research
project is about Steering a Swarm of Nanorobots using External
Magnetic Field.
Nicely articulated and presented. Thank you!
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