UGC National Fellowship for OBC Candidate

India Education

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has been managing the National Fellowship (NF) Scheme for Other Backward Classes (OBC), which is funded by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India, New Delhi. There are over 300 slots which are available every year. There’s a 3% reservation for awarding fellowship to research scholars from disabled category belonging to OBC category.

Programs

The National Fellowship for OBC Candidate 2015 has been started for providing the OBC students an opportunity for undertaking research and advanced studies. The aim is to provide financial assistance to students in the OBC section for pursuing higher studies finally leading to M.Phil and Ph.D degrees (full-time) in Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences as well as Engineering & Technology in Indian institutions which have been approved under Section 2(f) and 12(B) of UGC Act.

Also read: List of scholarships in India & to study abroad

Important dates

30 June, 2015 is the last date to apply.

Eligibility criteria

Those OBC Candidates who have cleared Post Graduate examination in their respective subject and look to pursue full-time research without UGC-CSIR NET or JRF of UGC-NET. The candidate must belong to OBC category and also should have cleared Post Graduate examination. On the other hand, the annual income of parents shall not exceed Rs.6 lakh per annum from sources.

Students having registered for M.Phil./Ph.D. would be eligible for consideration for award of fellowship and the selection would be done through meritocracy.

Details about scholarship

The scholarship tenure would be for two years initially under NF Scheme. However, before the end of the tenure, the fellow’s work would be evaluated through a committee of three members. If everything is fine, then the tenure shall be extended for three more years under enhanced remuneration structure of National Fellowship Senior Research Fellowship (NFSRF). The total fellowship support shall remain five years and the amount shall be Rs.25,000 for first two years and Rs 28,000 for the last three years.

The Fellow would be reimbursed for hostel fee but excluding water charges, electricity etc if the hostel is recognized by the institution. However, in case of him making an arrangement for accommodation, fellow would be entitled to draw HRA as per rules laid out by Government of India.

Besides the scholarship, there is also a provision for Contingency A which is Rs.10,000 per annum for initial two years Humanities & Social Sciences and Rs. 20,500 for the rest of the period. On the other hand, there is Contingency B which provides Rs.12,000 per annum for two years for subjects of Science, Engineering & Technology and Rs.25,000 per annum for the remaining tenure.

For the blind and physically handicapped candidates, there is reader assistance of Rs.2000 per month.

Application procedure

Candidates interested can fill the application online through the website, www.ugc.ac.in/nfobc/. After doing the same, a registration ID is generated which can be utilised for generating pdf file once submission process is completed. Students would have to fill up details pertaining to Research work that includes research topic, subject etc while other details such as Other Information regarding Present Employment should also be provided. Besides this, the scholarship entails submission of some mandatory documents including:

Scanned Copy of Caste Certificate OBC
Scanned Copy of Parent’s Income Certificate
A scanned copy of the candidate’s recent color photograph and signature
A Declaration from Head of Department or competent authority of the University /College for forwarding of application as well as necessary facilities that would be given to candidates during research of M.Phil/Ph.D. respectively
Scanned copy of Post-Graduate degree.

Contact

Students who need more information may contact the UGC at the following address:

University Grants Commission
Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi- 110002
Website: www.ugc.ac.in
Contact no: 011-23239627