On behalf of the Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy, UK and the Ministry of Science and Technology, India, British Council- India, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) India are pleased to invite applications for funding to support short-term PhD placements between UK and Indian institutions. 

It is the fourth consecutive year Newton Fund India in partnership with DST and DBT is offering opportunity for the UK and Indian PhD scholars to spend a period of their study (2 to 4 months) in Indian and UK higher education institutions taking place between March to December 2018.

The programme is envisaged to:

• Develop individual capacity through international training and development opportunities
• Increase the number of highly trained researchers in the UK and India with international experience, able to contribute to the absorptive capacity for research and innovation and thus bring about economic and social benefits
• Build cultural understanding, and foster long-term sustainable research collaborations
• Develop international joint training pathways
• Increase awareness of the research strengths of the UK and India

In UK, the scheme is open only for UK scholars pursuing their PhD at a UK higher education institution. (Please see list of eligible institutions under downloads section) 

In India, The scheme is open only for Indian scholars enrolled at Indian higher education institution with following criteria: 

1. INSPIRE PhD Senior Research Fellows (SRFs) of Batch 2014 are eligible to apply for a STEM and Life Sciences subject. 
2. PhD Scholar (other than INSPIRE Fellows) who have qualified through national level test and are pursuing PhD in mid second or third year of Life sciences are eligible to apply. 

Please refer to call guidelines for full details of eligibility criteria.

The application should be submitted by PhD scholar with endorsement from both the sending and receiving Head of Department and supervisors with the latter’s confirmation that they will host the PhD scholars; duration of the stay and level of bench fees if they charge (bench fees is applicable only for UK host Universities) 

UK applicants apply here

Indian applicants apply here