ICSSR International Collaboration(ICSSR INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION)

Overview

About ICSSR INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION

The name covers several unrelated grants, and the myScheme record describes only one of them: the travel grant for presenting a paper at a conference abroad. The Council's own programme is wider. It also pays for a research trip abroad to collect data or consult archives, it funds the Indian half of joint projects agreed with counterpart councils overseas, and it makes the Council one of the implementing agencies for the social science component of the Cultural Exchange Agreements and Educational Exchange Programmes signed between the Government of India and the governments of other countries (ICSSR, International Collaboration). The lanes inside the name share no eligibility test, no ceiling, no application route and no calendar. Part of the programme takes applications on any day of the year; part of it opens once, for a fixed window, then closes for a year.

The programme is run by the International Collaboration and Global Outreach Division at the ICSSR headquarters in New Delhi, which the Council lists with its own email and phone line, separate from the fellowship and project divisions (ICSSR, Divisions). Two kinds of support sit under it and they behave nothing alike.

The first is an individual grant to one Indian scholar for one trip out of India, judged case by case, with the portal open on any day of the year. The second is bilateral: the Council signs an agreement with a counterpart funding body abroad and then issues a joint call, under which an Indian team and a foreign team file a matching proposal with their own agency and both agencies have to approve before anything is funded. The Council reports bilateral collaborative agreements with 13 countries and one international organisation, among the named counterparts the National Research Council of Thailand, the Vietnam Academy of Social Science, UK Research and Innovation with the Economic and Social Research Council, the German Research Foundation, the Swiss National Science Foundation, Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (ICSSR, Annual Report 2024-25).

These are small numbers. In 2024-25 the Council funded 277 scholars under the travel grant and 13 under data collection abroad, against cumulative totals of 2694 and 499 since the programme began (ICSSR, Annual Report 2024-25).

The Council's FAQ page lists a route its programme page does not. "Visit of Scholars Under Cultural Exchange Programmes" appears there for scholars who need to travel to a country with which the Council holds a Cultural or Educational Exchange agreement, to collect research material or consult experts for a specific piece of research (ICSSR, Frequently Asked Questions). No guidelines document and no call for it sits alongside the other lanes, so anyone counting on it should write to the Division before building a field trip around it.

Who runs it

Provider

At a glance

Key details

Calendar

Important dates

The scheme record carries a blank where a deadline would go. For most of the programme the blank is correct rather than missing: the conference grant, Data Collection Abroad and the Indo-German line each run with no closing date at all. Only the joint calls with Japan, Taiwan and Switzerland need a diary entry.

The Taiwan call fixes its execution period from January 1, 2027 to December 31, 2028 (ICSSR-NSTC Joint Call for Research Proposals 2026), and the Japan call places its funded seminars between 1 April 2027 and 31 March 2028 (ICSSR-JSPS Joint Call for Research Proposals FY 2027). A team that misses a window is planning for the cycle after next.

Who can apply

Eligibility criteria

A PhD, or research far enough along to be close to one, is the floor in every lane. Above that floor the lanes diverge, and the divergence is where applications get lost.

The conference travel grant is the widest of them. Faculty in regular service at publicly funded universities, deemed-to-be universities, colleges, Institutes of National Importance as defined by the Ministry of Education or the UGC, and ICSSR research or recognised institutes qualify if they hold a PhD, as do regular Post-Graduate, PhD and post-doctoral scholars in the advanced stage of their studies. The guidelines then open a door the other lanes do not: independent scholars who served as civil servants, defence officers or comparable professionals with a social science perspective, with not less than 20 years of regular service and a demonstrable publication record, may also apply (ICSSR, Participation In International Seminar Abroad).

Data Collection Abroad narrows that. It asks for serving Indian faculty at an ICSSR research or recognised institute, an institution of national importance, or a university, deemed university or college recognised by the UGC and holding 12b status, with a PhD; PhD and post-doctoral scholars are also eligible. The 12b condition is easy to overlook and is a genuine filter on which colleges can send someone (ICSSR, Data Collection Abroad guidelines).

The joint-research lanes drop student eligibility entirely and test employment instead. Under the Indo-German call the applicant must be permanently employed in a research or academic position at a publicly funded university or college, a UGC-recognised deemed university, a publicly funded research institute or an ICSSR institute, and must hold a PhD or equivalent (ICSSR, Indo-German Funding Opportunity). The Japan call words it more tightly still, requiring employment in a permanent capacity at the time of submission (ICSSR-JSPS Joint Call for Research Proposals FY 2027). A contract-position researcher who clears the travel grant test can fail the joint-project test on the same day.

Who cannot apply

Exclusions

The travel grant's exclusion list turns on the role you have been invited to play rather than on your credentials. A scholar invited to present a poster, to chair a session, to serve as convener or rapporteur, or to attend a workshop, training, refresher, summer or winter course is not eligible. The paper has to have cleared the organiser's review and produced a formal invitation letter; the guidelines state plainly that a simple email will not be considered a formal invite. An Indian organisation running a seminar or conference abroad is outside the scheme altogether, whatever the venue (ICSSR, Participation In International Seminar Abroad).

An application filed after the event is dead on arrival: it will not be entertained or considered in any case after the applicant has participated and presented the paper, so a scholar who travels first and files afterwards has no route back.

On the data collection side, an application that was not approved will not be reconsidered, which makes the first attempt the only attempt for that trip (ICSSR, Data Collection Abroad guidelines).

The bilateral lanes add exclusions unrelated to the Indian applicant's merit. A proposal submitted by one side only is not accepted, and the Council warns Indian team leaders to confirm that the counterpart has filed a matching application. Under the Japan call, researchers based in third countries may not participate in a joint research project at all, though they may attend a joint seminar if they cover their own expenses (ICSSR-JSPS Joint Call for Research Proposals FY 2027). The Indo-Swiss call rejects anything outside its 4 declared thematic areas and anything whose duration is not exactly 36 months (SNSF and ICSSR, Indo-Swiss Joint Research Programme call 2026).

Continuation

Renewal conditions

No lane renews. What the two individual grants carry instead is a lifetime cap: a second application is considered only after a gap of 3 years, and a scholar can avail the award only twice in a lifetime. The clause is written into the conference travel grant guidelines and the Data Collection Abroad guidelines in identical words (ICSSR, Participation In International Seminar Abroad, ICSSR, Data Collection Abroad guidelines).

The joint calls handle repeat applicants by disclosure rather than by a bar. Researchers supported under any ICSSR international programme in the past 5 years must describe the results or expected results of that activity and its relevance to what they are now proposing (ICSSR-JSPS Joint Call for Research Proposals FY 2027).

What you get

Award & benefits

The conference travel grant pays two different shares, and which one applies is the most consequential fact in the scheme. Faculty are eligible for financial assistance up to 50 percent of the total cost of the visit, covering air travel, visa fee, travel insurance, local conveyance, maintenance for the days of the conference plus travel dates, and registration fee up to US$200. Full assistance on the same heads goes to faculty belonging to SC and ST categories, Persons with Benchmark Disability, and Post-Graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral researchers without salary protection, provided they have received no assistance from another source; faculty at ICSSR research and recognised institutes may also be considered for the full cost (ICSSR, Participation In International Seminar Abroad).

Data Collection Abroad publishes no rupee ceiling. It bounds the trip instead: the visit should be realistic and not more than 2 weeks, with economy airfare, visa fee, travel insurance, local conveyance and maintenance paid as per the norms specified by Government notifications (ICSSR, Data Collection Abroad).

Ceilings on the joint-research side are set call by call, each in that call's own document rather than on the programme page. The Indo-German line offers the Indian side up to a maximum of Rs 25 lakh per proposal, with the project running 2 to 3 years (ICSSR, Indo-German Funding Opportunity). The 2026 Taiwan call put Rs 12 lakh behind each of 5 joint research projects, the support meant basically for the mobility of researchers from each side (ICSSR-NSTC Joint Call for Research Proposals 2026). The Japan call for FY 2027 offered a maximum of 3 joint research projects at up to Rs 7,00,000 per fiscal year and 2 joint seminars at up to Rs 7,00,000 each (ICSSR-JSPS Joint Call for Research Proposals FY 2027). The 2026 Indo-Swiss call capped the Indian budget at Rs 25 lakh per project across exactly 36 months, funding up to 10 projects (SNSF and ICSSR, Indo-Swiss Joint Research Programme call 2026).

Who pays for whose flight is settled differently in each agreement, and it decides whether Indian-side money ever reaches a foreign visitor. Under the Japan call, ICSSR covers the international airfare between India and Japan for the Indian team and also the domestic travel and maintenance of Japanese researchers during their stay in India, with the receiving side carrying the cost of holding a seminar (ICSSR-JSPS Joint Call for Research Proposals FY 2027). The Taiwan call states the same principle in plainer words: the visiting party meets international and inter-city air travel, the receiving party meets local hospitality, boarding, lodging and ground transport for the visiting scientists (ICSSR-NSTC Joint Call for Research Proposals 2026). The Indo-Swiss call reverses it, charging international travel, living expenses and overseas medical insurance to the budget of the visiting side, with the host expected only to extend logistics and research facilities (SNSF and ICSSR, Indo-Swiss Joint Research Programme call 2026).

• Airfare – As per actuals
• Visa fee - As per actuals
• Travel Insurance - As per actuals
• Registration Fee – up to US$200
• Maintenance – As per the Ministry of External Affairs notifications

What to prepare

Documents required

The scheme record points to the call guidelines rather than listing anything, so the real list has to be read off each lane.

For the conference grant the load-bearing enclosure is the formal invitation letter that follows acceptance of the paper for oral presentation. The full-length paper to be presented is mandatory and must be in English or Hindi. On a co-authored paper the first author is preferred, and a No Objection Certificate from each of the others goes with the application (ICSSR, Participation In International Seminar Abroad).

Data Collection Abroad asks instead for proof that the trip is necessary, and applications are considered only when they carry all of it: a letter from Indian libraries, archives or institutions stating that the desired data is not available here; a letter from the foreign library, archive or institution confirming that the data exists and that access is permitted; finalised schedules of the primary or secondary data to be collected with appointments fixed with the named faculty or experts; and an academic justification for the field visit, particularly where primary sources are available online (ICSSR, Data Collection Abroad guidelines).

The Taiwan and Japan calls each post a guidelines document, a letter of affiliation and a prescribed application form on their announcement page, and nothing filed outside that form is accepted (ICSSR-NSTC Joint Call for Research Proposals 2026).

Step by step

How to apply

Every lane starts at the applicant portal, where the form is filled online with documents uploaded as PDFs; the Council recommends saving a draft before uploading files and keeping special characters out of file names (ICSSR, How to apply). After that the routes split. The conference grant and Data Collection Abroad take submissions online on any day of the year, after which a hard copy carrying all enclosures follows by post to the Division's In-charge at the Council's JNU Institutional Area address. The conference grant adds the timing rule that decides most rejections: the application should be uploaded at least three months before the due date of the conference (ICSSR, Participation In International Seminar Abroad).

The Japan and Taiwan joint calls are filed by email with a hard copy to the Division by the call deadline, while the counterpart lead files with JSPS or NSTC under that agency's own rules. The Indo-Swiss call inverts this and catches people out: the proposal is submitted only through the SNSF Portal, applications submitted in India and not through the Swiss system will not be processed, and the Indian participant must additionally email the identical consolidated PDF to the Division within 7 working days of the deadline and send one hard copy by Speed Post, on pain of disqualification (SNSF and ICSSR, Indo-Swiss Joint Research Programme call 2026).

Tracking runs through the dashboard rather than through alerts. A submitted application can be viewed on the dashboard that becomes accessible after login, and the Council advises printing it for reference (ICSSR, How to apply). Where something is stuck, a grievance portal sits on the same dashboard as the grant application login, and the split there is explicit: a portal fault belongs to the Computer Centre, while any other query goes to the divisional In-charge (ICSSR, Application Login Dashboard). For the joint calls the outcome arrives the same way, by email from the Division, and not as a status change on the portal.

How winners are picked

Selection process

The two individual grants share one route. The Secretariat scrutinises applications, an Expert Committee then reviews them, and its recommendations go to the Research Committee or the Council for final approval. What the Committee weighs differs: for the conference grant it is the applicant's research background, the quality of the paper to be presented and the academic credentials of the organising institution, while on the data collection side the guidelines make the merit of the proposal and the justification for a foreign visit for field work the sole criteria (ICSSR, Participation In International Seminar Abroad, ICSSR, Data Collection Abroad guidelines).

The conference lane also names who gets preference: younger scholars, scholars attending a conference or seminar for the first time, and scholars from remote and backward areas, along with invitations from global subject associations and reputed international organisations or universities (ICSSR, Participation In International Seminar Abroad).

The bilateral lanes run a double review. Under the Japan call the two agencies may review separately and then make joint selections against published criteria running from scientific excellence and the necessity of cooperation to policy impact and the fostering of young researchers (ICSSR-JSPS Joint Call for Research Proposals FY 2027). The Indo-Swiss call is the most explicit about the shape of its funnel: about 4 external peer reviews are sought per proposal, 2 nominated by each agency; an evaluation panel then rates and ranks; an optional preselection for rejection may remove up to 50% of proposals before the panel meets in detail; and the highest-ranked 10 are recommended for funding, with lots drawn if the funding line runs through proposals of identical quality (SNSF and ICSSR, Indo-Swiss Joint Research Programme call 2026). Under the Indo-German arrangement, funding is granted only where both ICSSR and DFG recommend it, and unilateral funding of one part of a joint initiative is not possible (ICSSR, Indo-German Funding Opportunity).

Fine print

Terms & conditions

Air tickets must be economy class and bought only from the 3 government-approved agencies, Ashoka Travels and Tours, Balmer Lawrie and Company, and the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation; the Council may ask for a copy of the tickets booked and the visa obtained before departure (ICSSR, Participation In International Seminar Abroad).

Money moves at different points in the two individual lanes. The conference grant is a reimbursement: expenditure is repaid on submission of the original boarding pass, attendance certificate, statement of expenditure and a conference report that the supervisor or the head of the department or centre has forwarded. Data Collection Abroad releases the maintenance component before the visit begins against a copy of the passport, the visa, the ticket and an undertaking, and where the scholar's airfare comes from another source, 75% of the maintenance grant is advanced and the remaining 25% follows the documents (ICSSR, Data Collection Abroad); any unspent balance must be refunded (ICSSR, Data Collection Abroad guidelines).

Acknowledgement is a condition of the grant, not a courtesy. The presented paper is expected to appear in a high-value journal, edited book or report with due acknowledgement to the Council, the slide or oral presentation must clearly display the ICSSR logo and its support, and the guidelines reserve the Council's own right to publish papers presented abroad. Anything published from material gathered under a data collection grant carries the same acknowledgement, with a copy sent to the Council.

The joint lanes add institutional obligations. Under the Japan call, funds are administered by the Indian team leader's institution, team leaders must file a report by the due date that will be given public access, researchers on the joint projects must complete a research ethics education course, and the Council may terminate a project or claw back part or all of the funds where money is misused or misconduct is found; the same call states that the Council does not support visa issuance or accommodation. Under the Indo-Swiss call, intellectual property belongs to the researchers or their institutions, an agreement on it should be signed before the project starts with a copy to both agencies, and the Indian budget reaches the principal investigator's institution in annual instalments against annual financial and technical reports.

Get help

Contact

Every lane in this programme answers to one desk, the International Collaboration and Global Outreach Division, which publishes icgdivision[at]icssr[dot]org and the numbers +919220521104 and +91-11-49979782, and names Shri M.P. Madhukar, Senior Consultant (Research), as its head at hod[dot]icgd[at]icssr[dot]org (ICSSR, Divisions). The bilateral calls route correspondence to the same officer, writing as In-charge of the Division, at adinchargeics[at]gmail[dot]com. Where a hard copy has to follow the online form, it goes to the Council at Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, JNU Institutional Area, New Delhi 110067, and the Council asks for the scheme applied under to be written on the envelope (ICSSR, How to apply). Portal faults go to the Computer Centre at cc[at]icssr[dot]org.

Source

Official links

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Disclaimer

Disclaimer

Scheme details are compiled from myScheme, the Government of India’s official scheme-discovery platform, and are reproduced without alteration. Amounts, deadlines and eligibility change between cycles, so always confirm on the official links above before applying. Expertie does not process applications or charge fees.

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