National Solar Science Fellowship Programme(NSSFP)

Overview

About NSSFP

The National Solar Science Fellowship Programme was never a scholarship for students. It is the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy's award for a scientist with a decade of solar research already done, and from 2017-18 the ministry ran it under another name. The money, the selection committee and the preferred age band all changed with that name, and the ministry's human resource development budget for FY 2026-27 to 2030-31 carries no line for either name (MNRE HRD approval, 11 August 2026).

MNRE's HRD Division launched the programme by a sanction order dated 14 February 2011, which capped it at 10 fellows at any one time, only three of them in the first year, each to be attached to a host institution; the order's indicative host list opened with IISc Bangalore, TIFR Mumbai and the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in Kolkata (MNRE sanction order, 14 February 2011). The same order dates the programme "from the year 2011-12" in its opening paragraph and says it "will commence during the year 2010-11" further down, without saying which governs.

The name changed next. MNRE's guidelines for the National Renewable Energy Science Fellowship (NRESF) open by stating that the solar programme launched in February 2011 "is continued as" NRESF for 2017-18 to 2020-21, with its field widened from solar to renewable energy (MNRE, NRESF guidelines). The HRD approval for FY 2021-22 to 2025-26 kept NRESF at five fellows and set aside Rs 5 crore for it across that period (MNRE HRD approval, 7 December 2021).

The current cycle has no line for it. MNRE's approval for FY 2026-27 to 2030-31, dated 11 August 2026, names the National Renewable Energy Fellowship for M.Tech, PhD, research associate and post-doctoral positions as its fellowship component, and neither its component list nor its budget tables mention a science fellowship (MNRE HRD approval, 11 August 2026). The government's India Science, Technology and Innovation (ISTI) portal still lists the programme among national awards, with its application details marked "Under Revision" and "Updated till 2021" (ISTI portal, NSSFP listing).

Who runs it

Provider

At a glance

Key details

Calendar

Important dates

myScheme's only date for this fellowship is an opening of 1 February 2011, with no close date (myScheme, NSSFP). For NRESF itself, the 2022 call is the most recent to carry a deadline: 20 June 2022 on the invitation, moved to 21 July 2022 by an extension the HRD portal's notice list records (MNRE invitation for proposals; MNRE HRD notifications). The dates that shaped the scheme come from MNRE's own orders:

Who can apply

Eligibility criteria

The field widened when the name changed. The 2011 order asks for a doctorate in solar sciences or solar engineering, while the NRESF guidelines ask for a doctorate in science or engineering with specialisation in renewable energy sciences and at least ten years of experience in renewable energy, PhD research time included; they keep the 2011 opening for an M.Tech or M.S holder with good published work whose proposal the committee judges worth considering (MNRE, NRESF guidelines). A wind or bioenergy researcher, outside the solar wording of 2011, fits the renewable-energy wording that replaced it.

Employment status does not decide eligibility, but it has to be declared. The application proforma has one field for the current employer and salary drawn by an applicant in central, state or public service, and a separate field for the postal address of an applicant with no current post (MNRE sanction order, 14 February 2011).

Who cannot apply

Exclusions

What rules an applicant out here is a commitment, not a category. The proforma asks whether the applicant will commit to the selected host institution for the full tenure and sign a bond to that effect, and the MOU makes that commitment a duty of the fellow, so an applicant who cannot tie up a full tenure at one host has no way in (MNRE sanction order, 14 February 2011). Under NRESF, MNRE considers only host institutions in the top 100 of the National Institutional Ranking Framework with relevant faculty and facilities, so a proposal tied to a host outside that band cannot be placed unless the committee amends the criterion, which the guidelines allow (MNRE, NRESF guidelines).

Continuation

Renewal conditions

Renewal is a year-by-year progress decision, and every version of the guidelines starts a fellow on two years with up to three more granted one year at a time (MNRE, NRESF guidelines).

Money follows the paperwork. After the first instalment, each release depends on the utilisation certificate, the expenditure statement and the progress reports being submitted and accepted by MNRE, and if the committee recommends closing a project, the MOU ends on one month's notice and the host returns all unspent funds (MNRE sanction order, 14 February 2011).

The documents disagree on the full length. The 2011 order says in one clause that fellows work for three years and in another that tenure runs one to three years with a two-year extension, while the 2013 plan approval budgets its 10 fellows for three years (MNRE HRD approval, 7 October 2013). The 2021 approval gives NRESF fellows five years (MNRE HRD approval, 7 December 2021). None of the versions runs past five years in total.

What you get

Award & benefits

The amount depends on which version of the fellowship is in force, and the tax treatment of the monthly pay changed along with it.

The payment route changed too. Under the 2013 rules the whole grant goes to the host institution, which pays the fellow and accounts for the contingency and research money through a utilisation certificate and an audited statement of expenditure (MNRE HRD approval, 7 October 2013). Under NRESF, the fellowship and the contingency reach the fellow directly by Direct Benefit Transfer, and only the research grant goes to the host, although the MOU annexed to the same guidelines still has MNRE releasing the fellowship grant to the host for transmission to the fellow (MNRE, NRESF guidelines).

• Each selected Fellow will receive a total annual grant of up to ₹32.00 lakhs comprising (i) emolument of up to ₹12.00 lakhs (ii) contingencies of up to ₹5.00 lakhs and (iii) research grant of up to ₹15.00 lakhs. This will be pro-rated for the duration of the tenure of the particular Fellow.
• This grant will be released to the host institution for being granted to the Fellow.
• The Fellow may also raise additional resources from other sources such as the host Institution, grant providers, grant-in-aid Institutions, etc. for the purpose of carrying out his/her research.
• Note 01: On selection, the Fellow will be attached to one of the selected schools/institutions in consultation with the Fellow as well as the host institution.
• Note 02: Selected Fellows shall commit to work at the host institution for the full tenure of the fellowship and shall submit a bond in this regard to the host institution.
• Note 03: The Fellow must submit quarterly progress reports and a final technical report to the Fellowship Management Committee. The Fellowship Management Committee may from time to time, seek updates from the Fellow and provide inputs and guidance to the project of the Fellows so that the project remains relevant to the Government of India agenda and can be successfully completed on time.
• Note 04: An annual conference of the Fellows will be held, where the Fellows will be expected to present their findings to the Fellowship Management Committee and other invitees and share knowledge and learning and discuss areas for further collaboration and practical application of their research.
• Note 05: There would be a visible improvement in the quality of solar technology through the application of innovative solutions/technologies in the field arising out of the research under the programme.
• Note 06: The resources in terms of manpower and infrastructural facilities available at various schools/ institutions of the country would be enhanced /strengthened.

What to prepare

Documents required

The myScheme list names the certificates; the proforma attached to the 2011 order shows what the committee actually reads (MNRE sanction order, 14 February 2011). Beyond identity and qualifications, it asks for:

• the academic record from undergraduate level onwards, with any distinctions
• lists of papers and books only, with abstracts and full copies not needed at this stage
• a one-page account of original research in the chosen specialisation, linked to the committee's thrust areas
• the M.Phil. and PhD scholars guided so far, and those still under supervision
• a one-page case for selection, explaining how the project would help the Government of India solve practical solar problems in the field
• up to three references with full contact details
• the proposed host institution, group and professor, with a timeline, methodology and expected outputs

The 2011 proforma has no field for caste, and no version of the guidelines ties selection to category, although myScheme's document list includes a caste certificate.

Step by step

How to apply

myScheme's offline listing matches the 2011 order, which routes every application through an open advertisement from MNRE, answered on the prescribed proforma with an R&D proposal attached (MNRE sanction order, 14 February 2011). The NRESF call moved online: the HRD Division's invitation posted on 27 May 2022 listed the National Renewable Energy Science Fellowship programme among the components open to researchers and took those applications on the HRD portal at hrd.mnre.gov.in by 20 June 2022 (MNRE invitation for proposals; MNRE HRD notifications).

Read together, the order, the proforma and the MOU put the work in this order:

1. Wait for the advertisement. Both the 2011 and NRESF guidelines invite applications only this way, and the 2021 approval said NRESF nominations would be invited every year (MNRE HRD approval, 7 December 2021).
2. Settle the host before writing. The proforma asks you to name the institution, group and professor, and the MOU requires host and fellow to accept each other before the project starts.
3. Write the research proposal against the thrust areas the committee has identified.
4. Submit where the advertisement says: on paper to MNRE's HRD Division under the 2011 order, or online on the HRD portal, as the 2022 NRESF call required.

Tracking an Application and the Fellowship Money

No MNRE document for this fellowship describes a status tracker, on paper or on the HRD portal, so a query about a submitted application goes to the HRD Division. Payment is traced through the sanction order: MNRE issues it on selection and releases the grant to the host institution for transmission to the fellow, so an NSSFP fellow follows each instalment through the host's accounts office (MNRE sanction order, 14 February 2011). An NRESF fellow checks the bank account for the direct transfer of fellowship and contingency, and the host for the research grant; because the NRESF MOU still describes the older host route, a missing credit is worth raising with both the host and the HRD Division (MNRE, NRESF guidelines).

How winners are picked

Selection process

A committee reads the proposal; no version of the guidelines describes an exam, an interview stage or a published score sheet. The 2011 order asks for a proposal that stresses its potential impact on problems in solar energy technology and systems, tells the committee to scrutinise that proposal with the application before selecting, and then attaches each fellow to a host institution agreed with both sides (MNRE sanction order, 14 February 2011).

The committee itself changed shape twice. The 2011 order put the Secretary, MNRE in the chair. The 2013 guidelines made it an eight-member body of six eminent scientists, chaired by one of them, with the Secretary, MNRE and the HRD group head as members (MNRE HRD approval, 7 October 2013). The NRESF guidelines no longer name the Secretary: an eminent scientist chairs, four eminent scientists, experts or professors sit with MNRE's group heads, the HRD group head convenes, and the committee selects up to five fellows (MNRE, NRESF guidelines).

Fine print

Terms & conditions

The binding terms sit in the MOU between MNRE and the host institution, which the 2011 order attaches (MNRE sanction order, 14 February 2011). Beyond the bond and the reports, it commits the fellow to:

• share every outcome of the project with MNRE, including data, findings, new technology and publications
• modify or restructure the project if MNRE advises it after the committee's periodic assessment
• finish within the tenure and keep spending within the approved outlay
• exercise discretion over any sensitive or classified findings, a responsibility shared with the host

The host, for its part, must provide office space, laboratory facilities, library access and relevant databases. Disputes go to the committee, MNRE may change the MOU with the approval of its competent authority, and where the MOU is silent, MNRE's decision on the committee's recommendation is final.

Get help

Contact

The HRD Division has issued every version of this fellowship since the 2011 order, but its address has moved: that order was issued from Block No. 14, CGO Complex, Lodi Road, while MNRE's contact page now gives Atal Akshaya Urja Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110003 (MNRE, contact page). The division's email is hrd.mnre@gov.in (MNRE HRD approval, 11 August 2026), and the Application Detail button on the ISTI listing leads to the HRD portal at hrd.mnre.gov.in (ISTI portal, NSSFP listing).

Source

Official links

Frequently asked questions

From the official scheme FAQ (myScheme)

Read this

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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References

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