India Alliance Margdarshi Fellowships
The overarching mandate of the programme is to transform the research environment and capabilities at the Host Institution by identifying new and creative research directions.
The format of the India Alliance Margdarshi Fellowship scheme has recently undergone a major revision. Significant changes have been made to broaden its scope and to enable the scheme to attract candidates of the highest caliber. A summary of the changes is provided here
It is not mandatory for the Applicant to commit 100% of his/her time towards the Margdarshi programme at the host institution. Applicants will be expected to make a sensible commitment that satisfies the scientific, administrative, mentoring and team building requirements of the programme.
This flexibility on time commitment has been introduced to allow highly successful scientists to continue with their other position/commitments at the parent institution, in parallel.
The old cap of INR 10 crores (~ USD 1.5 million; GBP 1.0 million) over the 5-year Margdarshi Programme has now been removed. The new format provides flexibility to the Applicant to decide the total budget of his/her programme from the pool of funds that will be earmarked by India Alliance for the Margdarshi Fellowship scheme in a particular year. For 2016-17, INR 15 Crore (~ USD 2.2 million; GBP 1.5 million) has been allocated for the Margdarshi programme.
The Margdarshi Fellowship Committee will decide the number of Fellowships to be awarded in a given year and the final budget for each programme based on the quality of the cohort and individual applications.
Relocation from the current institution to a new Host Institution is no longer required to apply for the Margdarshi Fellowship. However, candidates who are currently located outside India must propose a Host Institution within India where the Margdarshi Programme will be based. This change was implemented in the year 2014-15. Applicants must however outline their engagement plans with the wider scientific community, and an outreach beyond the scope of their proposed research.
Vision of the Margdarshi Fellowship Programme
The Margdarshi Programme requires a “synergistic effort” between the Host Institution and a scientist with an exemplary track record in biomedical research.
The Host Institution and the Applicant are encouraged to make a joint effort towards establishing a ‘Center of Excellence’. It is envisaged that this synergy will be effective in opening new opportunities for realising their common vision.
By using the expertise of a visionary scientist, this scheme should be used to build institutional capacity and to establish inter-institutional links towards creating a new research programme.
This will provide institutions an opportunity to identify a highly accomplished scientist from within or from any other institution in India or overseas to set up a research programme of their interest.
Similarly, interested candidates are encouraged to approach their own institutions or any other institution in India to nucleate a new programme of research using their unique expertise. It is expected that the proposed programme will add value to existing research at the Host Institution in accordance with mutually agreed interests.
Institutions are therefore expected to demonstrate a strong commitment by proposing robust mechanisms that they will put in place for successful execution of the programme.
Applicants, especially those from outside India, are expected to demonstrate strong integration within the Host Institution. This could, for example, be through an existing engagement, or any other mechanism that demonstrates commitment.
It is expected that this mechanism will:
1. induce scientific leaders to set up partnerships with the Indian biomedical research community.
2. provide mentorship and training to students, postdoctoral fellows and junior scientists in cutting-edge biomedical research.
3. seed new areas of research within the Indian biomedical research ecosystem.
The overall goal of the Programme is to utilise the expertise of highly accomplished scientists to speed the development of biomedical research in India.
Framework of the Research Programme and Guidelines
The overarching mandate of the programme is to transform the research environment and capabilities at the Host Institution by identifying new and creative research directions. The Margdarshi Fellow should be the vehicle for establishing a biomedical research programme that is sufficiently different from the ones that already exist at the host institution.
The programme must be designed to employ innovative approaches for bringing in new expertise in frontier areas, creating new infrastructure, building collaborative networks and training young scientists. It should be able to provide new impetus to the research environment and must demonstrate the potential to develop into an important center of research. Applicants must also outline their engagement plans with the wider scientific community, and an outreach beyond the scope of their proposed research.
A clear plan must be shared to justify the need for collaboration between the participating elements and the mechanisms that will be put in place to achieve the desired impact.
Two institutions may also come together towards creating a new programme not available in either of the institutions. They should make a concerted effort under the leadership of a visionary scientist, who will lead this initiative and will also be responsible for capitalising available resources towards developing a cutting edge programme.
The degree of collaboration and the contributions expected of all the components must be outlined in the proposal. It should also state how the integration of resources and expertise will enhance scientific understanding that would otherwise not be possible if the participating institutions and individuals worked independently.
It is important that adequate governance procedures must be followed. These include the distribution of funds, data management, resource sharing and ownership of the data generated out of the proposed initiative.
The Fellowship is for five years, and provides:
• Generous personal support for the Fellow
• Salary support for personnel, which may include Assistant Professors
• Equipment and supplies (including animals, if required)
• Funds to attend scientific meetings, support collaborative visits and organise meetings
• Overheads for the Host Institution
India Alliance has not set a cap for the Margdarshi Fellowship scheme. Instead, applicants are requested to share an estimate of their budgetary requirements from the pool of funds, which India Alliance will earmark exclusively for the Margdarshi Fellowship and which may vary from one year to the other.For 2016-17, INR 15 Crore (~ USD 2.2 million; GBP 1.5 million) has been allocated for the Margdarshi programme.
This option provides flexibility to request funds as per the requirements of the proposed programme, within the total ceiling in a given year. The Margdarshi Fellowship Committee will decide the number of Fellowships to be awarded in a given year and the final budget for each programme based on the quality of the cohort and individual applications.
Applicants would be expected to decide their requirement of funds on their own and the office will not be able to make any suggestions in this regard. Costs requested by the Applicant should be commensurate with their proposed programme and should be fully justified in the application. Inadequate justifications are likely to result in poor review of the application and/or costs being revised.
The budget includes the costs requested by the Applicant and the Host Institution, as well as India Alliance’s contributions towards the Fellow’s personal support and institutional overhead charges.
Applicants are required to submit a detailed budget with suitable justifications, which is prepared in consultation with the Host Institution.
Candidate
Candidates of all nationalities and origins are eligible to apply if they are pursuing or intend to pursue research at an institution in India.
There is no age limit to apply for the Fellowship. However, Applicants should not use this scheme to propose a post-retirement settlement plan.
Applicants would normally be expected to be running an independent laboratory for at least 10 years and have an outstanding scientific record.
Eligible candidates should have:
• Demonstrated leadership skills
• Made significant and outstanding contributions in biomedical research
• Mentored young scientists and students
• Attracted extramural funds from peer-reviewed competitive sources
• Established important national and international collaborations
• Maintained high ethical standards of research and financial management
To be eligible, an Applicant must be sponsored by a Host Institution located in India. This scheme provides the flexibility of choosing two Host Institutions.
Flexibility in time commitment:
It is not mandatory for the Applicant to commit 100% of his/her time towards the Margdarshi Fellowship Programme at the Host institution. Applicants will be expected to make a suitable commitment that satisfies the scientific, administrative, mentoring and team building requirements of the programme.
This flexibility on time commitment has been introduced to allow highly successful scientists to continue with their other position/commitments at the parent institution, in parallel.
In cases where the Applicant will continue to hold the previous position at an institution within India or overseas, the parent institution as well as the Host Institution will be required to communicate the following.
1. Agreement to the dual appointment of the Applicant
2. Confirmation of the time distribution proposed by the Applicant
3. Level of engagement with the Applicant during the Fellowship tenure and beyond
4. Changes to the personal support (salary) of the Applicant
5. Plans to establish a long-term collaboration between the two institutions and potential benefits of this partnership
It is not mandatory for the Applicant to hold a confirmed appointment at the Host Institution. A long-term commitment will however be important to foresee the impact the partnership proposed through the Margdarshi Fellowship programme.
It is essential that the intended programme be conceived in consultation with the Host Institution, and clear evidence of that provided in the application.
To ascertain the level of coordination, collaboration and integration between the stakeholders as desired by the mandate of the Margdarshi Fellowship programme, the Applicant and the Sponsor(s) are required to submit a joint application by the announced deadline. No exceptions to this deadline will be made.
The complete application will include:
• Applicant Form
• Sponsorship form(s)
• Consent form by Sponsor(s)
The Applicant and the Sponsor(s) at the Host Institution will be required to explain (1) their strategic thinking and conceptualisation of the proposed programme, (2) how the Applicant’s experience, knowledge and reputation in the field of interest will help in introducing a new programme at the Host Institution, (3) the support committed by the Host Institution to achieve the desired impact, and (4) the expected short-term and long-term outcomes.
It will be necessary to demonstrate how this Fellowship will pave way for establishing a larger programme in future and opening new avenues for other researchers. Applicants should also outline their engagement plans with the wider scientific community, and an outreach beyond the scope of their proposed research.
It is not mandatory for applicants who are already pursuing research in India to relocate to another institution. However, if the programme necessitates relocation, interested applicants can do so. In such cases, applicants will have to detail the reasons for leaving their current institution and how the proposed relocation will augment their scientific activities and enhance research activities at the proposed institution.
The Lead Applicant and the Sponsor/Host Institution(s) will be required to fill online Forms, which will be made available through IASys, the India Alliance online application portal. Deadlines communicated in advance will be strictly enforced.
A format of the Sponsor’s consent form is included in the application form. The Sponsor at the Host Institution must upload this form through IASys. If there are two Sponsors, both of them will be required to upload their respective consent forms. Please note that a completed consent form is mandatory for the application to be considered in the competition.
An invitation to the next level of the competition will be contingent upon a successful review of the joint application made by the Applicant and the Sponsor(s).
Application Process
To apply, the Applicant and the Sponsor(s) should submit a Joint application. This application includes:
Applicant Form: The Applicant is responsible for creating an application using the online form available on IASys. The Lead Applicant will complete the application form and also invite Sponsor(s) on the application. This leads to creation of separate sponsorship forms.
Sponsorship Form: The Lead Applicant and the Sponsor submit their respective forms individually. However, submission of Lead Applicant's form is contingent upon successful submission of the sponsorship form by the Sponsor. It is therefore important for the Sponsorship Form to be submitted within the specified deadline to allow the Lead Applicant to complete the process of submission. If there is more than one institution participating in the programme, both the Primary and the Secondary sponsors will fill in their respective sponsorship forms, which will be made available to the Sponsor(s) by the Applicant through IASys.
Please note that the Sponsor form has to be filled in by the Sponsor and not by the Applicant. A breach of confidentiality on this matter will disqualify the Applicant.
Consent Form: The Sponsor should confirm his/her willingness by filling in the consent form. If there is more than one institution participating in the programme both the Sponsors should upload their individual consent forms on the system. A format is included in the application form.
The joint application will be reviewed by the Margdarshi Selection Committee of India Alliance to assess the eligibility, remit and competitiveness. The review process primarily evaluates applicant’s track record in the proposed area, resources available at the Host Institution, concept of the proposed programme, its potential to create new directions of research at the Host Institution, the extent to which it is a new development, involvement of Sponsor/Host Institution and their commitment to assess the feasibility of the programme.
Those applications found suitable by the Margdarshi Selection Committee will be sent out for an external review following which there will be an interview with the Margdarshi Selection Committee. This Committee will be the final decision-making body for the award.
Note: Applicants may suggest to India Alliance the names of potential reviewers as also names of individuals to be excluded from the review. However, the choice of reviewers will rest with India Alliance and will not be disclosed to the applicant.
Fellowships must be started within one year of the award.
Note: Applicants are reminded that this is a competition and the decision of India Alliance will be final. Applicants are not allowed to write directly to Margdarshi Selection Committee members. India Alliance reserves the right to disqualify an applicant who has breached this condition.
Contact
Queries should be sent to margdarshi@wellcomedbt.org
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