The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed the higher educational institutions (HEIs) to include an external subject expert in the committee formed for the upgradation of the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) to the Senior Research Fellowship (SRF).
The Commission has further warned that any proposals for upgradation without compliance with the set guidelines will not be accepted. “On completion of first two years of the award, the fellow may apply to the department or university concerned for the up-gradation of SRF,” said Rajnish Jain, Secretary, UGC in the official notice.
So, the research fellow can apply to the department or university for upgradation after completing two years of JRF, as per the procedure of upgradation mentioned in ‘UGC Junior Research Fellowship in Sciences, Humanities, and Social Sciences’. Furthermore, a three-member committee that will be constituted of a supervisor, head of department, and an external subject expert will evaluate the candidate’s research work.
Only the minutes of the constitution of the committee and recommendation of the committee for up-gradation can be sent to UGC. Subsequently, the fellow researcher will be upgraded and designated as SRF. Also, the recommendation of the committee in the prescribed format can be submitted to the Commission designated agency. It is to be noted that UGC’s approval for up-gradation is not mandatory.
The Higher Educational Institutions are, therefore, advised to ensure the inclusion of external experts in the committee constituted for the up gradation process.
What is Junior Research Fellowship?
The JRF scheme of the UGC is open to all candidates who qualify for the National Eligibility Testing (NET) of the Commission and the UGC-Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) joint test. These are qualifying tests only and do not bestow a fellowship upon the candidate.
The idea behind the JRF scheme is to give opportunities to NET-qualified aspirants so that they can undertake advanced studies and research leading to MPhil or PhD. Degrees in Humanities and Social Sciences including Languages and Sciences.
Under the JRF scheme, the tenure of the fellowship is initially for two years. Once the tenure is about to complete, the work of the candidate will be evaluated by experts. If the research paper is found satisfactory, then his or her tenure will be extended for a further period of 3 years under the higher emoluments of the Senior Research Fellowship (SRF).
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