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S & T Funding Opportunities
Invites application for partial support from I-STEM under the following headings:
01
Partial financial support for using R&D facilities through the I-STEM web portal to Users from Academic Institutions and Start-ups (Proposal Format-1)
Under this initiative, support will be provided to Researchers from academic institutions and start-ups for accessing and using facilities in various institutions in the country through the I-STEM web portal. This includes partial support for travel and for any consumables that might be required in the context. (This support will be available to those who do not have any kind of financial support through projects funded from Govt. or Private organizations. Among the academic institutions, preference will be given to those outside of national institutions such as IITs, IISERs, IISc, NITs, and Central Universities) In addition, those users will be given preference if they book/request the facilities in same regions (say within 75-100 Km distance). No such support will be given to the internal users (Users within department/within institution)
Statements (T&C) of proposals :
1. Applicant must be registered with I-STEM in appropriate categories with all the mandatory field (as required time to time by I-STEM)
2. Proposals will be evaluated by an Expert Committee decided by the I-STEM in the order in which they are received by I-STEM Nodal Centre (through the I-STEM project submission portal). The approval will be purely on the basis of merit of proposal. The decision of the Expert Committee/I-STEM office to accept/reject a proposal shall be final.
3. If needed, the applicant will be asked to make a presentation to the Expert Committee.
4. Users (Applicants) will be informed of the acceptance/Minor or Major changes/ rejection of proposals.
5. For selected proposals, I-STEM will make a payment (up to 1/3rd of the cost of the usage/ or as decided by the by the Expert Committee) in the form of a reimbursement (Named as “reverse funding”) against expenditure actually incurred in facility use made through I-STEM. Originals or certified copies of invoices/receipts must be submitted to I-STEM office within 30 days of using a facility through I-STEM. The invoice/receipt must be accompanied by a brief technical report of the work carried out through I-STEM. The extent of such reimbursement will be as recommended by the Expert Committee, whose decision shall be final.
6. Reimbursement would be subject to availability of funds only.
7. Acknowledgement of support received from I-STEM must be made in the format given below, both in the report submitted to I-STEM and in any thesis/publication/research report that emerges from the effort involved.
8. In case of failure of such information on acknowledgement, the user will not be able to receive any further support in future.
9. The User should know that the he/she retains ultimate responsibility for the progress and development of the “Test Project”, and Custodian Institution/I-STEM does not in any way warrant or assure a particular project result.
10. Users are NOT permitted to invoke the name of either Laboratories used or of the affiliated Institutions where experiments are conducted or of the I-STEM, in any statement made on the “Test Project” in any medium for communication, such as newspapers, newsmagazines, radio, television, web sites, and the like. Any such statement made in any mass medium without explicit written permission from the Public Relations Officer, Custodian Institution (Host Institution), or of I-STEM, through Head of Institution/Nodal Officer, will invite appropriate disciplinary action. Users may ONLY refer to the method/instrument/equipment used in the “Test Project”.
11. Custodian Institution, does not certify the User’s Scientific Results because Custodian Institution Laboratories are NOT a certified laboratory or authorized to do so by any standards organization, such as the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) or the International Standards Organization (ISO).
Acknowledgement statement : “We acknowledge the financial support received from the I-STEM program funded by Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, to carry out the research work in (Name of Institution where the experiments are conducted) facilities listed on and booked through the I-STEM web portal.”
Disclaimer : I-STEM assumes no responsibility, fiduciary or otherwise, for the usefulness/success of any proposal supported by I-STEM.
02
The Partial Support to the Academic Users and Custodians for the fabrication & development of Indigenous Equipment/Products/Consumables (Proposal Format-2)
Support to Academic Institution/Start-ups in the development and testing of an R&D equipment/product and its promotion for further improvement to achieve the better performance at par with the imported equipment (A unique program of I-STEM to achieve the goal “Aatm Nirbhar Bharat”)
(This will be available to those who do not have any kind of financial support through projects funded from Govt. or Private organizations. Among the academic institutions, preference will be given to those outside of IITs, IISc, National Labs, IISERs or Central Universities).
Statements (T&C) of proposals :
1. Applicant must be registered with I-STEM in appropriate categories with all the mandatory field (as required time to time by I-STEM)
2. Proposals will be evaluated impartially by the committee decided by the I-STEM and on the basis of merit, in the order in which they are received by I-STEM. The decision of the Committee/I-STEM office to accept/reject a proposal shall be final.
3. The applicant will be asked to make a presentation (if needed) before the committee
4. Users (Applicants) will be informed of the acceptance/rejection of proposals.
5. For selected proposals, I-STEM will make a payment (maximum 1/3rd of the cost of the usage/ or as decided by the I-STEM Office, but within the limit, as decided by the Committee) in the form of a reimbursement (reverse funding) against expenditure actually incurred in facility made through I-STEM and or consumables procured during the development of the Indigenous Products. Originals or certified copies of invoices/receipts must be submitted to I-STEM (if any) within 30 days of using a facility through I-STEM. The invoice/receipt must be accompanied by a brief technical report of the work carried out through I-STEM. The extent of such reimbursement will be decided by I-STEM office, whose decision shall be final.
6. Reimbursement would be subject to availability of funds only.
7. User/PI should not indulge in offering authorship/or asking favour which may considered as the conflict of interest/ or illegal approach.
8. Acknowledgement of support received from I-STEM must be made in the format given below, both in the report submitted to I-STEM and in any thesis/publication/research report that emerges from the effort involved.
9. In case of failure of such information on acknowledgement, the user will not be able to receive any support in future.
Acknowledgement statement :
Disclaimer : I-STEM assumes no responsibility, fiduciary or otherwise, for the usefulness/success of any proposal supported by I-STEM.
03
Partial Support to Custodians (Host Institutions) of R&D Infrastructure for Operation & Maintenance Services (Proposal Format-3)
Support to academic institutions (excepting national institutions like the IITs, IISERs, IISC, NITs and Central Universities) which share facilities through I-STEM, for the maintenance of the facilities that are actively shared with external users through I-STEM. The equipment which will be supported under this program must be running beyond the project period under which it was procured. The custodian will be required to share the facilities time in the ratio of 60:40 to Internal: External users (as defined) at the I-STEM portal.
Statements (T&C) of proposals :
1. Applicant must be registered with I-STEM in appropriate categories with all the mandatory field (as required time to time by I-STEM)
2. Proposals will be evaluated impartially by the committee decided by the I-STEM and on the basis of merit, in the order in which they are received by I-STEM. The decision of the Committee/I-STEM office to accept/reject a proposal shall be final.
3. If needed, the applicant will be asked to make a presentation to the Expert Committee.
4. Users (Applicants) will be informed of the acceptance/rejection of proposals.
5. For selected proposals, I-STEM will make a payment (maximum 1/3rd of the cost of the usage/ or as decided by the I-STEM Office, but within the said limit, as decided by the Committee) in the form of a reimbursement (reverse funding) against expenditure actually incurred in the instant development/services. Originals or certified copies of invoices/receipts (if any) must be submitted to I-STEM within 30 days of using a facility through I-STEM. The invoice/receipt must be accompanied by a brief technical report of the work carried out through I-STEM. The extent of such reimbursement will be decided by the I-STEM office, whose decision shall be final. No fund will be available to procure the spare parts/accessories/consumables.
6. Reimbursement would be subject to availability of funds.
7. User/PI should not indulge in offering authorship/or asking favour which may considered as the conflict of interest/ or illegal approach.
8. Acknowledgement of support received from I-STEM must be made in the format given below, both in the report submitted to I-STEM and in any thesis/publication/research report that emerges from the effort involved.
9. In case of failure of such information on acknowledgement, the user will not be able to receive any support in future.
Acknowledgement statement : “We acknowledge the financial support received from the I-STEM program funded by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, to carry out the research work in facilities listed on and booked through the I-STEM web portal.”
Disclaimer : I-STEM assumes no responsibility, fiduciary or otherwise, for the usefulness/success of any proposal supported by I-STEM.
04
Partial financial support for creating skilled manpower for R&D equipment (Format-4)
One of the main goals of I-STEM is the development – over time – of indigenous capability to design, develop, and build R&D tools in the country, together with the complementary capacity for maintaining and rebuilding of sophisticated R&D tools (usually imported). One way to accomplish this, proposed herein, is through regional I-STEM representatives in various colleges and institutions by I-STEM, where outdated equipment (written off by Custodian Institutions, as the I-STEM portal helps them maintain an up-to-date inventory) would be used to train youngsters to open up, strip, repair, and/or retrieve useful spare parts.
Such an initiative provides training to, say, 3-year diploma holders and graduates of the ITIs, who will then become employable, furthering Atma Nirbhar. In particular, the initiative can generate an indigenous cadre for maintaining complex apparatus/equipment, reducing maintenance costs as well as ensuring prompt servicing so that tool-downtime is kept to a minimum.
In this regard, I-STEM hereby invites proposals from centres/departments/academic institutions for creating training modules on the operation and maintenance management of R&D tools/equipment available with the respective institution/centre.
(A proposal may be submitted to I-STEM with budget and targets in detail on conducting such rigorous training for ITI/Polytechnic/Diploma holders and /BSc/BTech/MSc graduates.)
Statements (T&C) of proposals :
1. Applicant must be registered with I-STEM in appropriate categories with all the mandatory field (as required time to time by I-STEM)
2. Proposals will be evaluated impartially by the committee decided by the I-STEM and on the basis of merit, in the order in which they are received by I-STEM. The decision of the Committee/I-STEM office to accept/reject a proposal shall be final.
3. The applicant will be asked to make a presentation (if needed) before the committee
4. Users (Applicants) will be informed of the acceptance/rejection of proposals.
5. For selected proposals, I-STEM will make a payment (as approved) in the form of a reimbursement (reverse funding) against expenditure actually incurred in facility made through I-STEM and or consumables procured during the training. Originals or certified copies of invoices/receipts must be submitted to I-STEM (if any) within 30 days of using a facility through I-STEM. The invoice/receipt must be accompanied by a brief technical report of the work carried out through I-STEM. The extent of such reimbursement will be decided by I-STEM office, whose decision shall be final.
6. Reimbursement would be subject to availability of funds only.
7. User/PI should not indulge in offering authorship/or asking favour which may considered as the conflict of interest/ or illegal approach.
8. Acknowledgement of support received from I-STEM must be made in the format given below, both in the report submitted to I-STEM and in any thesis/publication/research report that emerges from the effort involved.
9. In case of failure of such information on acknowledgement, the user will not be able to receive any support in future.
Acknowledgement statement : “We acknowledge the financial support received from the I-STEM program funded by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, to carry out the research work in facilities listed on and booked through the I-STEM web portal.”
Disclaimer : I-STEM assumes no responsibility, fiduciary or otherwise, for the usefulness/success of any proposal supported by I-STEM.
Guidelines :
Selection of Candidates for Training : The details of the training program will be posted/advertised on the I-STEM web portal. Candidates may apply and the custodian (training) institution may choose them from the list. Selection of candidates may be done on a regional basis to avoid boarding and lodging constraints.
Calculation of training cost : The cost of the training may be based on the usage hours (approved rates) of the tools, consumables involved for the training. An Honorarium for the technical staff may also be included.
Note : The trained candidates (tool engineers) may be awarded with a token of appreciation/certificates. Their detailed CV will be made available on the I-STEM portal with the grades obtained during the training. This will help the R&D labs from academia and Industry to choose them and use their skills to handle R&D activities and/or to obtain maintenance services.
05
Proposal for Engagement between I-STEM and R&D Labs to create skilled manpower (Format-5)
It is common knowledge that, in the various academic setups/national labs, most high-end equipment lies idle or inoperative because of non-availability of either the required skilled manpower to operate and maintain them properly or because simple accessories are missing. Usually, funds are not available to maintain the equipment by replacing defective parts. This is the reason that custodians of well-established labs need to come forward to attend to such nitty-gritty to create skilled manpower, help and promote the initiative of the new indigenous equipment development program, as well as train youngsters to open up, strip, repair, and/or retrieve useful spare parts of outdated equipment (written off by Custodian Institutions, as the I-STEM portal helps them maintain an up-to-date inventory).
The I-STEM team has been assigned several other tasks by the Govt. of India through its current program, one of them being “skill development” in the domain of science and technology, esp. skills related to the operation and maintenance of R&D equipment. For example, skill development in the operation, use, and maintenance of equipment and facilities used for R&D as well as for instruction in the academia. Another task assigned to I-STEM is to support and promote indigenous development of scientific instruments and facilities (as well as value-added technical supplies) for R&D and instruction. We understand that R&D infrastructure established by the GoI in your organization, such as SAIF, also has a similar mandate in the domain of Science and Technology, in order to, promote R&D in the country.
In these efforts, I-STEM and your organization may join hands because of sharing the two of the goals given by the funding agencies of GoI:
Statements (T&C) of proposals :
1. To train technicians for maintenance and operation of sophisticated instruments
2. To promote and practice in projects aimed at the development of prototypes of sophisticated instruments or to augment the capabilities of existing instruments.
Therefore, we propose a program in which (suitably qualified) interns will be provided with training at your Facility, with the interns being paid a stipend by I-STEM for the duration which can vary, depending on the instrument/facility on which interns are trained. During the training period, the interns could also be useful addition to the personnel to your R&D facilities and could contribute to the services provided by the established Labs. It would be a very beneficial and attractive feature of the proposed internship program if those who perform well are provided with a Certificate by your SAIF, which cab help them find suitable employment.
Such an engagement between I-STEM and your organization would help the country achieve a greater degree of Atma Nirbharta in the days to come.
I-STEM, through its portal, will provide all the logistics support in advertising the program, placing on it the details of interns (selected and participating), and listing those who are certified by the labs so that others needy lab custodians may engage them for smooth running of R&D labs established across the country. To enable this, I-STEM has developed software modules such as, Events, Kaushal Bharat (skilled manpower), and Employment Opportunities.
Details of the internship program (max. upto 6 months), such as the number of interns, duration of internship, stipend to be paid to interns, can be worked out through mutual consultation. We therefore look forward to hearing from you at the earliest.
Guidelines for Submission of Proposal online through I-STEM portal : Project Flowchart
1. Please read the Statement of Proposal (T&C).
2. Prepare the proposal as given in the Format 1/Format 2/Format 3/Format 4/Format 5 as desired/needed.
3. Login to the portal and do the needful as given in the flow chart.
4. Please choose the Funding Agency as “Indian Science Technology and Engineering facilities Map”.
5. Submit the signed document (preferably the .pdf).
6. Please request Head of Institution to forward it online through the portal to complete the procedure of the submission.
7. Kindly send a copy ofyour proposal to notification-portal@istem.gov.in and cc to sansrivastava28@gmail.com
The Indian Science, Technology, and Engineering facilities Map (I-STEM) is an interactive web portal designed to accelerate scientific progress in India. This initiative, conceived and supported by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, creates a centralized platform for sharing publicly funded R&D equipment and facilities across various institutions throughout the country.
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