Applications are called for Short Duration Research Projects (6 Months) in Social Sciences from the faculty of Social Sciences of the UGC recognized Indian University/ Deemed University/ Colleges from Southern Region (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Telangana & Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry).
Themes and Sub-themes (SDRP)
1) Economic Prosperity and Sustainability
I. Natural Resource and Regional Development
II. Economic Prosperity
2) Human Resource, Holistic Growth and Development
I. Inclusive Social Development
II. Education and Skilling
3) Effective Governance
I. Vishwa Mitra Bharat
II. Law and Governance
4) Research, Innovation and Development
I. Technology and Innovation
Guidelines for Applicants
One of the important objectives of the ICSSR-SRC is to promote and disseminate Social Science Research knowledge in Southern India. In this context, the primary objective of the awarding research grants for projects of short duration within the region is to provide financial assistance to the faculty of social sciences to conduct cutting edge research in various fields of social sciences that have theoretical, conceptual, methodological, and policy implications. The Research Projects may belong to any of the social science disciplines or may be multi-disciplinary. The broad disciplines of study, within the domain of social sciences, are:
(i) Sociology and Social Anthropology;
(ii) Political Science / Public Administration;
(iii) Economics;
(iv) International Studies;
(v) Social Geography and Population Studies;
(vi) Commerce and Management;
(vii) Social Psychology;
(viii) Education;
(ix) Social Linguistics / Socio-Cultural Studies
(x) Law / International Law
(xi) National Security & Strategic Studies;
(xii) Other allied Social Science disciplines (Library Science, Social Work, Media Studies, Gender Studies and Environmental Studies, Diaspora Studies, Area Studies, etc.) to promote interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research.
1. Research Projects
The ICSSR-SRC awards research project based on the scope, duration of the study, and budget:
(a) Short Duration Research Project Duration up to 6 months with a budget up to a maximum of Rs. 1.5 lakh.
2. Eligibility
2.1 Professional social scientists who are regularly employed as faculty in a UGC recognized Indian university/deemed university/colleges with requisite research infrastructure/institute of national importance and ICSSR Research Institutes, and possessing a Ph.D. degree or equivalent research work in any of the social science discipline and demonstrable research experience through publications of books/research papers/reports are eligible to apply.
2.2 In case of Private Universities/College/Institution, it is mandatory to submit UGC 12B Certificate.
2.3 Those availing ICSSR PDF/Senior fellowship are not eligible to apply.
2.4 Those who have an ongoing research project (ICSSR) is not eligible to apply.
2.5 The Applicant will be allowed to take up only one research project/program at one point in time.
2.6 No scholar will be allowed to take up a research project along with any ICSSR fellowship.
2.7 There will be a gap of a minimum of one year between two ICSSR-SRC Short Duration Research projects.
3. How to apply
The applicant needs to fill in the online Google form from our website i.e., www.srcicssr.org and also upload the following requisite documents:
Note: Incomplete applications and applications without requisite enclosures shall not be considered for funding.
4. Procedure for Award
4.1 Applications are initially scrutinized by the ICSSR-SRC Secretariat.
4.2 Thereafter the Expert Projects Committee constituted by ICSSR-SRC will short-list the meritorious proposals. To maintain up objectivity and transparency in the scrutiny process, two experts on the committee will be taken from outside the region. The scrutiny of the proposal shall be based upon the strength of the proposal and relevance to the Social Science subject.
4.3 Such applicants would then be sent to two subject experts in respective subject areas for evaluation.
4.4 The recommendations of the Subject Experts are then placed before the Project Committee for its final approval.
4.5. The allocation of funds shall be based on the availability of funds and the number of applications received during the financial year.
4.6. The final authority related to the interpretation of the guidelines or any issue left is vested with the Honorary Director, ICSSR-SRC.
5. Duration and Value
5.1 The duration of the Short Duration Research Project is four to six months
5.2 The budget for Short Duration Research Project will be upto a maximum of Rs.1.5 lakh only. The Proposal with above 1.5 lakh budget estimation will not be considered.
5.3 The budget estimates for Short Duration Research Project are to be prepared based on the guidelines given as under.
|
S. No. |
Broad Expenditure Heads |
Value |
|
1 |
Research Staff: Hired Services |
Not exceeding 40 % of the total budget |
|
2 |
Fieldwork: Travel/Logistics/Boarding, etc. |
Not exceeding 40% |
|
3 |
Books/Journals/ Source Material |
Not exceeding 10 % |
|
4 |
Contingency |
Not exceeding 5% |
|
5 |
Institutional Overhead Charges |
5 % of the total budget |
|
|
Total |
100% |
5.4. The Project Director/Coordinator may re-appropriate expenditure from one head to another subject to a maximum of 10 %.
5.5. Appointment of Research Staff and Emoluments of Research Staff
Research staff could be engaged by the Project Director/Coordinator on a Full/ Part-time basis during the research work as per the amount prescribed below. The duration of employment may be decided by the project director. Selection of Research staff should be done with the approval of the Head of the Department/ Director/ Dean/Principal. Retrospective payment for work already done is not permissible.
Research Staff Rs.10,000/-p.m. per person (not exceeding 2.5 months).
5.6. The contingency grant may be utilized for research and office assistance, printing, stationery, computer-related, costs, research assistance and the fieldwork expenses related to the research work.
6. Joining and reseale of Grant
6.1 The scholar has to join the project within one month from the date of the award letter. For this, the scholar has to submit a. Agreement, b. Declaration Project on Rs.100/- Non-Judicial Stamp Paper, c. NOC and d. UGC 12B Certificate e. Undertaking from affiliating University and grant-in-aid bill towards the first instalment.
6.2. The Sanctioned grant for Short Duration Research Project is released in three instalments of 50%, 30%, and 20%.
6.3. The first instalment of 50% is released after completing necessary formalities for joining by the Project Director and after receiving the grant-in-aid bill.
6.4. The second instalment will be released after receiving a satisfactory Progress Report along with the simple statement of account of the first instalment within a period of 3 months from the date of release of the first instalment (date of Commencement). The minutes of selection of Research staff shall be enclosed.
6.5. The 5% overhead charges to the affiliating institution will be released only after verification of the documents by the ICSSR.
6.6. The third and final instalment will be released including overhead charges of 5% on receipt of (a) satisfactory final report with a similarity index of less than 10%; (b) statement of accounts with utilization certificate in GFR-12A Form along with the original bills for entire project amount duly signed by the Project Director/Coordinator, Chartered Accountant and Finance Officer/ Registrar/ Principal/Director of the affiliating institution; and (c) an undertaking of settlement of assets and books purchased out of the project funds. (d) Project Director has to bring out a Publication in Peer reviewed Journal along with the submission of the final Project report.
7. Monitoring of Research Projects
7.1 Research undertaken by a Project Director/Coordinator will be reviewed through the submission of periodic progress reports in the prescribed format and the project may be discontinued/ terminated if research progress is found unsatisfactory or any ICSSR-SRC rules are violated.
7.2 All project-related queries will be addressed to the Project Director/ Affiliating Institution for their timely reply.
7.3 The ICSSR-SRC may, at any time ask for verification of accounts and other relevant documents related to the Project.
7.4 The scholar needs to be aware that plagiarism is a serious offence and will mean immediate rejection of the project and black listing of the scholar. The Project Director is advised to run the Project Report through authorized plagiarism software before submission to the Centre.
8. Conditions
8.1 The duration of the project shall be a maximum of six months for Short Duration Research Projects. The Final Report may be submitted within one month after completion of the duration of the Project. However, an extension of one more month for submission of the final report may be granted in exceptional circumstances without any additional financial commitment of the ICSSR-SRC.
8.2 The scholar shall acknowledge the support of ICSSR-SRC in all publications resulting from the project output and should submit a copy of the same to the ICSSR-SRC.
8.3 The Project proposal/final report cannot be submitted for the award of any University degree/diploma. The ICSSR however, will have no objection if any member of the project staff utilizes the project data for this purpose.
8.4 The project director shall report to the ICSSR-SRC in case he /she makes any changes in the research design. No major change can be made therein without the prior approval of the ICSSR-SRC.
8.5 The final authority related to the interpretation of the guidelines or any issue left is vested with the ICSSR-SRC.
8.6 Photographs taken during the Project work (Soft Copy in JPEG format & Hard Copy) should be accompanied.
8.7 ICSSR follows Government of India Rules & Directives about SC & ST categories.
8.8 Defaulters of any previous project/grant of the ICSSR will not be eligible for consideration until the applicant obtains clearance from the concerned administration division.
8.9 No request for an additional grant over the sanctioned budget will be considered.
8.10 The Project Director and the affiliating institution shall be personally responsible for the timely completion of the Project.
8.11 The Project proposal/final report cannot be submitted for the award of any University degree/diploma or funding by any Institution by any member of the project staff, including the project director. The ICSSR however, will have no objection if any member of the project staff utilizes the project data for this purpose.
8.12 The project director shall report to the ICSSR-SRC in case he /she makes any changes in the research design. No major change can be made therein without the prior approval of the ICSSR-SRC.
8.13 Application submitted against one Call will not be considered in the subsequent Calls.
8.14 The Centre reserves the right to reject any application without assigning any reason. It is also not responsible for any postal delays/losses.
8.15 Incomplete applications in any respect shall not be considered.
8.16 The final authority related to the interpretation of the guidelines or any issue left is vested with the ICSSR-SRC.
9. Completion of the Project
9.1 On completion of the study, the scholar should submit the following:
(A) For Short Duration Research Projects, a Final Report (about 60 to 80 pages) along with a summary (about 20 to 25 pages)
(B) Both documents should be submitted in hard format (two copies of final report and two copies of summary) and a soft copy (in pen drive).
10. Obligation of the Affiliating Institution
10.1 The affiliating institution is required to give an undertaking in the prescribed format contained in the Application Form to administer and manage the ICSSR-SRC grant.
10.2 It is also required to provide the requisite research infrastructure to the scholar and maintain proper accounts.
10.3 The affiliating institution will be under obligation to ensure submission of the final report and Audited accounts with utilization certificate in GFR-12A duly signed by the Project Director/Coordinator, Chartered Accountant and Finance Officer/Registrar/Principal/Director/Competent authority of the institution.
10.4 The affiliating institution shall make suitable arrangements for the preservation of data such as filled-in schedules, tabulation sheets, manuscripts, reports, etc. relating to the study.
10.5 The ICSSR reserves the right to demand raw data, or such parts of the study as deemed fit.
10.6 The overhead charges shall be paid only after the completion of the project and on receipt of the final audited Statement of Accounts.
10.7 The affiliating institution is responsible for the oversee of the Selection of Research staff should be done with the approval of the Head of the Department/ Director/ Dean/Principal
11. Publication out of Project
Project Director has to bring out a Publication in Peer reviewed Journal along with the submission of the final Project report. The Project Director should also acknowledge the contribution of SRC in all the publications coming out of the project.
The Last date for submission has been exteded upto 30-04-2024.
The Honorary Director
Indian Council of Social Science Research
Southern Regional Centre
(Ministry of Education, Govt. of India)
2nd Floor, New Building, OUCIS Premises
Adjacent to OUCIS
Osmania University Campus, Hyderabad - 500 007
Email: srcicssrprograms@gmail.com
Click to download
Format of Research Proposal & Budget
Online application Google Form link: 
https://forms.gle/oq39aEjwNPZe6RuH8