Career for MPharm, MSc or PhD as Consultant at NIRDHDS

ICMR-National Institute for Research in Digital Health and Science supports excellence in the development, application through the technical consultation and research, education, publications, dissemination and advocacy. Our members serve in government and academia, advancing research and promoting sound practice to inform public policy and improve human welfare. It is one of the 26 permanent institutes of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi and has been known as National Institute for Research in Digital Health and Data Science(NIRDHDS) from 10th April 2024.

ICMR - NIRDHDS intends to engage One Consultant (Technical - Non-Medical) at ICMR- NIRDHDS as per the essential qualification, terms and conditions given below.

Post : Consultant (Technical - Non-Medical)

No. of post(s) : 1 [UR]

Monthly Emoluments : Rs 1,25,000/-
For retired Govt, servant, the remuneration shall be fixed in accordance with the Ministry of Finance, Dept, of Expenditure OM No. 3-25/2020-EINA dated 09 Dec 2020 as amended from time to time.

Age Limit : Minimum 40 years and up to 70 years

Essential qualification & Experience : Professionals having proven competency and success in their area of specialization, with at least 10 years of post-qualification experience and should possess minimum M.Sc/B.Tech/B.E. in Biomedical Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Health Informatics or equivalent degree in relevant subjects.
Note:-
1. PhD will be considered as 4 years’ experience(irrespective of the duration taken to complete the degree).
2. MPH/M.tech/ME/M.Pharma will not be considered as any experience.
OR
Retired Government employees, with requisite qualification and who were in the regular Pay Level-10 and above and having at least 10 years experience in the required specialization.

Job Specification :
• Lead high-quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses in digital health/AI-in-healthcare: protocol development, search strategy, screening, data extraction, risk-of-bias and GRADE assessment, and manuscript submission.
• Draft, edit, and submit scientific manuscripts (original research, reviews, brief reports, viewpoints) to indexed journals; manage revisions and responses to reviewers.
• Prepare competitive grant applications (ICMR, ANRF/SERB, DBT, WHO, BMGF, etc.): problem framing, objectives, methodology, work-plan, log-frame, Gantt/PERT, budget and justification, ethics, and data-sharing plans; manage submissions on e-PMS and other portals.
• Support study protocols/SoPs (observational, diagnostic-accuracy, implementation research), ensure adherence to CONSORT/STROBE/PRISM A/TRIPOD/DECIDE as applicable.
• Coordinate literature surveillance and evidence syntheses (rapid reviews, scoping reviews, policy briefs) for programmatic decision-making.
• Perform data analysis & visualization for manuscripts and grant annexures; ensure reproducible workflows and version control.
• Liaise with internal and external stakeholders (clinicians, data scientists, regulators, industry) to gather inputs, letters of support, MoUs, and compliance documents.
• Maintain documentation and repositories (protocols, datasets, code, teferences) following ICMR policies, ABDM/data-protection norms, and institutional IP guidelines.
• Mentor junior staff on scientific writing, reference management, and good research practices; organize writing sprints and capacity-building sessions.
• Track deliverables and report monthly KPIs (reviews registered/submitted, manuscripts drafted/submitted/accepted, grants submitted/awarded)

Desirable Experience
• Scientific writing & reviews
o First-/corresponding-author publications in Scopus/Web of Science journals (preferably digital health/AT, diagnostics, implementation research).
o Hands-on with PRISMA, PROSPERO registration, Cochrane methods, risk-of-bias tools (RoB 2, ROBINS-I), GRADE.
o Proficiency with RevMan, JBI SUMARI and/or R packages (metafor, meta, robvis); comfortable with Python/R for data wrangling and plots.
• Grant development
o Prior success in winning/implementing grants
(ICMR/ANRF/SERB/DBT/WHO); strong budgeting, milestone planning, and consortium coordination.
o Familiarity with ICMR-ePMS, research governance, ethics submissions, and regulatory pathways (ICMR guidelines, CDSCO/MDR for SaMD, ABDM standards).
• Digital health / AI context
o Experience evaluating or validating algorithms, digital tools, or clinical decision support (dataset curation, ground-truthing, diagnostic accuracy, TRIPOD/DECIDE reporting).
o Understanding of privacy, security, and data governance in health research; comfort working with de-identified clinical datasets.
• Tools & workflows
o Expert in reference managers (Zotero/EndNote/Mendeley), LaTeX/Overleaf and/or MS Word track-changes; Git/GitHub for version control preferred.
o Strong slide/report design skills (PowerPoint, Canva, or equivalent) and clear, concise scientific communication.
• People & leadership
o Experience mentoring analysts/assistants; ability to coordinate multi-site inputs and meet tight deadlines with high editorial standards.

Competencies : Demonstrated expertise in digital health and AI applications in healthcare
Required( filled by concerned Scientist) : • Advanced analytical skills with hands-on experience in health data science, algorithm assessment, and validation of digital tools.
• Strong track record in scientific writing, communication, and stakeholder engagement, with the ability to lead complex interdisciplinary projects across government, academia, and industry.
Duration : The initial engagement will be for a period of one year. Extensions, if required, may be granted based on performance and project needs, and should not exceed a total tenure of five years or the age of 70 years, whichever earlier.
Place of work : ICMR-NIRDH&DS, New Delhi

General Terms and conditions:-
1. Number of positions may vary.
2. These positions are meant for temporary requirement and co-terminus with the requirements.
3. Engagement of the above advertised Positions will depend upon availability of funds, functional requirements and approval of the Competent Authority. Therefore, ICMR-NIRDHDS is not committed to fill up all the advertised Positions and the process is liable to be withdrawn/ cancelled/ modified at any time.
4. Cut-off date for age limit will be as on the date of last date for submission of applications.
5. Age relaxation will be as per the guidelines of ICMR.
6. Experience should be from an Institution of repute. Experience should have been gained after acquiring the minimum essential qualification.
7. The experience certificates should be in proper formats and must contain the name, post, salary, area/field of work and duration. Offer letters, salary slips, joining reports, emails etc. shall not be treated as experience certificates. The experience certificates not containing above details shall not be entertained.
8. Mere fulfilling the essential qualification does not guarantee the selection and/or call for written test/interview etc. Only shortlisted candidates will be called for written test/interview. The written test may be conducted by the institute, if required.
9. Persons already in regular time scale service under any Government Department/Organizations are not eligible to apply.
10. No TA/DA will be paid to attend written test/ interview/ personal discussion and candidates have to arrange transport/ accommodation themselves.
11. ICMR-NIRDHDS reserves rights to consider or reject any application/ candidature without assigning any reason.
12. Submission of wrong or false, information during the process of selection shall disqualify the candidature at any stage or even after joining, if selected besides taking further disciplinary action against such candidates.

13. The person engaged will normally be posted at the ICMR-NIRDHDS; however, he/she can be posted to any place. He/she will be liable to serve in any part of the country.
14. The person engaged on above position shall not have any claim on a regular post in ICMR or in any of its Institutes/Centers or in any Department of Government of India and his/her term with
breaks or without breaks in any or multiple projects/service with ICMR will not confer any right for further assignment or transfer to any other project or appointment/absorption/regularization of service in ICMR. Benefits of Provident Fund, Pension Scheme, and Leave Travel Concession, Medical claim, Staff Quarters and other facilities applicable to the regular staff of ICMR etc. are not admissible to the above position.
15. Successful candidate will normally be engaged on above Position initially for a period of one year, depending upon the requirements. Continuation/Extension to engagement will be depending upon evaluation of performance, availability of funds, functional requirements and approval of Competent Authority.
16. ICMR-NIRDHDS reserves the right to terminate the positions even during the agreed contract period or extended contract period without assigning any reason.
17. Leave and other terms and conditions of engagement shall be as per the ICMR’s guidelines dated 26.11.2024. J
18. Candidate must submit his/her duly filled in application form in the prescribed format with a recent passport size colour photograph along with a detailed bio-data/C.V. and all relevant documents; duly self-attested; in proof of his/her educational qualifications [all certificates and marksheet from 10th Std. onwards] working experience, age, caste and photo id [Aadhar Card/Indian Passport/PAN Card/Driving License] etc., within the schedule date and time for submission of application, failing which his/her candidature will not be considered Late/ Delayed/lncomplete/Unsigned applications will not be considered at all and no correspondence will be entertained in this regard.
19. ICMR-NIRDHDS reserves the right to cancel/modify the process at any time, at its discretion.
20. The decision of the Competent Authority will be final and binding.
21. Canvassing in any form will be a disqualification.
22. Corrigendum/addendum/further information; if any; in respect of this advertisement will be published on the website of ICMR-NIRDHDS only. Hence, the candidates are advised to see the website of the Institute regularly for further updates related to this advertisement.

How to Apply:
Interested candidates may send their application form in prescribed format (attached) along with self-attested copies of Date of Birth certificate, educational qualifications and experience certificates etc. to the following Google form link, the closing date will be 04.01.2025 up to 05:30 PM.
The application forms must be submitted through above link only. Application forms submitted By Hand, through email, what’s app, ordinary dak, couriers etc. shall not be considered. Late/Delayed/lncomplete applications shall not be entertained and rejected straight away, without any reasons, communication and correspondence.
Candidates are therefore advised to submit their application well in time and duly completed in all respect. Scanned copies of all certificates must be attached.