AICTE Post-Doctoral Fellowship (APDF) scheme portal is open for submission of applications by the candidates willing to pursue Post-Doctoral research in AICTE approved Institutes/Universities in full time/regular mode. Objective of AICTE Post-Doctoral Fellowship is to encourage research scholars from Engineering, Management, Design, Hotel management & catering technology, Applied science (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics), Planning, Computer application, Applied arts crafts & design, Inter disciplinary areas who have completed their Ph.D. and wish to pursue a regular career in research and development.
Procedure to be followed by Institutes and candidates eligible for AICTE Post-Doctoral Fellowship (APDF) :
1. All the AICTE approved Institutes/University shall create the Candidate Unique Id of the candidates on the AICTE PDF portal.
2. Candidates should fill the online application form through their Candidate ID provided by the Institute/University on the AICTE APDF portal, till 20th October 2026.
3. Institute and University will verify all the applications through the AICTE ADF portal till 20th October 2026.
Number of Fellowships : 200 Fellowships per year
Duration of Fellowship : The tenure of the fellowship is initially for one year. If the research work is found satisfactory by the expert’s committee, his/her tenure will be extended for a further period of one another year. Thus, the total period of fellowship is two year and there is no further provision of extension.
Eligibility
(A) Eligibility criteria for scholars
a. Candidates who have been awarded the Ph.D. degree in the relevant subject/discipline of Engineering and Technology, Management, Design, Planning, Applied Arts Crafts & Design, Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Computer Application, Applied Sciences and Inter Disciplinary Areas are eligible to apply. (Provisional Certificate may be accepted in case the degree is not awarded). AND General category candidates having minimum 55% of marks or equivalent percentage converted from CGPA score either at PG/ UG level are eligible to apply. A relaxation of 5% of marks is allowed for reserved categories (SC/ST/OBC/women / PWD (Persons with Disabilities)
b. Candidates should be below 35 years of age (as on the date/last date of application) For admission age relaxation of 5 years would be applicable to candidates belonging to SC/ST/Women, Physically Challenged and 3 years for OBC category. In case, a candidate falls in more than one category, the maximum age relaxation would be of 5 years only.
c. AICTE Post-Doctoral Fellowship can be availed only once by a candidate in his/her career.
d. It is necessary that the candidate identifies a Supervisor (affiliated to AICTE approved University/Institute wherein Post-Doctoral Fellowship is tenable) for his/her post-doctoral research work and obtain his/her consent for the mentorship. Candidates applying for PDF must upload the No Objection Certificate from the proposed research centre duly signed by the Supervisor, HOD and Registrar/Director of the University/Institute in the online application.
(B) Eligibility of Supervisor
a. The supervisor should be approved Ph.D. guide in University.
b. The supervisor should not be superannuated and must be either regular faculty or professor of practice (may not be superannuated).
c. The Supervisor must have been awarded the Ph.D. degree.
(C) Eligibility of research centre
The fellowship under AICTE Post Doctorate Fellowship will be available for pursuing research work in AICTE approved University/ Institution.
Nature of Assistance available Under the Scheme
(i) Emoluments : Fellowship Rs. 65,000/- p.m. Contingency Rs. 50,000/- p.a.
Contingency Grant : PDF students shall be entitled for a Contingency Grant limited to Rs. 50,000/- per year to meet the miscellaneous expenditures related to research work. The student is not bound to follow purchase rules of the Institute/ AICTE for procurements under contingency grant. The bills will not be sent to the AICTE.
The PDF fellow shall also be governed by the following conditions in addition to the emoluments :
(ii) Dearness Allowance (DA): PDF students will not be entitled to DA.
(iii) House Rent Allowance (HRA) : PDF students may be provided hostel accommodation wherever available. PDF students residing in hostels shall not be entitled to HRA. Wherever hostel accommodation is not possible, HRA is allowed as per Central Government norms applicable in the city where the admitting institution located. The percentage for calculating HRA will be based on the amount of Fellowship.
(iv) Medical assistance : No separate/fixed medical assistance is provided. However, the scholars may avail the medical facilities available in their Institution concerned.
(v) Leave : The PDF students are eligible for leave as per university/ institution norms.
The period spent for attending Conferences, Short-term Training Programmes, Workshops/ Seminars and any other outstation research work with the prior permission of his/ her supervisor will be treated as “on Duty”, this however, should not exceed as per university/ institution norms. Note: All kinds of leave and “On Duty” period should be approved at the level of the institute on the recommendation of his/ her supervisor and proper record shall be maintained. Here “Year” starts with the date of start of PDF.
Application Process
a. The candidate shall be allowed to apply for PDF in portal throughout the year
b. Candidates applying for PDF must upload No Objection Certificate from the proposed research centre duly signed by the Supervisor, HOD and Registrar/Director of the University/Institute in the online application.
c. Incomplete applications such as un-formatted documents, false/misleading information etc. shall to be summarily rejected.
Selection Procedure
d. To promote the quality of research in the field of Engineering & Technology/ Management/ Design/ Planning/ Applied Arts, Crafts & Design/ Hotel Management and Catering Technology/ Computer Application/ Applied sciences and inter disciplinary area, the evaluation committee of the AICTE will evaluate the research proposal of the candidate before admitting candidate in the scheme or grant of any financial benefit.
e. The evaluation includes the candidate’s accomplishment at the Ph.D. level, the professional standing of Supervisor and the university/ institution where the post- doctoral research is to be carried out.
Joining Procedure
f. The scholar has to join the Fellowship within one month of the date of the award letter by submitting all required documents on AICTE portal. In exceptional cases, joining may be extended up to 3 months with the prior approval of competent authority of AICTE.
g. The fellowship shall commence from the actual date of joining as a Post- Doctoral Fellow in the University/ Institute
Monitoring of Fellowship
h. Regular monitoring of Fellowship is done on the basis of half yearly by research assessment committee at institute level along with supervisor and annually at AICTE level.
i. Scholar must submit the Annual Progress Reports in the prescribed format through portal.
Other Terms and Conditions
a. The fellow shall not be allowed for transfer of fellowship from the institution where admitted for Post Doc during the entire tenure of the fellowship.
b. The fellow shall devote full-time to research during the tenure of fellowship. In addition, the Post-Doctoral fellow should get 8 hours workload and will not be permitted to take any part-time/ full-time assignment outside the institute. He/ she will not accept any salary, fellowship or any type of financial assistance during the tenure of fellowship through any other source. In case fellow receives any financial assistance from any other organization during the tenure of fellowship, with due permission of the university/ institute, he/ she will not be entitled for the fellowship for the duration in which he/ she is availing such financial assistance and it shall be resumed on discontinuance of such external financial assistance. Further the period for which the scholar has received external financial assistance shall be deducted from the maximum duration of the fellowship.
c. The fellow should submit at least one paper/ patent in a Scopus Indexed Journal per year during the fellowship tenure.
d. The nature of the candidature (full-time AICTE Post-Doctoral Fellow) will not be changed during the program.
e. The fellow shall give a declaration that if the results of research are such that they can be exploited commercially by taking a patent or otherwise, then the commercial exploitation and patent rights would be with the Institute, student and the supervisor(s).
f. AICTE online portal will have mechanism for releasing emoluments and allowances (HRA/ contingency etc.) directly in the Aadhaar seeded bank account of the beneficiary through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
g. In case fellow avails break during the tenure of the fellowship on medical ground with due permission of the institute, the fellowship will be discontinued from the date of start of break and shall be resumed on re-joining the program for the remaining period of fellowship.
h. In case fellow is granted any kind of leave (maternity/paternity etc.) during the tenure of fellowship and goes beyond the entitled tenure, the fellowship shall expire on the last day of completion of entitled tenure and shall not be extended under any circumstance.
i. The period of fellowship shall not be extended beyond 2 years from the date of start of PDF, under any circumstance including cancellation/ discontinuation of fellowship.
j. The fellowship may be terminated at any time during the tenure and the decision of the AICTE shall be final and binding.
Stage and Particulars ; Date/Period
I : Last date for Submission of Application ; 20th October, 2026
II : Evaluation of Applications ; 1st November – 30th November, 2026
III : Announcement of Selected Candidates ; 15th December, 2026
IV : Start date for Award of Fellowship ; 1st January, 2027 (from date of joining)
All the eligible candidates willing to pursue Post-Doctoral research shall collect the candidate unique ID from the institute/university and the login at link for uploading the scanned copies of all desired documents in JPG/JPEG/PDF format only.
a. Scanned copy of Qualified examination score card.
b. Proposal of Post-Doctoral research.
c. Only Aadhar seeded savings bank account will be considered as per DBT guidelines. Fellowship will be released through Director Benefit Transfer (DBT) only.
d. No-Frill Account, Jan Dhan account, Bank Account having limits on transactions/credits & Joint Account are not permitted. e. Bank account should not either be closed or transferred/shifted during period of course.
f. Scanned copy of Aadhar Card should be uploaded in jpg/jpeg format.
g. Scanned copy of the valid Category Certificate for SC/ST, EWS, OBC & Non-Creamy Layer (NCL) should be uploaded. The latest (not beyond one-year-old) EWS and OBC-Non-Creamy Layer (NCL) certificate should be issued by the Competent Authority. h. upload the No Objection Certificate from the proposed research centre duly signed by the Supervisor, HOD and Registrar/Director of the University/Institute in the online application.
The Institutes/Universities shall then verify the candidate data and approve his/her candidature on the portal. (Candidates verification) and approve for eligibility of disbursement of the scholarship.
All eligible candidates shall upload their information on or before 20th October, 2026 on AICTE web portal and the Institute/University shall complete the procedure of candidate data verification and approval for the eligibility for the receipt of scholarship on or before 20th October, 2026.
APDF Fellowship : More Info & Apply Online
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