CCRAS Post Doctoral Fellowship

The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), under Ministry of Ayush, is an ensemble of 30 tangential institutes. This apex body in India is amongst the leading research organizations in the field of Ayurveda i.e. Indian heritage system of medicine. Over the years, the council is devotedly working for undertaking, coordinating, formulating, developing and promoting research on scientific lines in Ayurvedic Sciences through its different peripheral units and also through collaborative studies with various Universities, Hospitals and Institutes. The research activities of the Council include Medicinal Plant Research (Medico-Ethno Botanical Survey, Pharmacognosy and Tissue Culture), Drug Standardization, Pharmacological Research, Clinical Research, Literary Research, Documentation and Health Care Research Programs through various outreach activities.

ABOUT THE SCHEME : Ayurveda is currently bearing in mind as an alternative to modern medicine in respect of number of diseases therefore much thrust has been given to the systems of Ayush as well as Ayurveda, through many initiatives by the Government. A modern approach towards research linked with outcomes is one such initiative being taken by the Ministry of Ayush. Availability of quality research manpower is unarguably one of the essential components to achieve this intent. In this milieu, Ministry of Ayush through its Research Councils has already envisaged Ayush Ph.D. fellowship scheme to meritorious scholars from Ayush systems. At this instant as an auxiliary inventiveness “CCRAS Post Doctoral Fellowship Scheme” has been instituted to identify promising young researchers with innovative ideas and provide them with training and research opportunities in different multidisciplinary areas. This scheme is duly approved by the Secretary, Ministry of Ayush, Government of India in his capacity as Chairperson of Executive Committee along with the approval of Standing Finance Committee (SFC) and Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the CCRAS (copy of approvals are appended at pages I to III).The scheme aims at facilitating their transition from mentored to independent research career. CCRAS intends to offer ten (10) such fellowships every year to promising fresh PhD/PG degree holders of Ayurveda and Ph.D. holders of related science disciplines at reputed organizations like CSIR, ICMR, DBT, National Institutes, recognized Universities and National Institutions of Ayush etc. These fellowships will be allocated by Director General, CCRAS, depending upon the needs of the Institute/Centre.

OBJECTIVE :
1. CCRAS Post Doctoral Fellowship is aimed to identify motivated young researchers of Ayurveda and related science disciplines to provide them support for doing research in frontier areas of Ayurveda and to enhance their academic and research capabilities. The fellows will work under a mentor, at reputed organizations like CSIR, ICMR, DBT, National Institutes, recognized Universities and National Institutions of Ayush etc. for the tenure of two (2) years.
2. This Post Doctoral Fellowship also provides an opportunity to acquire new skills, broaden one’s horizon and offers a platform for transiting into cross-disciplinary areas, and it is hoped that this training will provide them a platform to develop as an independent researcher.

Research Areas :
1. The Scheme encourages systems research on any subject focusing on following priority areas –
(a) Network Pharmacology/ In-silico study
(b) Studies on Drug-Drug interaction
(c) Toxico-genomics
(d) Pharmaco-Informatics in Ayurveda System of Medicine
(e) Ayurveda Biology / System Biology
(f) Validation of Ayurvedic Principles
(g) Drug development (Pre-clinical/Clinical studies) for unmet medical needs
(h) Ayurveda Dietetics and Pharmaco-nutrition
(i) Development of Ayurveda based Diagnostic tools
(j) Biomedical Instrumentation
(k) Agro-techniques and cultivation protocols for RET Species including Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) (l) Bio-informatics/ Digital Technology
(m) Research on neglected drugs of Rasa Shastra in all respects including preparations of formulations, chemical analysis, Pre-clinical safety & efficacy studies, genomics safety profile in some drugs, clinical studies etc. and involvement of reputed industries may also be done as per requirement.
(n) Research on Co-relation of Poorvaroopa with Disease markers.
(o) Studies on injectable forms of Ayurvedic medicines and exploration of clinical dosage form and uses of classical injectable ayurvedic medications like Suchikabharana Rasa.

ELIGIBILITY
1. CCRAS Post Doctoral Fellowship is open to Indian nationals only. The applicant should be an Indian citizen.
2. For Ayurveda Discipline: Any Ph.D./PG degree holders of Ayurveda may apply within three years of award of Ph.D./PG degree but if the Ph.D./PG is continued, he/she may not apply for PDF. Any Ayurveda candidate, who has received his/her provisional Ph.D./PG degree can also apply for PDF.
3. For Allied Sciences Disciplines: Any Ph.D. degree holder of Allied sciences disciplines may apply within three years of award of Ph.D. degree but if the Ph.D. is continued, he/she may not apply for PDF. Any Allied sciences candidate, who has received his /her provisional Ph.D. degree, can also apply for PDF.
4. Applicants should have research publications in high impact factor SCI journals.

MAXIMUM AGE LIMIT :
1. The candidate should not be more than 40 years of age on the last date of application. Maximum relaxation is up to 5 years in case of SC/ST/Physically handicapped candidate and women candidates and 3 years in case of OBC (Non-Creamy Layer) candidates.
2. For deserving candidates age can be relaxed up to maximum of 3 years based on earlier work done, publications, awards etc. Director General, CCRAS may consider and relax on the recommendation of the screening committee.

TENURE : CCRAS Post Doctoral Fellowship is a full time research work for the tenure of two years and extendable for maximum one more year based on outstanding performance and recommendation from the Mentor at University/Institution/Lab where working and approval of the Director General, CCRAS.

REMUNERATION
1. CCRAS Post Doctoral Fellows will be paid a consolidated fellowship of Indian Rs.60,000/- per month plus House Rent Allowance (HRA) as admissible and a research contingency grant of Rs.3.00 lakh per annum provided subject to submission of the proposal through mentor forwarded by the Head of the Institution within 3 months of joining the fellowship which will be examined by the Research Council for any adjudication, if required before consideration for approval. The unspent balance of research contingency grant at the end of a year may be carried forward to the next year.
2. Contingency Research grant can be used for expenses on minor equipment, consumables etc. (as per Annexure-VIII). There is no provision for providing manpower support under this scheme. The Fellow is expected to undertake the research objectives by himself/herself during the entire duration of the fellowship.
3. 25% of the contingency grant can be used for domestic and international travel including per diem expenses.
4. The fellows are not eligible to receive any other fellowship from any Government or Non- Governmental source during the tenure of the fellowship.
5 The fellowship cannot be utilized for any other research work expect the approved research work for the PDF proposal.

MODE OF SELECTION :
1. Eligible candidates can apply in the prescribed format, available on the CCRAS PDF Portal:https://pdf.ccras.org.in/.The selections are made twice a year, in the months of June and December. Applications received before the last date of submission of the online application, will be considered for short listing and calling for interview. 9.2. Selections to the “CCRAS Post Doctoral Fellowship” will be made based on the presentation of the proposed research project followed by interview of short listed candidates by specially constituted Committee with the following composition: (1) Chairman- DG, CCRAS (2) *6 Subject Experts nominated by DG,CCRAS from reputed institutions like CSIR, DBT, ICMR, University & National Institutions of Ayush etc.
a. Ayurveda Expert- 01
b. Expert from Drug Development- 01
c. Pharmacology &Toxicology- 01
d. Molecular Biology/ System Biology/ Biotechnology/ Molecular Medicine- 01
e. Medicinal Plant Research- 01
f. Bioinformatics/ IT-01
g. Biomedical Information- 01
h. Biostatics- 01 (3) Member Secretary- DDG, CCRAS
*The above members will be called as per requirement and type of proposal received from time to time. DG, CCRAS may co-opt the members as per requirement.

JOINING & RELEASE OF FELLOWSHIP :
1. The selected candidates will be issued the award letter. The scholar has to join the fellowship within one month of the date of the award letter by submitting all required documents to the Institution/lab, through the Council. This may be extended by the DG, CCRAS up to six months in exceptional circumstances.
2. The sanction of the fellowship will be given initially for a period of one year, effective from the date of joining of the scholar in the Fellowship. The six monthly installment will be issued on receipt of the prescribed claim bill form (Annexure-IV). The renewal of the Fellowship for the subsequent year shall be subject to the receipt of satisfactory Annual Progress Report (Annexure-V) along with the Statement of Expenditure (Annexure-VI) and Utilization Certificate as per GFR 2017 (Annexure-VII) duly approved by the mentor of working University/Institution/Lab for the entire fellowship released for first year.

MONITORING OF FELLOWSHIP
1. Regular monitoring of Fellowship is done on the basis of Six Monthly and Annual Progress Reports in the prescribed format submitted by the scholar.
2. The fellowship may be discontinued if research progress is found unsatisfactory or any CCRAS rules are violated.
3. The CCRAS may ask for annual presentation/mid-term appraisal of the research work.
4. During the course of the fellowship, the PDFs are required to publish at least two research papers in peer reviewed journals on the theme of the research undertaken.

COMPLETION OF FELLOWSHIP
1. If a CCRAS PDF leaves the fellowship within one year, he/she has to submit a detailed progress report of the work done with publications, if any, duly forwarded by the supervisor/mentor, of the Institution/lab ensuring the final settlement of account by the Council up to the period of fellowship. However, if a PDF leaves the fellowship after one year, he/she has to submit a detailed progress report along with an undertaking to complete the study and submit the final report on completion of the duration of fellowship along with two published research papers, duly forwarded by the supervisor and the affiliating institution within the duration of fellowship of two years. If a candidate leaves the fellowship without completion, he/she will have to apply to DG, CCRAS for permission and the DG, CCRAS will take the final decision in this regard.
2. If, as a special case, a scholar remains on leave due to maternity/medical/extra ordinary circumstances (not to exceed six months) duly approved by the DG, CCRAS the tenure of fellowship will be extended by that period but the total amount of CCRAS Post Doctoral fellowship will not exceed 24 months (36 months in exceptional cases).

CONDITIONS
1. The post-doctoral research work should not be the same as Ph.D. work.
2. The duration of full time regular fellowship shall be for two years which may be extendable for maximum one more year based on outstanding performance and recommendation from the Director General, CCRAS and the Mentor at Institution/ lab where working. In no case the fellowship beyond three years will be considered. However, extension for submission of final report may be granted on justified reasons without any additional financial commitment of the CCRAS.
3. The contingency grant may be utilized for books, stationery, computer related costs, and the field work expenses connected with the research work.
4. The CCRAS reserves the right to publish the fellowship report funded by it.
5. The scholar shall acknowledge CCRAS’s support in all publications resulting from the research output of the fellowship and should submit a copy of the same to the DG, CCRAS.
6. All fellowships are subject to income tax deductions as per the Government of India rules at the level of Council.
7. CCRAS follows Government of India Rules & Directives with regard to SC, ST and persons with benchmark disability.
8. A fellow is not entitled for the same fellowship or pay protection more than once.
9. While accepting any fellowship from the CCRAS, a fellow should not accept any other fellowship or research project or regular financial benefit/assignment from any other institution.
10. Any kind of paid or honorary, part-or-full-time employment is not permissible during the tenure of Fellowship

11. The selected fellows are expected to do full time research in India. They could, however, undertake data collection outside India in exceptional cases and if warranted by the needs of the proposal. For this the PDFs are required to obtain approval from DG, CCRAS.
12. The scholar should not have been subjected to any disciplinary / legal action / proceedings / financial penalties in his/her career / research career.
13. The final report submitted by the scholar will be considered satisfactory only after its evaluation by the DG, CCRAS.
14. Books/periodicals/equipment purchased by the scholar out of the contingency grant should be deposited to the Council and a certificate to this effect may be submitted along with the final report.
15. Application submitted against one Call will not be considered for the subsequent Calls.
16. The Council reserves the right to reject any application/nomination. It is also not responsible for any postal loss/delays in communications.
17. Incomplete applications in any respect shall not be considered for fellowship.
18. The final authority related to the interpretation of the guidelines or any issue left is vested with the DG, CCRAS. However, any relaxation would require approval of Ministry of Ayush/CCRAS.
19. The Council shall abide to maintain confidentiality of the submitted research proposals and research outcomes of the selected proposals. All IPR issues will lie as per the prevalent regulations of the CCRAS Research Policy.