With a view of enhance the spread of Science and Technology in the specific regions of the country, the Inter Academy Panel has initiated the Focus Area Science Technology Summer Fellowship [FAST-SF]. This coming year (2021) our focus will be on the North Eastern States of the country and the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh and the FAST-SF will be for students and teachers studying/working in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.

About 200 fellowships will be offered during 2021 to students/teachers studying/working in these states, to work with scientists associated with three Academies’ anywhere in the country.

A copy of the application format, instructions to applicants including eligibility criteria and a list of names of scientists/faculty who have consented to guide students/teachers to work on short-term projects are displayed online.

Applications are invited from interested students and teachers from universities and colleges from North-Eastern states of India, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh affiliated to UGC/AICTE/MCI/Accredited Institutions of State Universities for these Fellowships. The application should include:

(a) the application form in the prescribed format;
(b) scanned copies of marks sheets from class X till the last examination;
(c) a write-up (in about 150-250 words) as to what the applicant wants to learn and achieve.

Student applicants should provide the email id of one of their teachers or HoD familiar with their work. The Academy will approach them for a recommendation letter in the prescribed format. The selected candidate should work with the assigned guide for two months any time during the calendar year though summer months are preferred.

Applications should be submitted by logging onto our websites [www.ias.ac.in; http://www.insaindia.res.in and www.nasi.org.in]. The registration number assigned soon after the online submission must be quoted in all future correspondence.

Information of selection along with concurrence of the guide will be despatched around February–March 2021. The selected students/teachers will be provided appropriate round trip train fare and a monthly fellowship to meet their living expenses at the place of work.

Professor M R N Murthy

Chairman, Joint Science Education Panel
Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru