Objectives

• To promote advanced studies in the multidisciplinary area of testing and evaluation.
• To extend financial support and to create a band of specialized manpower in every discipline, and in every region of the country to meet the shortage of trained manpower.
• To evolve a system of eclectic intelligentsia by pooling together the potentials available across the disciplines.

Topic of research

• The topic of research may be in any of the below-mentioned areas but with a component of testing and evaluation.
• The preferred area of research would be in the areas of Educational Testing and Evaluation, Language Testing and Assessment, LSRW skills in Indian Languages, Language Education, Online Language Education, Innovation in Educational Technologies, Literacy, Language or Education policy, NEP-2020, Mother Tongue Education, Language Teaching-Learning, Language Pedagogy, Curriculum Development, Language-in-use, Language for Specific Purposes, Educational Psychology, Lower Resource Language Classroom, Language and Culture, etc., or in line with schemes of GOI pertaining to language education/culture, etc. for Indian languages/mother languages.

Value

• The value of the fellowship for Doctoral Research is Rs. 20,000/- per month with a contingent grant of Rs. 20,000/- per annum; for Post Doctoral Research is Rs. 30,000/- per month along with a contingent grant of Rs. 30,000- per annum. The period of fellowship is 3 years for the Doctoral and 1 year for the Post Doctoral, and it may be extended by one more year based on a strict assessment procedure in deserving cases.

Criteria For PhD Fellowship

• The applicant should have studied one of the 22 Indian languages listed in the 8th schedule of the constitution, at least up to the Secondary Level.
• A full-time Master/Integrated Master's degree in Linguistics, Language Science, in any of the 22 Scheduled Indian Language, Literature, English (with a focus on Indian Literature/Languages/Culture), Anthropology, Psychology, or Education.
• Enrolled in UGC Recognized Indian University (up to 2nd year of PhD degree).
• Candidates expecting to enrol in a relevant PhD programme in the next months, from the date of the award of fellowship, may also be considered.

Criteria For Post-Doctoral Fellowships

• The applicant should have studied one of the 22 Indian languages listed in the 8th schedule of the constitution, at least up to the Secondary Level.
• A PhD degree from a UGC Recognized Indian University in the relevant area as indicated above with relevant publications (see the detailed guidelines), preceded by a full-time Master/Integrated Master's degree in Linguistics, Language Science, in any of the 22 Scheduled Indian Language, Literature, English (with a focus on Indian Literature/Languages/Culture), Anthropology, Psychology, or Education.
• Freshly Enrolled in UGC Recognized Indian University as post-docttoral candidate.
• Candidates expecting to enrol in a relevant post-doctoral programme in the next 3 months, from the date of the award of fellowship, may also be considered.

Terms and Conditions
Value & duration of fellowships

Doctoral Fellowship

Post Doctoral Fellowship

Rs. 20, 000/- per month (subject to any revision by the Ministry of Education) initially for a period of 3 years and may be extended by one more year based on a strict assessment procedure in deserving cases. A contingency grant of Rs. 20,000/- per annum will also be provided to meet other related expenses such as field study/data collection, purchase of equipments, stationary, books, journals etc.

Rs. 30, 000/- per month (subject to any revision by the Ministry of Education) initially for a period of 1 year and may be extended by one more year based on a strict assessment procedure in deserving cases A contingency grant of Rs. 30,000/- per annum will also be provided to meet other related expenses such as filed study/data collection, purchase of equipments, stationary, books, journals etc.

Eligibility For PhD Fellowship

1. Candidates registered in UGC/GOI-recognized Indian Universities and Institutions in full-time PhD programmes in Indian Languages and Literature, English Language, Education, and Linguistics, or closely allied subjects are eligible to apply for the Fellowship.
2. Applicants who are in the first or second year of their PhD candidature are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to the applicants whose PhD research is in sync with the Goals and Objectives of the National Testing Service –India. The applicants are encouraged to consult with the officials at NTS-I, CIIL about their PhD research topic/theme/area, before submission of their final research thesis at their respective Institutions.
3. The preferred area of research would be in the areas of Educational Testing and Evaluation, Language Testing and Assessment, LSRW skills in Indian Languages, Language Education, Online Language Education, Innovation in Educational Technologies, Literacy, Language or Education policy, NEP-2020, Mother Tongue Education, Language Teaching-Learning, Language Pedagogy, Curriculum Development, Language-in-use, Language for Specific Purposes, Educational Psychology, Lower Resource Language Classroom, Language and Culture, etc., or in line with schemes of GOI pertaining to language education/culture, etc. for Indian languages/mother languages.
4. The fellowship shall carry an amount of Rs. 20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand) per month with a contingency grant of Rs.20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand) per annum for a period of 3 years extendable up to one more year under special circumstances.
5. The candidate must not be more than 32 years of age for Doctoral Fellowships on the last date of application. There shall be an age relaxation of 5 years for the candidates belonging to the SC/ST category or with benchmark disability. DOB mentioned in the SSC/10th certificate shall be the only basis for calculating the age of the applicant.
6. The candidate must have secured a minimum of 55% marks in Graduation and 55% in Post-Graduation or equivalent grades. The submission of self-attested copies of certificates/mark sheets/degrees up to MA/MPhil is mandatory at the time of application.
7. Score/Certificate of the GATE/NET/SLET and M.Phil. in the relevant subject will carry additional points in the scrutiny of the applications. Though GATE/NET/SLET/M.Phil. Qualification is not mandatory, the submission of the GATE/NET/SLET/M.Phil. Score/Certificate is mandatory to secure additional points.
8. Applicants already receiving UGC Junior Research Fellowship (JRF)/ Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship (RGNF)/ Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF)/ ICSSR/ ICAR/ CSIR/ ICPR/ ICMR/ ICHR, or any such national fellowship/sponsorship are not eligible to apply.
9. This Fellowship shall be a whole-time engagement for research work and cannot be combined with any other whole-time or part-time work.
10. The fellowship shall automatically be terminated two months after the fellow submits his/her PhD thesis (for which the Fellowship had been awarded).
11. The fellow will have to submit quarterly, half-yearly and annual progress reports of the work undertaken. All reports will be evaluated by the experts. The fellowship may be discontinued if research undertaken by any fellow is found unsatisfactory at any point in time. The amount of fellowship granted to a fellow shall be recovered if the research undertaken by him is found unsatisfactory.
12. The last instalment, i.e., of the last six months of the Fellowship and contingency shall be withheld if the Fellow does not submit his/her monographs/books/thesis within the stipulated time during his term of Fellowship. When the manuscript is published, the due acknowledgement should be made to the Fellowship of the NTS-I.
13. Fellowship holders have to include one chapter/sub-chapter in their thesis/dissertation about the evaluation methods followed in their research work/subject/area/discipline of study. For this, there should be a declaration enclosed with the application stating how their research work is going to contribute towards the fulfilment of the objectives of NTS-I.
14. The 2 copies of the entire thesis/dissertation have to be submitted to NTS-I in two or three languages. For example, if it is in English, then it should be translated into Hindi, and vice versa. If it is in other Indian languages then it should be translated into English and Hindi both. NTS-I/CIIL may bear the charges of translation/Binding as per the rate fixed by CIIL.

Eligibility For Post-Doctoral Fellowships

1. Candidates registered in UGC/GOI-recognized Indian Universities and Institutions in full-time Post-Doctoral programmes in Indian Languages and Literature, English Language, Education, and Linguistics, or closely allied subjects are eligible to apply for the Fellowship.
2. Preference will be given to the applicants whose Post-Doctoral research is in sync with the Goals and Objectives of the National Testing Service –India. The applicants are encouraged to consult their research topic/theme/area with the officials at NTS-I, CIIL before submitting their final research proposal at their respective Institutions.
3. The preferred area of research would be in the areas of Educational Testing and Evaluation, Language Testing and Assessment, LSRW skills in Indian Languages, Language Education, Online Language Education, Innovation in Educational Technologies, Literacy, Language or Education policy, NEP-2020, Mother Tongue Education, Language Teaching-Learning, Language Pedagogy, Curriculum Development, Language-in-use, Language for Specific Purposes, Educational Psychology, Lower Resource Language Classroom, Language and Culture, etc., or in line with schemes of GOI pertaining to language education/culture, etc. for Indian languages/mother languages.
4. The Fellowship shall carry an amount of Rs. 30,000/- (Rupees Twenty Four Thousand) per month with a contingency grant of Rs.30,000/- (Rupees Thirty Thousand) per annum for a maximum period of 2 years.
5. The candidate must not be more than 35 years of age for Post-Doctoral Fellowships on the last date of application. There shall be an age relaxation of 5 years for SC/ST/category with benchmark disability. DOB mentioned in the 10th/SSC certificate shall be the only basis for calculating the age of the applicant.
6. The candidate must have completed their PhD in the relevant area as per UGC norms with a minimum of four publications in Peer Reviewed/UGC Care/Scopus Indexed Journals. Out of four, two must be detailed journal papers directly relevant to the research undertaken during the PhD.
7. The candidate must have secured a minimum of 55% marks in Graduation and 55% in Post-Graduation or equivalent grades. The submission of self-attested copies of certificates/mark sheets/degrees up to MA/MPhil/PhD is mandatory at the time of application.
8. Score/Certificate of the GATE/NET/SLET/M.Phil. in the relevant subject will carry additional points in the scrutiny of the applications. Though GATE/NET/SLET/M.Phil. Qualification is not mandatory, and the submission of the GATE/NET/SLET Score/Certificate is mandatory to secure additional points.
9. Applicants who have already received any postdoctoral fellowship/sponsorship are not eligible to apply.
10. This Fellowship shall be a whole-time engagement for research work and cannot be combined with any other whole-time or part-time work.
11. The fellowship shall automatically be terminated two months after the fellow submits his/her Post-Doctoral thesis (for which the Fellowship had been awarded).
12. The fellow will have to submit Quarterly, half-yearly and Annual progress reports of the work undertaken. All reports will be evaluated by the expert(s)/authorities at NTS/CIIL. The fellowship may be discontinued if research undertaken by any fellow is found unsatisfactory at any point in time. The amount of fellowship granted to a fellow shall be recovered if the research undertaken by him is found unsatisfactory.
13. The last instalment, i.e., of the last six months of the Fellowship and contingency shall be withheld if the fellow does not submit his/her monographs/books/thesis within the stipulated time during his term of Fellowship. When the manuscript is published, the due acknowledgement should be made to the Fellowship of the NTS-I.
14. Fellowship holders have to include one chapter/sub-chapter in their thesis/dissertation about the evaluation methods followed in their research work/subject/area/discipline of study. For this, there should be a declaration enclosed with the application stating how their research work is going to contribute towards the fulfilment of the objectives of NTS-I.
15. The 2 copies of entire thesis/dissertation have to be submitted to NTS-I in two or three languages. For example, if it is in English, then it should be translated into Hindi and vice versa. If it is in other Indian languages then it should be translated into English and Hindi both. NTS-I will bear the charges of translation as per the rate fixed by CIIL.

Grant of Leave.

1. Both doctoral and post-doctoral candidates shall be entitled to a maximum period of 30 days of leave in a year in addition to public holidays. They will not be entitled to any other type of leave.
2. Women Fellows, however, are eligible for maternity leave for 3 months at full rates of fellowships only once during the whole tenure of the award of the fellowship. Maternity leave will be granted only on the production of a valid medical certificate. Similarly, Men Fellows will be allowed for 15 days of paternity leave only once during the whole tenure of the award of the fellowship only on the production of a valid medical certificate.
3. In exceptional cases, as certified by the supervisor through proper channels and found satisfactory by NTS-I/CIIL authorities, additional leave without fellowship shall be allowed but restricted to a maximum period of 2 months. It will be allowed only once during the entire tenure of the fellowship. The candidates while seeking any such leave shall have to apply through the proper channel well in advance with supporting documents (such as medical certificates, and appointment letters) for approval of the competent authority at the NTS-India.
4. The concerned department shall have to submit the attendance report of the fellow monthly.

[Note: The respective guides/supervisors are requested to inform the NTS-I if the scholars guided by them apply for extraordinary leave other than the leave permitted under paragraphs (1) to (4) above.

Procedure for application

1. The prospective candidates have to submit an online application with his/her detailed research proposal, letter of recommendation, previous qualifications and experience, list of publications, and detailed CV. The language of applications/CV and all such submitted documents should be in English.
2. The application will be scrutinized by the assigned team at NTS-I/CIIL.
3. The shortlisted candidates will be invited for a written examination and/or interview/presentation.
4. The list of the qualified candidates will be published on the NTS-I/CIIL Website.
5. The shortlisted candidates have to report to the NTS-I in person for the verification of the documents.
6. The effective date of the commencement of the fellowship and its continuation will be decided by the competent NTS-I/CIIL authorities.

Procedure for award and continuation of fellowship

1. Confirmation of registration for pursuing research at the Doctoral/Post Doctoral level.
2. Timely submission of duly signed attendance report (Every month)
3. Timely submission of duly signed progress report (Every quarter). The progress report of the work in every quarter duly signed by the supervisor/guide, Head of the Department and countersigned by the Registrar or Dy. Registrar (Academic) or a concerned designate for such certification of the university/college/institute of higher learning.
4. A minimum of one relevant journal publication related to research in Peer Reviewed/UGC Care/Scopus Indexed and one presentation at a reputed conference. All publications shall be made with prior information and permission of the NTS-I during the tenure of the fellowship.

General Terms and Conditions:

1. Before applying, the candidates have to ensure that they fulfil all eligibility criteria as indicated.
2. The candidates have to submit their applications through the proper channel with the recommendation of the research supervisor.
3. The doctoral fellowship awardees shall make themselves available at the NTS-I Office for work/academic assignment for a minimum period of 60 working days in a year, while postdoctoral fellowship awardees shall make themselves available at the NTS-I Office for work/academic assignment for a minimum period of 90 days in a year. The fellow will be paid 3rd AC return fare and free hostel accommodation during the period. The time and nature of academic work/assignment will be decided by the competent authorities at NTS-I/CIIL.
4. The fellows are encouraged to publish in peer-reviewed/UGC care/Scopus Indexed, etc. journals, esp. in joint collaboration with officers/members of NTS-I. All publications shall be made with prior information and permission of the NTS-I during the fellowship tenure.

Monitoring of the Progress

1. The performance of the candidates (both for Doctoral and Post Doctoral Fellowship) shall be regularly monitored at the NTS-I/CIIL.
2. The candidates will not be permitted to accept or hold any position paid or unpaid or receive emoluments/salary or stipends etc. from other sources during the tenure of the fellowship awarded by the NTS-India.
3. The fellowship may be terminated at any time during the tenure of its award if the candidate:
a) Has not shown adequate progress after initiating the research.
b) Found involved in any activity detrimental to the NTS, CIIL, or Govt. of India.
c) Found violating any of the terms and conditions of NTS fellowships.
d) Any additional claim after the actual tenure of fellowship shall be treated as illegal and in such case, the candidate is liable to face disciplinary action.

[NOTE : The fellowship may also be discontinued due to a lack of funds in the respective head of the Budget of NTS/CIIL.]

Utilization of Contingent Grants:

1. A contingency grant of Rs. 20,000/- (for Doctoral Research Scholars) and Rs. 30,000/- (for Post Doctoral Research Scholars) is admissible per annum payable in two instalments.
2. The grant may be utilized for the following items with the approval of the supervisor and the Head of NTS-India.
3. Purchase of books, stationeries, registration fee in a conference/workshop, travel/field work expenses to attend any academic activities, etc., needed for the approved research.
4. Cost of Xeroxing, typing (including thesis), stationary, postage and clerical or other assistance. (However, a maximum of 30% of the total contingency grant may be spent for the purpose of Xeroxing, Typing (including thesis), Stationary, Postage and clerical or similar assistance).
5. All bills/receipts in original shall be submitted to the NTS-I/CIIL to be able to receive the contingency grant. Only the bills/receipts which are valid and legal tender will be accepted by the NTS-I/CIIL as per norms.
6. On termination of the scholarship, the apparatus and other non-consumable articles purchased out of the contingency grant will become the property of the NTS-I/CIIL. The contingency grant is not intended for meeting expenditures on furniture items normally provided by the University / College / Institute and payment of examination or other fees.
7. For all expenditures out of the contingency grant, a certificate from the Supervisor to the effect that the expenditure incurred was in furtherance of the approved research work will be necessary.
8. The travel expenses for field work/travel undertaken by a scholar in connection with the approved research work will be admissible.

Note: Fellowship will be released to the researcher directly with a copy marked to the supervisor/due authority, on receipt of the pre-receipted bill duly signed by the researcher and countersigned by the supervisor.

Year wise Awardees (Doctoral & Post Doctoral)

• 2023-2024
• 2024-2025