Preamble :
SERB Science and Technology Award for Research (SERB-STAR) is a prestigious award instituted by SERB to recognize and reward outstanding performance of Principal Investigators (PIs) of SERB Projects. SERB has been supporting basic research in frontier areas of science and engineering through its various programs and schemes. The number of researchers under the ambit of SERB has increased over the years and they contribute significantly towards the progress of science and engineering in the country through their research endeavour. SERB-STAR is an initiative to acknowledge such exemplary contributions in research and also to motivate the PIs of ongoing projects for outstanding performance.

Nature of Support :

1. Fellowship of Rs. 15,000/- per month, research grant of Rs. 10 lakh per annum and Rs.1 lakh per annum as overhead charges for a period of three years.
2. Upto 30 awards per year and not more than 90 at any time

Eligibility :

1. The nominee should have completed individual-centric SERB project in previous three financial years with “Excellent” grading. Only the PI of such projects and not the Co-PIs shall be eligible.
2. The applicant must hold a regular academic/research position in a recognized academic institution or national laboratories or any other recognized R&D institutions. [The term “Regular” refers to: (1) Those who are appointed by the institutions against the ‘sanctioned ‘post. Such positions are regularized/confirmed after the probation period is over (2) Those who are appointed in a tenure post but are likely to be renewed after the end of the tenure].
3. The age of the nominee should be within 40 to 50 years as on December 31 of the year in which the call is made.
4. PIs who have an ongoing fellowship/honorarium such as JC Bose Fellowship, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, Swarnajayanti Fellowship, etc. are not eligible.
5. Individuals who are nominated for SERB STAR but are unsuccessful can be renominated for consideration in the following year subject to fulfilling other eligibility criteria.

Application and Selection Process :

1. The application would be by nomination which must be submitted online through the website www.serbonline.in
2. Call for nomination would be made once in a year.
3. Nomination shall be made by the Head of the Institution of the nominee.
4. At Stage 1 - Preliminary Scrutiny, verification of eligibility criteria including “Excellent” grading will be carried out by SERB. Only those nominations found eligible, would be considered for
   Stage 2 - Award Selection Process.
5. The selection by a competent committee will be based on performance of completed projects and other research work would carry a top up weightage.

Scientific Social Responsibility :
SERB has adopted Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR) Policy to imbibe a culture of social commitment among SERB Grantees. The policy intends to effectively utilize scientific infrastructure and expertise of SERB grantees to benefit other S&T stakeholders especially the less-endowed researchers and the society. SERB Grantees need to undertake some SSR activities during their project period. SSR activities need to be chosen during submission process. Depending on the activities chosen additional budget would be provided under separate head to carry out the chosen activities.

Instructions for Online Submission :

1. PI need to register in SERB online portal, www.serbonline.in
2. After log-in, PI need to fill all the mandatory fields in Profile Details section under User Profile which includes Bio data, Photo, Institution Address, etc.
3. Under ‘Form Submission’, choose Scheme: STAR, and fill the STAR nomination form which includes details of completed project, other scientific contribution, nominator details, etc.
4. After filling the details, PI should select “Send STAR nomination form to Nominator”
5. Nominator would receive intimation via email with a link to SERB online portal, to view the filled-in STAR Nomination form.
6. Nominator can choose to submit the nomination to SERB or resend the form to Nominee with his comments for any revision.
7. Once submitted, PI and Nominator will receive intimation regarding successful submission.

Documents Required (in PDF format) :

1. Project completion report (PCR)
2. List of publications resulting from the completed project (if any)
3. Reprints of publications (if applicable)
4. Details of patents from the completed project (if any)
5. Patent documents (if applicable)
6. Documents related to technology transfer (if any)
7. List of complete publications, patents and any other significant contribution
8. Endorsement certificate Download template
9. Certificate from PI Download template
10. Technical Document Download template