Newton Bhabha Fellowship

The Newton Bhabha Fellowship Fund establishes research and innovation via collaboration with 18 partner countries in order to promote economic development and social welfare, as well as to strengthen research and innovation capacity for long-term growth. It has a cumulative commitment of £735 million from the UK government until 2021, with matching contributions from the partner countries. The fellowship is administered by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Policy (BEIS) and implemented by 15 UK implementation partners, including the Research Councils, UK Academies, British Council, Innovate the UK, and the Met Office. In this blog, we will be telling you all the important information pertaining to the Newton Bhabha Fellowship Fund. 

Priorities for Indians 

The Newton-Bhabha Fellowship Fund is the name of the collaboration with India, which brings together the UK and Indian scientific research and innovation sectors to find common solutions to global challenges. The following priority areas for the Newton-Bhabha partnership have been listed by the UK and India jointly:

• Cities and urbanisation that are sustainable
• Public health and happiness
• The nexus of electricity, water, and food
• Understanding oceans

The Newton Bhabha Fellowship also covers two of the underpinning capabilities that are:

• High-value manufacturing
• Big data

Apart from all the above-mentioned things, the Newton-Bhabha Fellowship Fund additionally covers three broad categories of activity namely:

• People: building skills and capacity through training and people exchanges
• Research: research collaboration on development topics
• Translation: taking innovation from universities to industry

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Newton Bhabha Fellowship Fund Planned Activities 

Under the Newton Bhabha Fellowship Fund, the British Council India leads a range of capacity-building initiatives to improve scientific research in India. Here are some of them:

• Newton Bhabha Researcher Links Workshops: The Newton Bhabha Fellowship Researcher Links workshops are run in collaboration with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). These workshops will provide opportunities for early-career researchers from the UK and India to connect, learn from one another, and form long-term working relationships through workshops in areas that directly benefit Indian economic and social prosperity.
• Workshops for Women in Science: The movement of women in science from high school to advanced degrees has been labelled as a “leaky pipeline,” with numbers slowly declining as they progress through their careers. Both India and the UK agreed to explore opportunities to improve future work through the Newton-Bhabha Fellowship Fund in the area of Diversity in Science, especially the representation of women in leadership roles, at the fourth ministerial meeting of the UK-India Science and Innovation Council. The Newton-Bhabha Fellowship Fund, in collaboration with IISER Pune, organises workshops for women scientists on constructive and socially important topics such as “Opportunities for Widening Women’s Participation in Science”.
• PhD placements for young Indian and UK students to conduct the study at any UK or Indian university for 2-4 months and spend time on their research as well. 

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Newton Bhabha Fellowship Fund PhD Placements Program

The Newton Bhabha Fellowship Fund’s PhD Placements program is the one that supports short-term PhD placements between UK and Indian institutions and universities. The Department for Industry, Energy and Industrial Policy in the United Kingdom and the Ministry of Science and Technology in India, in collaboration with one of the most renowned and recognized institution, the British Council in India, along with the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), are the ones behind awarding this grant. 

Aim of the Program 

The Newton Bhabha Fellowship Fund program has a distinguished aim to: 

• Promote research and innovation in the UK and India, increase the number of qualified researchers in both countries.
• Foster long-term, sustainable research partnerships through fostering cultural awareness.
• Create international collaborative training pathways.
• Increase understanding of the UK and India’s study strengths.
• Develop the individual capacity, which can be built by taking advantage of international training and development opportunities.

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Eligibility Criteria of the Newton Bhabha Fellowship Program 

Only the UK scholars pursuing their PhD at a UK higher education institution are qualified for the Newton Bhabha Fellowship. In India, however, the Newton Bhabha Fellowship is only available to Indian PhD scholars enrolled in Indian higher education institutions who meet the following criteria:

• Batch 2017 INSPIRE PhD Senior Research Fellows (SRFs) are qualified to apply for STEM and Life Sciences subjects.
• PhD Scholars (other than INSPIRE Fellows) seeking a PhD in Life Sciences in their mid-second or third year are qualified to apply.
• Doctoral Fellows of the ICSSR or registered PhD scholars (full time) in their second or third year of study in the Social Sciences are qualified to apply.

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Costs Covered 

The following costs will be covered in the Newton Bhabha Fellowship Fund program or scheme. 

• For PhD scholars, there is a visa charge, foreign economy class airfares, and overseas travel insurance.
• PhD scholars’ in-country expenses, including housing and a stipend
• Bench fees (if requested) by the host university in the United Kingdom

Note: The PhD Placement Program’s results for 2020-21 are postponed. The results will be updated and declared shortly. 

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