ICSSR: Key Objectives:

• To encourage young, mid-career as well senior social scientists doing research in diverse sectors
• To support research in social and Human Sciences having the potential to contribute to the National development and attainment of Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) by providing evidence-based insights and practical solutions to current and future challenges in various fields.
• To support research that has potential to develop new theoretical and methodological approaches to Social and human sciences.
• To promote multi-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary & trans-disciplinary approaches across diverse domains in Social Human Sciences.

The candidates shall submit an online application on the ICSSR website as per the following schedule:

ICSSR: Important Dates

Link to apply: https://app.icssr.org

ICSSR: Duration and Budget

ICSSR: Research Areas for proposals:

ICSSR: Eligibility:

1. Researchers who are permanently employed or retired as faculty from UGC Recognized Indian Universities/Deemed to be Universities/ Affiliated Colleges/Institutions under (2) F or 12(B), ICSSR Research Institutes, ICSSR Recognised Institutes and Institutes of National Importance as defined by the Ministry of Education (MoE) are eligible to apply. The applicants having substantial research experience demonstrable through publications of books / research papers / reports are eligible to apply. The Project Director and Co-Project Director must also hold a Ph.D. Degree.
2. In exceptional cases, Independent researchers with PhD degrees who are not affiliated permanently with any institution mentioned in Clause A but have produced at least two sole-author books published by reputed publishers and/or 05 articles in peer-reviewed journals can also be considered as Co-Project Directors. Such scholars will be required to collaborate with a faculty from institutions given in A above.
3. Further, those researchers with PhD degrees who are in contractual appointment in academic/research institutions mentioned in Clause A and have produced at least two sole-author books published by reputed publishers and/or 05 articles in peer-reviewed journals may also apply as Co-Project Directors. In the event of their contract expiry, they may continue as Co-Project Directors until the completion of the project.
4. Senior and retired government and defence officers (having not less than 05 years of regular service) possessing a Ph. D. degree in any social science discipline and having produced at least two sole-author books published by reputed publishers and/or 05 articles in peer-reviewed journals can also apply as Co-Project Directors, in collaboration with a faculty from institutions given in A above.
5. Non-academic participants/stakeholders/local community may also be part of the research team in the capacity of Key Informant.

ICSSR: How to Apply:

• The applications shall be invited through an advertisement on ICSSR website and shall be promoted through social media platforms of ICSSR.
• The applicants are required to submit an online application along with the research proposal, annexures, and other required documents in the prescribed format, duly forwarded by the competent authorities of the affiliating institution. If desired by ICSSR, hard copies of the same must be submitted within the prescribed date.
• Research proposals and final reports should either be in English or Hindi. Arial/ Mangal Unicode (Devanagari) font should be used to fill Application form in Hindi.
• Researchers can apply for only one project at a time. For any ongoing or completed project with the ICSSR, the cooling-off period for applying to another project will be one year for the Project Director. The date of cooling period will be calculated from the date of submission of the final report. However, this will not be applicable for minor projects/short-term empirical research projects of duration equal to or less than 12 months. For ICSSR Research Institutes, the cooling period will not be applicable.

Applicants are required to read the guidelines carefully before submitting their online application forms. Applicants are also advised to apply well before the last date in order to avoid last moment rush. The links for detailed guidelines for applying along with requisite formats are provided on this web page.

Applicants are requested to take a printout of the online application form and send it along with all the annexures to:

The Deputy Director (Research),
Research Project Division

Indian Council of Social Science Research,
JNU Institutional Area,
Aruna Asaf Ali Marg,
New Delhi – 110067

Click here for Guidelines [+]

File attachment: 

Format for Research Proposal

Format for Forwarding Letter

Format for Co-PD Profile