TWAS-CSIR Postgraduate Fellowship Programme 2026

The TWAS-CSIR Postgraduate Fellowship Programme is a doctoral research fellowship jointly offered by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India. It supports early-career researchers from developing countries who wish to pursue PhD research in science and technology at CSIR laboratories and institutes in India.

The programme is designed for candidates with a strong academic background in scientific or technological fields and is available in both full-time and sandwich formats. Full-time fellowships can run for up to 4 years, while sandwich fellowships normally last from 6 months up to 3 years. Research areas typically include agricultural sciences, biology, medical and health sciences, chemical sciences, engineering sciences, astronomy and earth sciences, mathematics, and physics.

CSIR provides a monthly stipend intended to cover living costs, food, and health insurance during the fellowship period. Fellows are also generally entitled to subsidized accommodation. The stipend is paid locally in India and is not convertible into foreign currency.

Applicants are typically expected to be nationals of a developing country other than India, hold a Master's degree in science and technology, and be regularly employed in their home country with an active research assignment there. Candidates must not hold temporary or permanent residency in India or in a developed country. Sandwich applicants usually need to be registered for a PhD in their home country, while full-time applicants should be prepared to enroll for doctoral study through the relevant host arrangements.

Applications are usually made through the TWAS fellowship system and require academic and institutional documents, along with evidence of English proficiency where prior education was not conducted in English. Because the fellowship is hosted across CSIR laboratories rather than one single university, applicants should review the current call carefully and prepare research-focused application materials.