Department of Science & Technology (DST), Govt. of India and Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) concluded a MoU on 7 August 2007 for funding of joint research proposals and bilateral experts meet (Programme Development Activity) in India and Russia in the areas of Basic Science. Under this MoU each project will receive annual funding of up to Rs 800,000/-from DST to the Indian partner and up to (equivalent of US$ 20,000) Rbls. 500,000/- from RFBR to the Russian partner. This arrangement is additional to the existing ILTP arrangement (where support on Russian side is restricted to RAS institutes).

2. Under this programme, first call for proposals was made during September-December 2007 and the second call was made during September-December 2008. List of joint R&D projects approved for support till date is available here.

3. DST and RFBR invite Indian and Russian scientists / researchers to submit proposals for joint research projects and Bilateral Experts Meet (Programme Development Activity) in the following areas of basic sciences under DST-RFBR cooperation:

• Mathematics, Mechanics and Informatics;
• Physics and Astronomy;
• Chemistry;
• Biology and Medical Sciences;
• Earth Sciences;
• Telecommunications and Computer Sciences;
• Fundamental of Engineering Sciences.

Proposals submitted in other research areas will not be considered. Last date for submission under the present third Call for Proposals is 30 November 2010.

4. Each Bilateral Experts Meet (Programme Development Activity) should have two co-organisers, one Indian and one Russian. At least half of the participants should be from the host country.

• Support is available for Joint Research in areas of basic sciences only. Joint research projects will be carried out by research teams from both countries. The team leaders must hold a full-time position at a university or research institute in their respective countries. Scientists are advised to submit only one project against this call.
• The duration of each project will be two years initially. After the completion of this period, an application for additional one year may be considered based on the merit of the progress.
• The team leaders should submit an application to respective nodal agency, upon consultations, using the respective forms prescribed by DST and RFBR. Applications submitted by one side only; not on prescribed format and received after due date will not be accepted. Indian/Russian team leaders should, therefore, ensure that their counterpart submits an identical application on prescribed format as per guidelines of nodal agencies by due date.
• DST and RFBR will conduct parallel review of the applications respectively based on the agreed criteria. DST and RFBR will make joint decisions based on the review results.
• List of selected projects will be posted on website www.dst.gov.in / www.stic-dst.org and www.rfbr.ru in April 2011.
• Successful Indian team leaders would be expected to complete various governmental requirements before commencement of the project.
• Expected Starting of Project: May 2011
• Project leaders are required to submit Statement of Expenditure / Utilisation Certificate alongwith Project Technical Report immediately after completion 1st and 2nd financial year.
• The funding for the selected projects will be provided in annual instalments. The second instalment for each project will be provided after receipt of financial documents, mentioned above, and on evaluation of intermediate technical reports, submitted by Indian and Russian researchers respectively to DST and RFBR and only if both reports are evaluated positively.

Kind of support available for Joint Project:

Each project will receive annual funding of up to Rs 8,00,000 from DST and up to Rbls 5,00, 000 from RFBR. This funding will cover the following expenses in connection with a project;

• Consumables and other research expenses; Expenditure by project team in their country would be borne by the respective country, i.e., DST would support expenditure on Indian side of the project whereas RFBR would meet the expenditure of Russian side.
• Support for Exchange visit component:The sending side would provide return international airfare up to the city of place of work in the host country and cover insurance for emergency illness and accident. The receiving side would arrange in-country travel from the capital city/city of arrival to the place of the visiting institute by appropriate means and provide accommodation and Per Diem in lieu of boarding to the visiting scientists.
• Institutional Overhead: Institutional Overhead can be considered @ 10 % Research expenses and 5 % on exchange visit component.

Kind of support available for Bilateral Exchange Meet (Programme development Activity):

Funding will cover the following expenses in connection with organization of Programme Development Activity:

• International return economy airfare for Indian scientists traveling to Russia to participate in Programme Development Activity (International travel and associated costs for Russian scientists traveling to India will be met by the RFBR)
• Local costs including accommodation and Per diem in lieu of boarding for Russian scientists traveling to India to participate in Programme Development Activity (local costs including accommodation and Per Diem in lieu of boarding for Indian scientists traveling to Russia to participate in Programme Development Activity will be met by the RFBR).
• Domestic travel and accommodation for Indian participants of Programme Development Activity held in India.
• Organisational expenses (as per recommendation of assessment committee)
• Institutional Overhead can be considered @ 5 %.

Assessment of applications

All applications received by the notified round closing date will undergo a peer review process and then be referred to an independent advisory panel for consideration and ranking. Applications must attain a positive rating to be considered eligible for funding. Joint selection of successful applications by DST and RFBR will be discussed by the respective nodal agencies and informed by the rankings. Decisions are made by the DST-RFBR Joint Committee and will be final. The following criteria will be taken into consideration for selection of proposals:

• The scientific merit of the collaborative research proposal including the potential of the anticipated outcomes to advance the knowledge base of the discipline; and the likely impact of the proposed research. In relation to Programme Development Activity proposals, the potential of the Programme Development Activity to generate collaborative research projects of sufficient merit to access support through competitive rounds of the DST-RFBR Cooperation.
• Scientific excellence of the projects
• Mutual advancement of research through the transfer of knowledge and expertise
• Participation of young researchers
• Ability of the teams to successfully complete the project

Submitting an application

Indian applicants for funding should submit completed application form and all relevant, clearly labelled attachments in a single email to the email address: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to reach by 5 pm on 30th November 2010. An email acknowledging receipt of the application will be provided to the applicant in 3-5 working days. They are also requested to send eight hard copies to DST by 10 December 2010. It should be ensured that application with identical title has been submitted by his / her Russian counterpart scientist with RFBR by due date.

For further details and clarifications, if any, kindly contact any of the following in India or Russia: