What is Inspire Scholarship?
The “Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE)” is an innovative program sponsored and managed by the Department of Science & Technology for the attraction of talent to Science in India. The basic objective of INSPIRE is to communicate to the youth of the country the excitements of creative pursuit of science, attract talent to the study of science at an early age, and thus build the required critical human resource pool for strengthening and expanding the Science & Technology system.
A striking feature of the program is that it does not believe in conducting competitive exams for the identification of talent at any level. It believes in and relies on the efficacy of the existing educational structure for the identification of talent.
The inspire scholarship scheme is a flagship program implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and it features a scholarship scheme known as the Scholarship For Higher Education (SHE), meant for meritorious students undertaking bachelor’s and master’s courses in Natural and Basic Sciences.
The subjects that come under the scope of Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) are physics, chemistry, biology, statistics, geology, astrophysics, astronomy, electronics, botany, zoology, biochemistry, anthropology, microbiology, geophysics, geochemistry, atmospheric sciences, oceanic sciences, ecology, marine biology, genetics, and finally biophysics.
How much is inspire scholarship?
The INSPIRE Scholarship offers 10,000 scholarships every year and under the scheme SHE, each selected candidate gets a scholarship amount valued at INR 80,000 per annum for the study of Science and Technology and to pursue research as a career. The maximum period for which the students can avail the benefits of this scholarship is five years or till the completion of the course (whichever is earlier).
How to apply for inspire scholarship 2021
Be sure to read “HOW TO WRITE A SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY AND WIN BIG.” before applying for ANY SCHOLARSHIP
The scholarship is announced every year during the mid of October and ends at the end of the month of December. The applications for INSPIRE Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) are accepted online through the online portal of the INSPIRE Programme. Given below is the complete guideline on how to apply for the scholarship.
Step 1: First the applicant must register as a new user on the INSPIRE scholarship portal. The candidate must enter his/her name, gender, date of birth, email, password, eligibility criteria, and verification code for successful registration.
Step 2: The candidate receives a user ID and password on their registered email ID where he/she needs to click on the activation link to activate his/her account.
Step 3: The applicant must keep the scanned copies of all the required documents as separate files before filling the application form.
Step 4: The applicant must log in to the INSPIRE scholarship portal using his/her username and password.
Step 5: Now, the candidate must fill in all the details like personal particulars, enrolment information at B.Sc. and Integrated M.Sc. level, senior secondary performance information, national level competitive exam details, contact details, and other details in the scholarship application form.
Step 6: Also, the applicant needs to upload all the required documents in support of the online scholarship application.
Step 7: The applicant needs to review the entered details before the submission of the form by pressing the ‘Print Preview button. She/he must make sure that all the details and uploaded documents are correct.
Step 8: Now, the applicant needs to click on the ‘Submit’ button to submit the application.
Step 9: After the final submission of the online scholarship application form, the candidate must take the printout of the submitted application for his/her record.
INSPIRE Scholarship – Key Documents
While applying for the Scholarship for Higher Education, applicants need to submit some important documents in support of their application lack of which might lead to their rejection. Find below the list of all the important documents that a candidate needs to upload while filling his/her scholarship application.
The following documents are Applicant’s passport size photograph, Community/caste certificate in case the applicant belongs to OBC/SC/ST category, Eligibility note or advisory note if provided by the State/Central Board, Class 12th mark sheet, Class 10th mark sheet or certificate (for proof of Date of Birth), Certificate specifying rank/award in JEE (Main)/ JEE (Advanced)/ NEET/ KVPY /JBNSTS/ NTSE / International Olympic Medalists (if the candidate is eligible under this criterion), Endorsement form signed by the principal of the college/director of the institute/registrar of the university, and the first page of applicant’s SBI bank passbook.
Who is eligible for Inspire Scholarship?
In order to apply for SHE, the applicants must have passed class 12 in 2020 (only) and pursuing courses in Natural Sciences at the B.Sc. or Integrated M.Sc. level. Given below is the detailed information about the eligibility criteria of this scholarship:
- The applicant must be within the age group of 17-22 years.
- The candidate must be among the top 1% of the successful students in terms of aggregate marks in his/her class 12 board exam.
- The applicant must be enrolled in courses of Natural and Basic Sciences at the BSc, BS, and Integrated MSc./MS level in the same year of passing class 12.
- The applicants who are among the top 10,000 rankers in the Joint Entrance Examination of IIT, AIEEE (top 20,000 rankers) & cleared CBSE-Medical (AIPTM) and have opted to study Natural/Basic Sciences are eligible.
- The candidates who are admitted to the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER), National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Department of Atomic Energy Centre for Basic Sciences (DAE-CBS) at the University of Mumbai for pursuing courses in Natural/Basic Sciences leading to B.Sc. and M.Sc. degree are also eligible.
- The applicants who are KVPY (Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojna), National Talent Search Examination (NTSE), Olympiad Medallists, and Jagadish Bose National Science Talent Search (JBNSTS) scholar and are pursuing courses in Natural/Basic Sciences leading to B.Sc. and M.Sc. degree are eligible.
Conclusion
The applications for INSPIRE Scholarship generally start in the month of November and continue till December. The last date to apply for INSPIRE Scholarship for the academic year 2020-21 was 31st December 2020. The students are advised to keep a check on its official website to get the latest updates about the scholarship. The selection process usually takes a period of at least four months due to the large volume of applications.