The Human Resource Development Group of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) runs the Research Associateship scheme, which funds research training for young researchers in universities, institutes and national laboratories. It is open to Indian citizens with a doctorate, or an equivalent postgraduate degree in engineering, medicine or pharmacy, who have research experience. Only bonafide Indian citizens, residing in India are eligible.
The official sources do not publish an RA call for 2026-27 yet. The CSIR-HRDG advertisement dated 14 August 2026 invites applications for Senior Research Fellowships only, and its online window closed on 17 September 2026 (Apply Online from 18/08/2026 to 17/09/2026). The most recent RA call in the official sources ran in late 2024. Check the portal before you plan a date.
What you get
The RA stipend is one of three fixed amounts. The official page does not say which amount goes to which candidate. The stipend may normally be fixed at Rs.58,000/-. However, a selected RA may be placed in the higher stipend if there is ample justification and such recommendation is made by the discipline wise Selection Committee and approved by DG, CSIR.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Monthly stipend | Rs. 58,000, Rs. 61,000 or Rs. 67,000 (fixed) |
| Annual contingency | Up to Rs. 20,000 per associate, paid to the host institution |
| Tenure | One year first, then yearly extension, up to 3 years in total |
Tenure counts earlier associateships from other agencies. The total tenure of RA is 3 years including the tenure of associateship awarded by UGC/DST/ICMAR/ICAR etc. The associate has to be a full time researcher and submit himself/herself to the disciplinary regulations of the University/ Institute/ Laboratory where he/she is working. House rent allowance depends on where you live. All Research Associates may be allowed hostel accommodation wherever available and those residing in hostel provided by University/Institute will not be eligible for HRA. Medical facility follows central or state government norms, limited to the fellow only and not for his/her family members/dependents.
Who can apply
- Citizenship: Indian citizens residing in India only.
- Qualification: Ph.D. (in a science or engineering subject) or MD/MS/MDS (in medical science subject) or ME/MTech/MPharm/MVSc with three years R&D experience as on the last date of application. A submitted PhD thesis also qualifies, but the viva must be cleared before the offer expires.
- Publication: at least one research publication in standard refereed journal as listed in Journal Citation Reports (JCR).
- Age: The upper age limit for applying for award of RA shall be 35 years. The upper age limit is relaxable upto 5 years in the case of applicants belonging to scheduled castes/scheduled tribes, physically handicapped and women applicants whereas 3 years in case of OBC (Non-Creamy Layer candidates).
- Who cannot apply: Employed candidates, whether temporary or permanent, and also those who have already availed higher fellowships/associateships like Senior Research Associateships, etc., will not be considered for RAship. This is from the 2024 call.
- Marks and family income: The official RA rules do not set a minimum percentage or a family income limit.
How to apply
- Apply online only, at srfra.csirhrdg.res.in. Register first with a working email ID, because all further correspondence will be through email.
- Choose one subject code from Appendix I that matches your past education, experience and planned research. No change of code would be permitted after submission of the online application.
- Fill in the form. Details from the time of obtaining the qualifying degree till the last date of application should be mentioned clearly in column 19 of the application form. An unaccounted period, if any, may lead to rejection.
- Upload your documents within the size limits listed below.
- Submit within 40 minutes of opening the form. Once the application form is filled up, please save/submit it within 40 minutes; otherwise, your session will expire, and you will need to re-login.
- Submit before the closing date. No extension on the closing date will be given.
The RA rules also expect a hardcopy of the online form, duly completed and forwarded through the proposed Supervisor and Head of the Department/Institution. Confirm this in the RA call when it opens. There is no application fee.
Documents you need
The list below comes from the 2026 Senior Research Fellowship call. The RA call for your year may differ, so check its list when it opens.
- Photo, signature and date of birth certificate
- Qualifying degree, with a grade-to-percentage conversion certificate if any, and PhD registration, submission or award proof
- Caste certificate and PwD certificate, where they apply, which is mandatory in those cases
- Experience certificate, including fellowship orders. No testimonial will be accepted as proof of research experience.
- For employed candidates, a signed undertaking to leave the job if selected
- A signed and stamped declaration by you, your supervisor and the head of your institution, with your research proposal
- The first page of up to three best research papers in one PDF, if applicable
Photo files must be JPEG or JPG, dimension, 130×160 to 260×320, file size less than 150KB. The documents should have a .pdf extension only, file size less than 400KB.
How students are selected
Selection will be made through interview whereby the assessment of academic record and published/project work is tested by discipline-wise high-level expert Committees. Merely fulfilling of eligibility criteria may not entitle a candidate for being called for interview. Candidates will be called for interview after screening on the basis of criteria adopted by CSIR depending on the number of RAs available. CSIR reserves the right to call or not to call a candidate for interview.
Renewal
- Research Associateship (RA) will be tenable initially for a period of one year. It may be extended further at the discretion of CSIR.
- Each year, the progress of RA would be assessed each year by high level discipline wise Assessment Committee consisting of one external member not below the rank of Professor, Supervisor of the candidate and Head of the department.
- Each Research Associate shall submit his/her annual research report in the prescribed proforma alongwith three member expert committee report within a period of 15 days after completion of one year tenure to CSIR (HRD Group) through his/her Guide/Head of the Department. Noncompliance of CSIR norms for submission of annual progress report along with other requisite documents within six months after completion of yearly tenure may result in termination of fellowship/associateship.
- Leave: Leave with stipend not exceeding 30 days for each completed year of tenure may be allowed by the Guide after the request has been communicated to CSIR.
- Maternity: Women Research Associate with less than two surviving children are entitled to full stipend plus HRA, during the period of absence upto 180 days on grounds of maternity.
Important dates
- 2026-27 RA call: The official sources checked do not publish a date yet.
- 2026 call (advertisement 2026/DirectSRF/1, dated 14 August 2026): Senior Research Fellowships only. Applications ran from 18 August 2026 to 17 September 2026, so this window has closed.
- Latest RA call found (advertisement 2024/SRFRA/1, dated 27 November 2024): Apply Online from 28th Nov to 31th Dec 2024.
Do not confuse this with the Senior Research Associateship. Submission of Senior Research Associateship under the Pool Scheme, is suspended temporarily with immediate effect.
Official sources
- CSIR-HRDG:Research Associateships (RA)
- csirhrdg.res.in/SiteContent/ManagedContent/ATContent/Advertisement_for_inviting_applications_for_Direct___Seni
- Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
- CSIR-HRDG:Senior Research Associateship
Checked against these official sources on 5 November 2026.
