wsd@kscste

State Higher Research Centres of Excellencein Science &Technology Applications (SHRESTA)

SHRESTA is envisaged for nurturing a few Centres of Excellence (CoE) from the State that produce world-class research in the areas of (i) Floods and Droughts (ii) Viral Research (Biotechnology) (iii) Nanotechnology (iv) Climate Change and (v) Robotics & Artificial Intelligence. SHRESTA aims to nurture the mature and nascent CoEs initially for two years and the potential Centres among them will be provided further support for next three years, attaining to a world class level. The Centre of Excellence (CoE) will be supported in phased manner with a grant of Rs. 200 lakh (maximum), over a period of 5 years. The proposed CoEs need to collaborate with National/ International Research Centres/ Universities/ Institutions.The selected Centres will be supported with financial grant to augment and strengthen the research capacity of the Centre including infrastructure at par with world class level in the stipulated areas with a multi-disciplinary and inter-institutional perspective. The overall aim of this programme is to develop Centres of Excellence in the State and facilitate pursuit of high-quality research and development of technologies through substantial investment in the Research Centres/Universities/Institutions and having proven track record and commitment to research.

Proposals will be invited through notification in the website of KSCSTE, once in a year, generally during July-August. The Proposals can be submitted through online only on notification and during the active time. Proposals submitted in any other mode will not be considered and summarily rejected. The Principal Investigator shall along with the proposal submit the Endorsement from the proposed Institution and Collaborating Institutions, Consent letter and necessary Certificates from Investigators, Resumes of PI and Co-I(s) highlighting the research achievements, etc.

  • The Centres of Excellence (CoE) will be provided financial grant limiting to Rs.200 lakh which will be spread on a span of 5 years in 2 phases.
  • The CoEs will be initially selected for Phase I support for 2 years with maximum financial grant up to 60 lakh. Based on their performance and deliverables achieved in Phase I, a subset of CoEs which show clear promise of becoming world-class Centre will be selected for Phase II support for 3 more years, with maximum financial grant up to 140 lakh.
  • Selection of CoEs is done by the Programme Advisory Committee (PAC) after review of proposals by National level Subject Experts followed by critical evaluation by the PAC.
  • The Head of the Institution will be in-charge of the CoE and responsible for the overall management of the Centre.
  • The scheme encourages collaboration with National/ International Research Centres/ Universities/ Institutions.
  • The Centers can get the privilege of collaborative research support from other Agencies by using this as matching grant.
  • Research Centres/R&D Institutions under Govt. of Kerala, Science/Engineering Departments of State Universities and Government Colleges in Kerala, having reputed standing and ranking and proven track record in research are eligible to apply under this scheme. Preference will be given to the R&D Centres of KSCSTE.
  • The scheme encourages to collaborate with National/ International Research Centres/ Universities/ Institutions and the proposal shall include the details with the consent from such collaborating institutions.
  • The Principal Investigator (PI) shall be the Head of the Institution/Centre/Dean in the case of University Departments, and he/she shall be a full time Faculty/Scientist having Doctoral Degree in Science/ Engineering.
  • The PI shall have sufficient experience in administering and managing the Research Centres/Institutions, shall have carried out National/ International Research Projects and have at least 15 years of experience in carrying out Research activities/PG teaching.
  • In case, the PI leaves the Institution due to unforeseen reasons, on transfer or superannuation or other reasons, the responsibility will be automatically transferred to the succeeding Head of the Institution until successful completion of the programme.
  • There can be more than one Co-Investigator depending up on the multidisciplinary nature of the research, and the first Co-Investigator shall be from the same Institute or Department. The Co-Investigators (Co-Is) shall be full time Faculty/Scientist of the Centre/ University/ Institution with more than 3 years of service to retire. The first Co-Investigator shall have the same responsibility and accountability as that of the Principal Investigator. In case the first Co-I leaves the organisation before the successful completion of the programme, the Institute shall take up the responsibility to assign another suitable faculty as the first Co-I in consultation with KSCSTE, to continue with the programme until its successful completion.
  • All the Co-Is shall have at least 3 years of experience in teaching/research activities.
  • In the case of Centres carrying out multidisciplinary research, the collaboration of State/National/International level Centres is preferred. In such case, there can be more Co-Is for the project in the area of specialisation depending upon the interdisciplinary nature of the research area.
  • The project team shall comprise of PI, Co-Is and Researcher Scholars. The Researchers may be registered full-time students for PhD or Post-Doctoral.

The Director
KSCSTE
Sasthra Bhavan,
Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram
Tel : 0471 2548200 –209
Email: mail.kscste@kerala.gov.in

Scientist – in – Charge
Dr. Siju C R
Junior Scientist
KSCSTE, Sasthra Bhavan, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram
Tel: 0471–2548236
E-mail: sijucrkscste@gmail.com