4th National Call for Proposals under the E-YUVA Scheme for BIRAC’s E-YUVA and Innovation Fellows

About

The 4th National Call under BIRAC’s E-YUVA Scheme invites Indian undergraduate teams for E-YUVA Fellowships and postgraduate/PhD holders for Innovation Fellowships to pursue translational biotech research, with applications due 31 October 2026 at 5:30 PM.

Benefits

• 🎓Fellowship
  The E-YUVA scheme provides fellowship support to selected fellows under the call.
• 🧪Annual research grant
  The scheme provides an annual research grant to selected fellows.
• 🏢Incubation support
  The call states incubation support in any of the 9 recently established E-YUVA Centres.
• 🧭Mentoring
  Selected fellows receive mentoring by BioNEST bioincubator centres.
• 🏫Facility access
  E-YUVA Fellows pursue research at their college/university labs and may access facilities at an E-YUVA Centre and its Knowledge Partners as required.
• 💰Stipend and research grant amounts (reported by third-party summaries; verify against current BIRAC guidelines): E-YUVA Fellows — INR 7,500 quarterly stipend per student and INR 2,50,000 annual research grant per team for 12 months; Innovation Fellows (Post-Graduate) — INR 30,000/month plus INR 3,00,000/year research grant; Innovation Fellows (Post-Doctoral) — INR 50,000/month plus INR 5,00,000/year research grant; duration 18 months, with possible 6-month extension.

Eligibility Criteria

• E-YUVA Fellows: mandatory team of 3–5 Indian students from Indian institutes/colleges pursuing undergraduate study in any domain
• E-YUVA Fellows: team must be supported by a mentor/guide
• E-YUVA Fellows: team members may come from the same or different colleges/institutes
• E-YUVA Fellows: applications from 1st/2nd-year students are encouraged (preferred)
• Innovation Fellows (Post-Doctoral): mandatory completed PhD in any field of science
• Innovation Fellows (Post-Doctoral): apply within 2 years of degree completion; females are exempt from this condition
• Innovation Fellows (Post-Graduate): mandatory completed Master’s in any field of science
• Innovation Fellows (Post-Graduate): apply within 3 years of degree completion; females are exempt from this condition
• Innovation Fellows: must work full-time at an E-YUVA Centre
• Innovation Fellows: proposals must have potential to commercialize innovative products/technologies
• Students still pursuing a PhD or postgraduate degree cannot be considered for an Innovation fellowship grant
• Selected Innovation Fellows cannot pursue a PhD or postgraduate degree during the fellowship tenure

Participation Commitments

• Submit the application online through BIRAC by creating a user account
• For E-YUVA Fellows, any one team member may create the user account on behalf of the team
• E-YUVA team applications must include mentor/guide support; BIRAC provides a prescribed authorisation letter and mentor undertaking format
• E-YUVA Fellows must spend 3–4 weeks at an E-YUVA Centre or E-YUVA Centre Knowledge Partner during the fellowship period
• Innovation Fellows are required to work full-time at an E-YUVA Centre
• Selected Innovation Fellows cannot pursue a PhD or postgraduate degree during the fellowship tenure
• Call opens on 1 October 2026
• Last submission date is 31 October 2026, 5:30 PM

Target Sector

Agriculture & Food, Defense & Security, Education, Energy & Utilities, Financial Services, Government & Public Sector, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Media & Entertainment, Real Estate & Construction, Retail & Consumer, Semiconductors & Electronics, Sports & Fitness, Telecommunications, Transportation & Logistics, Travel & Hospitality, Other

Target Location

India. E-YUVA Fellows must be Indian students from Indian institutes/colleges. For Innovation Fellows, the official call page does not explicitly state nationality or residence; a participating E-YUVA Centre page describes Indian applicants with completed master’s or PhD degrees.