TWAS-CSIR Postgraduate Fellowship Programme 2026

Eligibility

Applicants for these fellowships must meet the following criteria:

• Be a maximum age of 35 years on 31 December of the application year.
• Be nationals of a developing country (other than India).
• Must not hold any visa for temporary or permanent residency in India or any developed country.
• Hold a Master’s degree in science and technology.
• Be regularly employed in their home country and hold a research assignment there.
• SANDWICH Fellowships: Be registered PhD students in their home country and provide the «Registration and No Objection Certificate» from the HOME university.
• FULL-TIME Fellowships: Be willing to register at a university in India within the first year, if agreed to by CSIR.
• Be accepted at a CSIR laboratory/institution and provide an official acceptance letter from the host institution.
• Provide evidence of proficiency in English, if medium of education was not English;
• Provide evidence that s/he will return to her/his home country on completion of the fellowship;
• Not take up other assignments during the period of her/his fellowship;
• Be financially responsible for any accompanying family members.

Submitting your application

• If already registered for a PhD in their home country, applicants should ensure that the Vice-Chancellor or Registrar of the HOME university signs a copy of the «Registration and No Objection Certificate», a copy of which should be sent to both CSIR and TWAS.
• Applicants should submit the acceptance letter from a CSIR institution when applying or by the deadline at the latest. Without preliminary acceptance, the application will not be considered for selection.
• Applications for the TWAS-CSIR Postgraduate Fellowship Programme can ONLY be submitted to TWAS via the online portal.
• Please be advised that applicants may apply for only one programme per calendar year in the TWAS and OWSD portfolio.

Application Deadline

Application Deadline: 06 May 2026

Fellowship Details

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of India and UNESCO-TWAS have established a number of fellowships for foreign scholars from developing countries, who wish to pursue research toward a PhD in emerging areas of science and technology, for which facilities are available in CSIR laboratories and institutes.

Selection Results

Results of the fellowship selection should be available at the end of 2026 or early 2027 and selected candidates will be able to start their fellowship NO earlier than 2027.