Cognitive Science Research Initiative (CSRI)

What is the Cognitive Science Research Initiative?

Cognitive Science Research Initiative (CSRI) is a research funding programme of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), started in 2008 during the 11th Five Year Plan. CSRI funds work on how the human mind and brain represent and manipulate knowledge, drawing together psychology, computer science, linguistics, philosophy and neuroscience.

According to the DST programme page, CSRI exists to build a research base that can produce better answers on cognitive disorders and related social problems; psychological assessment tools, earlier diagnosis, better therapies, intervention technologies and rehabilitation programmes.

CSRI is administered by DST's SERC-related divisions and proposals are submitted through DST's Electronic Project Management System (e-PMS) at onlinedst.gov.in.

Thrust areas

• Foundations of cognition
• Language and cognition
• Computational intelligence
• Cognitive psychology
• Cognitive neuroscience

What CSRI supports

• Individual R&D projects in the identified thrust areas, with support for equipment, manpower and running research costs.
• Multi-centric mega projects, encouraged for socially relevant problems and for understanding neurodegenerative diseases and their therapeutics.
• CSRI post-doctoral fellowships (CSRI-PDF), a two-year fellowship aimed at building trained human resources in cognitive science.
• Schools, training programmes, workshops and conferences, given partial support and considered through the year rather than only in calls.

Who is eligible for CSRI?

You can apply if you are:

• A researcher with a regular position in a recognised Indian academic institution, university, national laboratory or research organisation, for project grants. The institution provides the space, facilities and administrative endorsement.
• A PhD holder under 40 years of age in science, engineering or an allied area of cognitive science, for the CSRI post-doctoral fellowship. Candidates who have submitted their PhD thesis are also eligible to apply.
• A group of institutions proposing a multi-centric project on a problem that a single centre cannot address.

You cannot apply if:

• You are an individual outside an institution. CSRI is an extramural research grant; funds are released to the host institution, not to a personal account, so an independent researcher without an institutional host is not eligible.
• You are a patient, carer or family member looking for financial help with a cognitive or neurological condition. CSRI funds research, not treatment, and there is no personal benefit of any kind under it. For treatment support, the route is a health scheme such as Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, not this programme.
• You are above the age limit for the fellowship. The CSRI-PDF upper age limit is 40 years.
• You are proposing purely commercial product development. CSRI is an academic research programme; product translation and start-up funding sit with other agencies such as BIRAC or the DST-Nidhi programmes.

What documents are required for CSRI?

How to apply for CSRI

1. Watch the DST website at dst.gov.in and national dailies for the CSRI call for proposals. Calls are advertised periodically and carry a stated last date, which DST has extended in past rounds.
2. Register or log in on the DST Electronic Project Management System (e-PMS) at onlinedst.gov.in.
3. Choose the CSRI call and the correct component: individual R&D project, multi-centric project or CSRI post-doctoral fellowship.
4. Fill in the proposal: objectives, thrust area, methodology, timeline, detailed budget under equipment, manpower, consumables, travel and contingency, and the expected deliverables.
5. Attach the supporting documents, biodata, publication list, institutional endorsement, and ethics clearance where the study involves human participants.
6. Submit online before the closing date and keep the acknowledgement. Submission is online only.
7. Track the proposal through e-PMS. Proposals go through expert peer review and a programme advisory committee before a funding decision.

Proposals for schools, training programmes, workshops and conferences under CSRI are considered through the year on request, rather than only during a call.

How much does CSRI pay?

For the CSRI post-doctoral fellowship, DST has notified a fellowship of Rs 55,000 per month, along with House Rent Allowance as per Government of India norms and a research contingency grant of Rs 2 lakh per year. The fellowship is tenable for two years.

For research projects, funding is need-based against the sanctioned budget — equipment, manpower such as JRF or SRF positions, consumables, travel and contingency, and is released to the host institution in instalments against progress. DST does not publish a fixed ceiling for CSRI project grants; the sanctioned amount depends on what the expert committee approves.

What happens after a CSRI project is sanctioned

Sanctioned projects are monitored by DST through periodic progress reports, utilisation certificates and statements of expenditure from the host institution. Equipment bought from the grant belongs to the institution. Multi-centric projects have a coordinating institution that consolidates reporting across partners.

Outputs expected from CSRI work are publications, tools and assessments validated for Indian populations, and where possible interventions that can be taken to clinical or educational settings.

Help and contacts

• CSRI programme office, Department of Science & Technology to 011-26534166
• Programme page; dst.gov.in, Cognitive Science Research Initiative
• Proposal submission and technical issues, the e-PMS helpdesk at onlinedst.gov.in

There is no fee to submit a CSRI proposal, and no agent can get a proposal sanctioned. Decisions are taken by peer review and expert committees only.