ICAR Senior Research Fellowship for Post-Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences (ICAR-SRF PGS)

What is the ICAR-SRF (PGS)?

The ICAR Senior Research Fellowship for Post-Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, ICAR-SRF (PGS); is a merit fellowship of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the apex farm-research and education body under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. According to the ICAR Education Division guidelines, the fellowship supports selected students through a Ph.D. (course work and doctoral research) in agricultural and allied sciences at approved universities.

ICAR-SRF (PGS) is not a scholarship applied for with a standalone form. It is attached to a rank in the All India Competitive Entrance Examination for SRF (PGS), AICE-SRF (PGS), conducted by ICAR. A limited number of fellowships is set aside each year and awarded strictly by merit and reservation to the highest-ranked qualifiers who then take Ph.D. admission at an eligible university.

Key facts

• Purpose: financial support for doctoral study in agriculture and allied sciences.
• Value: Rs 8,640 per month for most disciplines; Rs 12,000 per month for veterinary sciences; a contingency grant of Rs 6,000 per year in both cases.
• Route: won through the ICAR AICE-SRF (PGS) entrance examination.
• Condition: normally tenable only if the Ph.D. is done at a different agricultural university from the one where the master's was earned.

How much does the ICAR-SRF (PGS) provide?

According to the ICAR-JRF/SRF (PGS) guidelines and university scholarship notices, the monthly fellowship is Rs 8,640 for candidates in most agricultural disciplines and Rs 12,000 for those in veterinary sciences, with a contingency grant of Rs 6,000 per year to cover books, stationery, field travel and related academic expenses.

The fellowship is released through the university where the Ph.D. student is enrolled rather than paid directly by ICAR, and continued payment depends on satisfactory progress certified by the institution. Because the Council revises these rates from time to time, a fresh awardee should confirm the current figure with the ICAR Education Division or the admitting university.

Who is eligible for the ICAR-SRF (PGS)?

You can be considered if:

• You hold, or are in the final semester of, a relevant master's degree in agriculture or an allied science from a recognised university.
• You have at least 55% marks or an equivalent OGPA in the master's degree. SC, ST and Persons-with-Disability candidates get a 5% relaxation.
• You are within the age limit to 30 years for the general category on the date of the examination, with a 5-year relaxation for SC/ST/PwD, 3 years for OBC, and eligibility up to 45 years for in-service agricultural-university staff.
• You rank high enough in the ICAR AICE-SRF (PGS) examination for your discipline and category.

You cannot get the fellowship if:

• You do not sit for, or do not rank within the sanctioned quota in, the AICE-SRF (PGS) examination: Ph.D. admission alone does not carry the award.
• You intend to do the Ph.D. at the same university where you earned your master's, since the fellowship is normally reserved for candidates who move to a different agricultural university.
• You already hold another fellowship or stipend for the same doctoral programme; only one award may be drawn at a time.
• You take admission at a university not approved by ICAR for the fellowship.

How to apply for the ICAR-SRF (PGS)

There is no direct fellowship application. You compete for ICAR-SRF (PGS) through the entrance examination, so the steps are the examination and admission steps:

1. Watch for the ICAR AICE-SRF (PGS) notification published on the ICAR / examination portal ahead of the academic session.
2. Register and apply online within the notified window, choosing your subject group and uploading the required documents and fee.
3. Appear for the computer-based examination and secure a rank in your discipline and category.
4. Take part in the counselling / seat-and-fellowship allotment, where SRF (PGS) awards go to the top-ranked qualifiers within the sanctioned quota.
5. Confirm Ph.D. admission at the allotted ICAR-approved university; normally one different from your master's institution, and submit the fellowship claim; the university then disburses the monthly amount and contingency grant.

Where the fellowship can be used

ICAR-SRF (PGS) is tenable only at universities approved by ICAR, State Agricultural Universities, ICAR Deemed-to-be Universities and select central universities with agricultural faculties. The fellowship supports the recognised Ph.D. programme in the awarded discipline and cannot be carried to an unapproved institution.

A note for readers

ICAR-SRF (PGS) is a narrow, examination-linked doctoral award, not an open welfare scheme, so the verifiable material is limited to the entrance route, the fellowship value and the tenure conditions above. Candidates should confirm the current-year eligibility, marks bands, age limits and fellowship rates in the official ICAR notification and guidelines before relying on any figure, since these are revised periodically.

Help and where to verify

• ICAR Education Division, Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan-II, Pusa, New Delhi, for fellowship and guideline queries.
• The ICAR / NTA examination portal, for AICE-SRF (PGS) registration, admit cards and results.
• The admitting university's academic / scholarship section, for disbursement of the monthly fellowship and contingency grant.

How to check your application status

Because ICAR-SRF (PGS) has no separate fellowship application, "status" here means tracking the AICE-SRF (PGS) examination and the fellowship claim that follows it, at three different stages.

1. Exam application and admit card stage

• Log back into the account you created on the ICAR/NTA examination portal with your registration number and password.
• Your dashboard shows whether the application was accepted, whether the fee payment was recorded, and, closer to the exam date, whether the admit card has been generated.
• If the admit card does not appear by the date given in the notification, treat this as a signal to act (see rejection reasons below) rather than wait it out.

2. Result and merit-list stage

• Results and category-wise/discipline-wise merit lists for AICE-SRF (PGS) are published on the same examination portal; you check your rank by logging in or by searching your roll number in the published list.
• The merit list, not a personal letter, is the authoritative record of whether you have qualified and where you stand against the sanctioned quota for your subject and category.

3. Fellowship disbursement stage, after Ph.D. admission

• Once you have secured Ph.D. admission and submitted your fellowship claim to the university, the fellowship itself is no longer tracked on the ICAR exam portal; it moves to the admitting university's academic or scholarship section.
• Check the status of monthly payment and the yearly contingency grant with that university's scholarship cell, since ICAR releases funds to the university rather than crediting students directly.
• If a payment is delayed, first confirm with your department that your progress report or continuation certificate for the term has actually been forwarded to the scholarship section, since release is conditional on that certification.
• For anything the university cannot resolve, the ICAR Education Division at Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan-II, Pusa, New Delhi is the escalation point, though ICAR does not publish a dedicated helpline for this fellowship, so queries are best routed in writing through the university first.

Common reasons for rejection

Rejections at this fellowship happen at three separate points, and the fix is different at each.

At the exam application stage

• Marks or OGPA below the 55% threshold (50% for SC/ST/PwD candidates) in the qualifying master's degree. There is no fix once the exam form is submitted; a candidate close to the line should get an official OGPA-to-percentage conversion certificate from the university before applying, rather than self-calculating and risking a mismatch with the portal's own conversion formula.
• Wrong subject group selected. AICE-SRF (PGS) allots fellowships discipline-wise, and a candidate who registers under a subject group not matching their actual master's specialisation can be disqualified at verification even after clearing the exam. Cross-check the discipline list in the current notification against your degree certificate before submitting the form.
• Age limit exceeded without claiming the applicable relaxation. Candidates who qualify for SC/ST/PwD (5 years), OBC (3 years) or in-service staff (up to 45 years) relaxation but forget to select the correct category in the form are assessed against the general 30-year limit and rejected. Select the category carefully and keep the category certificate ready to upload.

At the merit-list / allotment stage

• Rank outside the sanctioned quota for your discipline and category. The quota is fixed and small; missing it is not a procedural error but a merit outcome, and there is no appeal beyond re-attempting the examination in a future cycle.
• Failure to confirm Ph.D. admission within the counselling timeline. A candidate who qualifies but delays taking admission at an eligible university, or who does not respond within the counselling window, forfeits the allotment. Track the counselling schedule as closely as the exam dates themselves.

At the fellowship-claim stage, after admission

• Ph.D. admission taken at the same university where the master's degree was earned. Since ICAR-SRF (PGS) is normally tenable only at a different institution, a claim filed against a same-university admission is refused; confirm this rule against the current notification before finalising your Ph.D. seat.
• Admission at a university not on ICAR's approved list. Verify the institution's eligibility for the fellowship before accepting a seat, not after.
• Already drawing another fellowship or stipend for the same doctoral programme. ICAR-SRF (PGS) cannot be combined with another award, so a claim is rejected, or an ongoing fellowship stopped, if a second one is discovered; declare any existing stipend up front rather than let the university find it during verification.
• Missing continuation certificate. Even after the fellowship starts, a term's payment can be withheld if the department has not certified satisfactory academic progress to the scholarship section; this is an administrative gap to chase each term, not a fresh rejection of eligibility.