IGSTC Industrial Fellowship - Post Doctoral Industrial Fellowship

What is the IGSTC Post Doctoral Industrial Fellowship?

The Post Doctoral Industrial Fellowship is part of the Industrial Fellowship programme of the Indo-German Science and Technology Centre (IGSTC). According to IGSTC, the fellowship enables an early-career Indian researcher holding a PhD to spend a defined period in a German industrial or R&D environment, building applied, industry-relevant research skills and strengthening India–Germany research and innovation links.

IGSTC is a bilateral centre established jointly by India's Department of Science and Technology (DST), under the Ministry of Science and Technology, and Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Its mandate is to promote applied research and technology development between the two countries, often through a model that pairs academic and industrial partners on each side. The Industrial Fellowship is one of IGSTC's people-mobility instruments, with the Post Doctoral track aimed specifically at researchers who have completed a doctorate.

Key features

• A research fellowship, not a degree scholarship.
• Places an Indian post-doctoral researcher in a German industrial or R&D host.
• Covers a stipend, travel and a contingency component, as per the open call.
• Backed by DST (India) and BMBF (Germany) through IGSTC.

Who is eligible for the Post Doctoral Industrial Fellowship?

You can apply if:

• You are an Indian national.
• You hold a PhD (or have submitted, if the current call permits), since this is the post-doctoral track.
• You are early in your research career and within the age and experience limits set in the open IGSTC call.
• Your proposed work is applied and industry-relevant, suited to a German industrial or R&D host.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not an Indian national.
• You do not hold a doctoral qualification. The post-doctoral track requires a PhD.
• You exceed the age or experience limits specified in the current call.
• Your proposed work is purely theoretical with no industrial or applied relevance, which falls outside the Industrial Fellowship's purpose.

What does the fellowship provide?

According to IGSTC, the fellowship provides a monthly stipend, travel support and a contingency component to cover the researcher's stay and work at the German host. The exact amounts and the fellowship duration are set out in the open call and are revised from time to time, so check the current call document on igstc.org before applying rather than relying on figures from an earlier round. Being selection-based and cost-shared bilaterally, the fellowship is competitive and merit-driven.

How to apply for the IGSTC Post Doctoral Industrial Fellowship

1. Check the open call. Visit igstc.org and confirm that the Industrial Fellowship (Post Doctoral track) call is open, and read the current eligibility, funding and duration terms.
2. Prepare your application. Assemble your PhD certificate, a detailed CV and publication list, and a research/work plan describing the applied, industry-relevant work you propose to do in Germany.
3. Arrange host engagement where the call requires it. A support or acceptance letter from the German industrial or R&D host.
4. Submit online against the open call through the IGSTC portal, within the notified deadline.
5. Selection and offer. IGSTC evaluates applications on merit; selected candidates receive a fellowship offer with the stipend, travel and duration terms.

There is no walk-in or year-round application, the fellowship is awarded through periodic competitive calls.

How the fellowship fits IGSTC's wider programmes

The Industrial Fellowship is one strand of IGSTC's broader effort to link Indian and German research and industry. IGSTC is best known for its 2+2 projects, which fund joint work by two partners from each country — typically one academic and one industrial partner on the Indian side and the same on the German side, so that research is anchored in real industrial problems. The Industrial Fellowship complements those projects by moving people rather than projects: it places an Indian researcher inside a German industrial or R&D setting to absorb applied methods, industrial practices and collaboration habits that they can bring back to India. For a post-doctoral researcher, that exposure to how German industry runs applied R&D can be as valuable as the funding itself, and it often seeds longer collaborations. This is why the fellowship emphasises industry-relevant work and a credible host engagement over purely academic output.

Help and where to verify details

• Official portal: igstc.org, the IGSTC website carries the Industrial Fellowship calls, eligibility, funding terms and contact details

Because IGSTC awards this fellowship through periodic calls with revised terms, treat the details here as an overview and confirm the current eligibility, funding amounts and deadline in the live call before applying. This is a narrow, competitive bilateral fellowship and may serve readers better as a section within a wider page on IGSTC and DST international research fellowships.