Mobility Scheme (KIRAN) for Women Scientists

What is the Mobility Scheme?

The Mobility Scheme is a programme of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, run under the KIRAN; Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing; umbrella of women scientist schemes. According to the DST, the scheme is aimed at women scientists who face difficulties in their present job because they have had to relocate, for example after marriage, a spouse's transfer, or the need to care for family or educate children in a different city.

Many trained women scientists leave research not because of ability but because a move to a new city cuts them off from their laboratory, project or institution. The Mobility Scheme exists to prevent that loss. It allows a woman scientist who already holds a regular, permanent position to carry her scientific work to a host institution at her new location, so her career and her research continue rather than stopping.

Key objectives

• Retain trained women scientists in active research despite relocation.
• Reduce the career loss that women disproportionately face when a family moves.
• Support continuation of ongoing scientific work at a new host institution.

Main features

• Part of the DST KIRAN family of women-in-science programmes.
• Targeted at women already in permanent positions, not first-time fellows.
• Delivered as a sanctioned research grant with a fellowship or overhead component tied to a specific proposal.

Who is eligible for the Mobility Scheme?

You can apply if:

• You are a woman scientist or academician.
• You are working in a permanent (regular) position at a Government institution, an R&D laboratory or a university.
• You are facing genuine difficulty continuing that work because you have relocated.
• You are within the upper age limit of 50 years, as specified by the DST.
• You have a host institution at the new location willing to accommodate your research.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not a woman — the scheme is exclusively for women scientists.
• You do not hold a permanent position; unemployed candidates or those on temporary contracts should look at other KIRAN schemes such as WOS-A or the WISE fellowships instead.
• You are above the upper age limit stated in the call.
• Your proposed work has no host institution or scientific merit.

The Mobility Scheme is deliberately narrow. It is not a general research grant and not a first fellowship; it is a bridge for women who already have a career in science and risk losing it purely because of a change of city.

What benefit does the Mobility Scheme provide?

According to the DST, the scheme provides support to continue the applicant's scientific work at the new location. This typically takes the form of a research grant to run the proposed project together with a fellowship or overhead component.

The DST does not publish a single fixed benefit figure for the Mobility Scheme the way a scholarship does. The amount is decided per proposal and is stated in the specific advertisement or sanction letter. Because of this, you should read the exact figures and duration from the live DST call rather than relying on amounts quoted by third-party websites. This guide deliberately does not print an unverified rupee figure.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Mobility Scheme

1. Watch the DST website (dst.gov.in) and the India Science, Technology and Innovation portal for a Mobility Scheme advertisement / call for applications from the KIRAN Division. Applications are accepted only when a call is open.
2. Prepare your research proposal, arrange a consent letter from a host institution at your new location, and collect proof of your permanent employment and age.
3. Register and apply online through the DST e-project management system (the DST online portal) against the open call, and upload the documents.
4. Submit before the deadline and keep the acknowledgement. Shortlisted proposals are placed before an expert committee, and sanction follows on the terms stated in the call.

Why this is a specialised scheme

The Mobility Scheme serves a small, specific group; women scientists in permanent jobs who relocate, and its benefit is set per case rather than as a standard amount. If you are a woman scientist looking to return after a career break, or an early-career researcher, the broader WOS-A and WISE-KIRAN schemes are more likely to fit. The DST KIRAN Division, reachable through dst.gov.in, is the correct point of contact for the current terms and open calls; there is no separate consumer helpline for this scheme, so verify all figures against the official DST advertisement before applying.

How to check your application status

The Mobility Scheme does not have a public applicant dashboard with a status code the way some welfare schemes do, because applications are accepted only against a specific advertisement and are then routed through an internal DST review process. Even so, there are concrete ways to track where your application stands.

1. Check the acknowledgement you received at submission. When you apply online through the DST e-project management system (e-PMS) against an open Mobility Scheme call, the portal generates an acknowledgement or application reference number. Keep this safe; it is the first thing any DST office will ask for if you follow up.
2. Log back into the e-PMS portal. The same login you used to submit the proposal is generally the way to see whether your application has moved from "submitted" to "under review" or to a further stage, if the portal exposes that status for the call you applied under. Because KIRAN calls are issued periodically rather than as a standing scheme, the exact screens can vary between calls, so treat the portal login as your primary channel.
3. Track committee timelines rather than expecting instant updates. Proposals submitted under a Mobility Scheme call are examined by an expert or screening committee before any sanction is issued. This is not an automatic, software-driven approval; it follows the committee's meeting schedule, so there is usually a gap of some months between the closing date of a call and any outcome, and no daily status change should be expected in between.
4. Follow up with the DST KIRAN Division directly if a reasonable period has passed. Since there is no dedicated public helpline number for the Mobility Scheme specifically, the working channel is to write to the DST KIRAN Division through the contact details published on dst.gov.in, quoting your application/acknowledgement number, the name of the call you applied under, and your host institution's name.
5. Watch for a sanction letter, not just a portal update. If your proposal is approved, the confirmation typically arrives as a formal sanction letter to you and your host institution stating the approved grant and fellowship terms, rather than as a simple "approved" flag online. Absence of a status change on the portal does not by itself mean rejection; wait for either a sanction letter or a communication from the KIRAN Division before assuming an outcome.
6. Ask your host institution to check in parallel. Because the host institution is a party to the proposal (it gave consent to host your work), its administrative or research office may also receive correspondence from DST about the proposal's progress, which can be a useful second channel if you have not heard back directly.

If you applied to an old call and cannot find any record of it, note that Mobility Scheme calls are not continuously open; you can only check the status of an application made against a specific advertisement, not a general year-round application.

Common reasons for rejection

Because the Mobility Scheme is a proposal-based grant judged by a scientific committee, rejections tend to be about substance and eligibility fit rather than clerical slips. The reasons below are specific to this scheme, along with what actually fixes each one.

• Applicant does not hold a permanent position. The scheme is restricted to women scientists already in a regular, permanent post at a Government institution, R&D laboratory or university. Proposals from candidates on temporary, contractual, ad hoc or project-based appointments are turned down at the eligibility stage itself. The fix is not to reapply with more paperwork; if your position is not permanent, the Mobility Scheme is the wrong scheme for you, and WOS-A or WISE-KIRAN (which do not require an existing permanent post) are the correct alternatives.
• Applicant is over the upper age limit of 50 years. Age is checked against the limit stated in the specific call, and there is no relaxation route published for the Mobility Scheme the way some other schemes offer. Confirm your age against the cut-off date given in the advertisement, not just the year, before applying; a proposal filed even weeks after crossing the limit is not something a later appeal can reverse.
• No firm consent from a host institution. A letter from the institution at the new location agreeing to host the work is a mandatory document, and a vague or conditional letter (for example, one that says the institution "may consider" hosting rather than confirming it will) weakens or invalidates the application. Before applying, obtain a clear, signed consent letter on the host institution's letterhead that states it will provide space and facilities for the specific proposed work.
• Research proposal lacks scientific merit or a workable budget. Since sanction depends on a screening or expert committee evaluating the proposal, a plan that is too vague about objectives, methodology, or the budget needed to carry it out is a common ground for rejection. Strengthen this by writing the proposal the way a research grant application is written elsewhere; clear objectives, a realistic timeline, and a budget that matches what the host institution can actually support.
• Proposal does not genuinely arise from relocation. The scheme exists specifically for scientists whose work is disrupted because they had to move city, for example due to marriage, a spouse's transfer, or family care needs. An application from someone who has not actually relocated, or where the link between the move and the disruption to ongoing work is not explained, does not fit the scheme's purpose and can be rejected on that basis even if the applicant is otherwise a serving permanent scientist.
• Application submitted outside an open call window. Because there is no standing, always-open application form, a proposal sent to DST when no Mobility Scheme call is active is simply not processed. Apply only against a live advertisement from the KIRAN Division, published on dst.gov.in, and note its specific deadline.
• Incomplete supporting documents. Missing or unclear proof of permanent employment, age proof, or the host institution consent letter can cause an application to be treated as incomplete rather than being sent for committee review at all. Cross-check every mandatory document listed in the call before submission rather than assuming the online form's upload step alone confirms completeness.

If a proposal is not approved, the practical next step is to write to the DST KIRAN Division for the specific reason (where communicated) and, if the underlying issue was proposal quality or a missing document rather than a hard eligibility bar, to reapply against a future call once that gap is fixed.