STUTI — Synergistic Training Program Utilizing the Scientific and Technological Infrastructure

What is STUTI?

STUTI (Synergistic Training program Utilizing the Scientific and Technological Infrastructure) is a programme of the Department of Science & Technology's R&D Infrastructure Division. According to the DST programme page, STUTI is intended to build human resource and knowledge capacity through open access to S&T infrastructure across the country.

The reasoning behind STUTI is simple. DST has spent years funding expensive analytical instruments in universities through FIST, PURSE, CURIE, SAIF and SATHI. Much of that equipment is under-used, and many researchers in nearby colleges have never operated it. STUTI closes that gap by paying institutions to run structured, hands-on training on the equipment they already own.

How the hub-and-spoke model works

• DST identifies an institute to function as a Project Management Unit (PMU). The hub.
• Hubs are organisations that have already availed projects under FIST, PURSE, CURIE, SAIF or SATHI.
• The PMU runs training year-round for researchers from spoke partner institutes in its catchment area.
• Each training programme lasts 7 days and is hands-on, not lecture-based.

Support for each PMU is for a period not exceeding 12 months, after which performance is reviewed before the tenure is extended.

Who is eligible for STUTI?

STUTI has two distinct audiences, and it is worth being clear about which one applies to you.

Institutions that can apply to host a PMU:

• Science, medical, agriculture and engineering departments that hold DST-funded R&D infrastructure.
• Preferably with at least 5 years of experience managing that facility.
• DST states a preference for coordinating faculty with an H-index above 10 and an i10-index above 500.

Researchers who can attend a training programme:

• Scientists, faculty, research scholars and students actively involved in research, drawn from institutions in the PMU's catchment area.
• Registration is through the host institution for each specific programme.

Who is not eligible:

• Individuals cannot apply to DST directly for a STUTI grant. There is no personal grant, stipend or fellowship under this programme, a researcher benefits by attending training, not by receiving money.
• Institutions with no DST-supported R&D infrastructure cannot host as a hub, though their researchers can still attend as spoke participants.
• Private commercial training providers and coaching institutes are outside the scheme entirely.
• School students are not eligible for the 7-day training. They are covered only through the separate awareness visits that a PMU organises.

What does the STUTI grant pay for?

According to DST, the STUTI grant to a PMU covers:

• Organising the training programmes themselves.
• Boarding, lodging and travel expenses for participants.
• Honorarium for the faculty conducting the training.
• Training material, kits and stationery.
• Organising awareness visits for high school science students.
• Hiring staff for management and coordination of events at the PMU.

DST does not publish a single standard grant ceiling for STUTI; the amount is fixed at sanction based on the number of programmes proposed and the participants to be covered.

What documents are required for STUTI?

How to apply for STUTI

For an institution seeking to become a Project Management Unit:

1. Confirm that your department holds a completed or ongoing FIST, PURSE, CURIE, SAIF or SATHI facility — this is what qualifies you as a hub.
2. Watch the Call for Proposals section of dst.gov.in for an open STUTI call from the R&D Infrastructure Division.
3. Identify the spoke partner institutions in your catchment area and the equipment on which training will be given.
4. Prepare the proposal in the prescribed format, listing the number of 7-day programmes planned, participants per programme, and the awareness visits for school students.
5. Attach the bibliometric details of the coordinating faculty and the endorsement of the Head of the Institution.
6. Submit the proposal through the route stated in the call, before the closing date.

For a researcher who wants to attend a training programme:

1. Find the institutions currently running STUTI PMUs; each publishes its programme calendar on its own STUTI page.
2. Choose a programme by the equipment and technique it covers, not just the dates.
3. Fill the host institution's registration form and attach your institutional ID and a forwarding letter from your supervisor or head of department.
4. Wait for the selection intimation. Seats per programme are limited, and boarding, lodging and travel support is arranged by the host.

Where to get help

• R&D Infrastructure Division, DST: 011-26590452
• Programme officer: Dr. Pratishtha Pandey, Scientist G
• Portal: dst.gov.in, the STUTI page and the institutional capacity building programmes page

STUTI sits alongside the DST infrastructure schemes it draws on. See FIST, PURSE and SATHI for the facilities that make an institution eligible to host a STUTI hub, and SUPREME for repair and upgradation of the same equipment.