Dr. K.C. Sharma Fellowship (M.Sc. Agriculture, Agronomy, Second Year Students)

What is the Dr. K.C. Sharma Fellowship?

The Dr. K.C. Sharma Fellowship is a named merit fellowship of G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT), Pantnagar, the state agricultural university of Uttarakhand. The fellowship recognises academic excellence in agronomy: it is awarded to the second-year M.Sc. Agriculture (Agronomy) student who secured the highest GPA in the first year of the programme.

GBPUAT, established in 1960, is India's first agricultural university and is run by the Government of Uttarakhand. Alongside government and external scholarships, the university administers a number of named endowment fellowships and awards created in memory of, or in honour of, distinguished academics and donors. The Dr. K.C. Sharma Fellowship is one such award, tied specifically to the discipline of agronomy within the College of Agriculture.

Because it is a single, merit-based endowment award for one student per session, this is a narrow, niche fellowship rather than a broad public benefit. It serves the top-performing agronomy postgraduate at Pantnagar and is not open to students elsewhere.

Who is eligible for the Dr. K.C. Sharma Fellowship?

You can be considered if:

• You are enrolled in the M.Sc. Agriculture (Agronomy) programme at GBPUAT, Pantnagar.
• You have completed the first year of the programme.
• You have secured the highest GPA among your batch's first-year agronomy students.

You cannot apply / are not eligible if:

• You study at a university other than GBPUAT. The award is internal to Pantnagar and you are not eligible from any other college.
• You are enrolled in a discipline other than M.Sc. Agriculture (Agronomy). The fellowship is discipline-specific, so M.Sc. students in Horticulture, Soil Science or other departments cannot apply for it.
• You are not the top first-year GPA holder in your agronomy batch, since the fellowship goes to a single highest-scoring student.
• You are an undergraduate or Ph.D. scholar. The award is tied to the second-year M.Sc. (Agronomy) stage only.

There is no income test and no category reservation attached to this particular award; selection is purely on first-year academic merit within the agronomy programme. Because it is decided from official first-year results, there is no way to "apply harder", a student either tops the first year of the agronomy master's batch or does not qualify.

How to apply for the Dr. K.C. Sharma Fellowship

This fellowship is awarded on merit by the university, not claimed through an online public portal. The practical route is:

1. Enrol in the M.Sc. Agriculture (Agronomy) programme at GBPUAT, Pantnagar, through the university's regular postgraduate admission process.
2. Complete the first year and aim for the highest GPA in your agronomy batch, since the award is based on this result.
3. Confirm the process with the College of Agriculture / Dean's office at GBPUAT, the department that maintains results and administers named endowment awards will identify the recipient once first-year results are declared.

Students should treat the College of Agriculture office as the authoritative source for the fellowship's exact value, conditions and disbursement, as these follow the endowment's terms.

Why this is a niche award

The Dr. K.C. Sharma Fellowship is a good example of a highly specific university endowment. It benefits one agronomy postgraduate per session at a single university, and detailed public information, such as the exact amount and the donor's history, is not widely published on scholarship listings. Prospective and current M.Sc. Agronomy students at Pantnagar are best served by contacting the university directly rather than relying on third-party summaries.

How does it fit among GBPUAT's other awards?

GBPUAT's College of Agriculture and its wider student-support system carry several distinct awards, and it helps to know where the Dr. K.C. Sharma Fellowship sits among them, because the university's own scholarship figures make the contrast concrete. GBPUAT runs a University Merit Scholarship of Rs 800 per month for the top three students in each degree programme, a tuition-fee freeship for about 25% of undergraduate students whose parental income is below Rs 1,00,000 a year, and six sports scholarships. For postgraduate students it funds master's fellowships covering up to 50% of a discipline's admitted students; roughly Rs 2,000 a month for the merit topper and Rs 900 a month for other eligible students, with separate GATE fellowships for qualified M.Tech. candidates, and Ph.D. fellowships of about Rs 6,000 a month for up to 36 months. Those broad schemes are governed by published rates and reach hundreds of students each year. The Dr. K.C. Sharma Fellowship is narrower than all of them: it is a single named endowment award for one agronomy postgraduate per session, recognising the top first-year performer in M.Sc. Agriculture (Agronomy) specifically, and its exact value follows the endowment's own terms rather than a university-wide rate card. An agronomy student who tops the first year can, in principle, hold this named award alongside a broader merit or means-based route, subject to each scheme's rules — which is another reason to confirm the specifics with the Dean, Student Welfare.

Because named endowment awards run on the terms set by the endowment and are identified from official results, a student cannot "improve their chances" by filing extra forms. The qualifying route is simply to be enrolled in the programme and to top the first year academically. Any student who believes they qualify but has not been recognised should raise the matter with the College of Agriculture office rather than an external body.

Why agronomy at Pantnagar carries this kind of award

The Dr. K.C. Sharma Fellowship sits within the College of Agriculture, the founding college of GBPUAT and the department that trained many of the scientists associated with India's Green Revolution. Agronomy, the science of field-crop production, soil management, cropping systems and water use, is a core discipline of that college, and the M.Sc. Agriculture (Agronomy) programme feeds research and extension work that is directly relevant to Uttarakhand's farmers. Named endowment awards like this one exist because donors and the university choose to attach a distinguished name to a specific academic achievement, in this case the top first-year record in the agronomy master's programme. That is why the award is decided from official first-year results rather than an open call: the university already holds the GPA data, and the College of Agriculture office identifies the recipient once results are declared. For a prospective student, the practical takeaway is simple. The route to this fellowship runs entirely through admission to, and performance in, the Pantnagar agronomy programme, not through any external scholarship portal.

Where do I get help?

• G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, gbpuat.ac.in, the official university website.
• College of Agriculture, GBPUAT. The college that runs the M.Sc. Agriculture (Agronomy) programme and administers this fellowship.
• Dean of Postgraduate Studies / Student Welfare office, GBPUAT, for authoritative details on the fellowship's value and disbursement.
• GBPUAT campus; Pantnagar, Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand, where the College of Agriculture and the Directorate of Student Welfare are located.

Because this is a single named endowment award with limited public documentation, students should verify the current terms with the university before assuming any particular amount or condition.