Dr. S.K. Sharma Award (Ph.D. Mathematics)

What is the Dr. S.K. Sharma Award for Ph.D. Mathematics?

The Dr. S.K. Sharma Award is an endowment scholarship administered by G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT), Pantnagar, in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand. The award provides financial assistance of about Rs 25,000 per year to a deserving scholar pursuing a Ph.D. in Mathematics at the university. It is listed on the national scheme reference under the name Dr. S.K. Sharma (Ph.D. Mathematics), and GBPUAT's Student Welfare pages also list a Dr. Santosh Kumar Sharma Award among the university's named endowment honours.

GBPUAT was founded in 1960 as India's first agricultural university and is a Uttarakhand state government institution. Although best known for agriculture, the university teaches and researches the basic sciences that agricultural science depends on, and Mathematics is taught in its Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science in the College of Basic Sciences and Humanities. Doctoral work there covers areas such as applied mathematics, mathematical modelling, operations research and statistics applied to agricultural problems.

Why a small endowment award matters to a Ph.D. scholar

A Ph.D. in Mathematics at a state university is often self-funded. National fellowships; CSIR-UGC JRF, ICAR, INSPIRE: cover a minority of scholars, and those who miss them fund contingency costs, journal access, conference travel and software out of their own pocket. Rs 25,000 a year is not a stipend and will not replace a fellowship, but for an unfunded scholar it covers a real gap: a conference registration and travel, a year of computing costs, or thesis printing.

That is the honest scale of this award. It is one of the roughly 40 types of scholarships GBPUAT's Dean, Student Welfare office says are available to students through various sources, and it sits at the small, targeted end of that list alongside other named endowment honours such as the Dr. A.N. Mukhopadhyay Gold Medal, the Smt. Bimla Rani Memorial Award and the Dr. V.N. Mathur Award.

Who is eligible for the Dr. S.K. Sharma Award?

You can be considered if:

• You are registered in the Ph.D. programme in Mathematics at GBPUAT, Pantnagar.
• You have a good academic record in your M.Sc. Mathematics and a satisfactory research progress report from your supervisor.
• You are within the normal duration of the doctoral programme and your registration is current.
• You are, in the university's words, a deserving scholar, depending on the notice, this can mean merit alone or merit combined with financial need.
• You hold a bank account in your own name.

You cannot apply / are not eligible if:

• You are an undergraduate or M.Sc. student. The award begins at the doctoral level.
• You are a Ph.D. scholar in a subject other than Mathematics, the endowment is discipline-specific.
• You are registered at another university or institute. Only GBPUAT scholars qualify.
• Your registration has lapsed or you have exceeded the permitted duration.
• The notice for the year bars scholars already drawing a national fellowship, and you hold one. This condition varies year to year, so check it rather than assume it.

How to apply for the Dr. S.K. Sharma Award

GBPUAT administers its endowment awards offline, through the Dean, Student Welfare. There is no dedicated online application portal for this award.

1. Watch for the notice inviting applications for scholarships and endowment awards. It is issued each academic year by the Dean, Student Welfare office and circulated through the College of Basic Sciences and Humanities and the Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science.
2. Prepare the application in the format the notice specifies, naming the Dr. S.K. Sharma Award and stating your Ph.D. registration number, your research area and your year of registration.
3. Get your supervisor's recommendation and a short progress report on your research. For a doctoral award this carries more weight than marks alone.
4. Attach the documents; Ph.D. registration proof, M.Sc. Mathematics marksheets and degree, earlier degree certificates, bank passbook copy, and an income certificate if the notice makes need a factor.
5. Submit by the last date at the office named in the notice — normally the Dean, Student Welfare, GBPUAT, Pantnagar, and keep the acknowledgement.
6. Await selection, made by the university on merit and deservingness among the Ph.D. Mathematics applicants, after which the amount is released to the selected scholar's account.

What documents are required?

How much is paid, and when?

The Dr. S.K. Sharma Award provides about Rs 25,000 per year to the selected Ph.D. Mathematics scholar. As an endowment award, the amount depends on the income the corpus generates and on university decisions, so it can vary; the figure of Rs 25,000 a year is what the scheme reference records, and it should be confirmed with the Dean, Student Welfare office on +91-5944-233536 or dsw.gbpuat@gmail.com at the time of applying.

Payment is normally made by credit to the scholar's bank account, usually once the selection is approved for the academic year. Whether the award continues into a second or third year of the doctoral programme, or is given afresh to a new scholar each year, is set by the notice: endowment awards of this kind are often annual and re-competed.

Why applications get rejected, and how to avoid it

• Not registered in Ph.D. Mathematics, the single most common disqualifier, since scholars from allied departments often assume they are covered.
• No supervisor's recommendation or progress report attached.
• Registration lapsed or beyond the permitted duration.
• Application after the last date given in the notice.
• Already drawing a national fellowship, where the notice excludes such scholars.
• Bank account not in the scholar's own name, which blocks disbursement.

How to check the status of your application

1. Take an acknowledgement when you submit the application to the Dean, Student Welfare or your department office.
2. Follow up through your department, for doctoral awards the department is usually told the outcome before the notice board carries it.
3. Watch the student corner on gbpuat.ac.in and departmental notice boards for the list of awardees.
4. Call +91-5944-233536 or email dsw.gbpuat@gmail.com if the result is not announced after a reasonable time.

Key facts and where to get help

• Institution: G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand.
• Programme covered: Ph.D. in Mathematics.
• Amount: about Rs 25,000 per year.
• Office: Dean, Student Welfare, GBPUAT. Phone: +91-5944-233536. Email: dsw.gbpuat@gmail.com.
• Mode: offline application when invited; no fixed annual last date announced.

A scholar not eligible for this award should ask the same office which of the roughly 40 available scholarships applies. The list includes national fellowships, merit scholarships, sports scholarships and tuition-fee freeships. If an application is not considered, or a sanctioned amount is not released, the route is a written representation to the Dean, Student Welfare, and failing that an RTI application to the university's public information officer asking how the award was decided for the year. As an internal university endowment, it has no separate state helpline.

Note on verification: the award's link to a Ph.D. in Mathematics and the figure of about Rs 25,000 per year come from the national scheme reference; GBPUAT's Student Welfare contact details, the roughly 40 scholarship types and the existence of a Dr. Santosh Kumar Sharma Award among the university's named endowment honours are confirmed on gbpuat.ac.in. The number of awards each year, whether the award is renewable, and the exact application window are not published on an official source and must be confirmed with GBPUAT.