Dr. Y.V. Singh Award for Best Thesis in Vegetable Science

What is the Dr. Y.V. Singh Award for Best Thesis in Vegetable Science?

Dr. Y.V. Singh Award for Best Thesis in Vegetable Science is an academic award administered by Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT), Pantnagar, which functions under the Department of Agriculture, Government of Uttarakhand. The award recognises and encourages students for outstanding research work in the field of Vegetable Science.

According to the scheme details on the myScheme portal, the award carries a value of Rs 20,000 per year and is granted for a period of one year only. It is a merit recognition tied to a specific piece of research, the student's thesis; rather than a recurring scholarship or a need-based benefit.

GBPUAT, established in 1960 at Pantnagar, was India's first agricultural university and is a leading centre for agricultural research and education. The Department of Vegetable Science within its College of Agriculture handles teaching and research on vegetable crops, and it is students working in this area whose theses are considered for the award.

Who is eligible for the Dr. Y.V. Singh Award?

You can apply if:

• You are a student of GBPUAT Pantnagar.
• You have submitted a thesis in the field of Vegetable Science at the university.

You cannot apply / are not eligible if:

• You are not enrolled at GBPUAT Pantnagar.
• You have not submitted a thesis in Vegetable Science at the university.
• Your research is in a field other than Vegetable Science.

This is a narrowly defined award. It is not open to the general public and there is no personal financial-need test. Eligibility rests entirely on being a GBPUAT student whose Vegetable Science thesis is complete and submitted for consideration.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Dr. Y.V. Singh Award

1. Watch for the university notification. GBPUAT notifies the prescribed application format and the window for submissions. Check with the Department of Vegetable Science and the College of Agriculture office.
2. Fill in the prescribed form. Complete the application in the format notified by the university, giving your enrolment and thesis details.
3. Attach your thesis. Submit a copy of your completed Vegetable Science thesis along with the form.
4. Submit to the university. Hand in the application to the office notified by GBPUAT for the award.
5. Await committee evaluation. A selection committee constituted by the Vice Chancellor reviews and evaluates all applications following the prescribed procedure and selects the best thesis.

How is the awardee selected?

Selection is by merit. A committee set up by the Vice Chancellor of GBPUAT assesses each submitted thesis against the criteria the university has laid down for research quality in Vegetable Science. The best thesis is chosen and the Rs 20,000 award is granted for the year.

Because the award is decided by a committee reviewing completed theses, timing follows the university's academic calendar rather than a fixed public date: the notification, submission window and evaluation run when the university opens them for the cycle. The Rs 20,000 is a one-time grant for the year, so a student receives it once for a qualifying thesis rather than as a monthly stipend. Bank details are needed only at the disbursement stage if the thesis is selected, which is why they are listed as non-mandatory at the application stage. Students should keep their thesis properly documented and submit in the prescribed format on time, since a late or incorrectly formatted submission is the most avoidable reason an otherwise strong thesis misses consideration.

Key facts to remember

• Award value: Rs 20,000, for one year only.
• Eligibility: GBPUAT students with a submitted Vegetable Science thesis.
• Selection: by a committee constituted by the Vice Chancellor.
• Mode: offline, in the university's prescribed form.

Why does this award matter for students?

For a postgraduate or doctoral student, the Dr. Y.V. Singh Award is both a financial recognition of Rs 20,000 and a formal marker of research quality in Vegetable Science. Vegetable crops are central to Uttarakhand's hill and terai agriculture, and improving varieties, yields and post-harvest handling has direct value for the state's farmers. An award-winning thesis strengthens a student's academic record and can help when applying for research positions, further study or fellowships. Because it is decided purely on the merit of the thesis, the way to compete for it is to produce well-documented, original research and to submit the work in the university's prescribed format on time.

Where does this award sit among GBPUAT's student support?

Dr. Y.V. Singh Award is a named, one-time recognition rather than a recurring scholarship, and it helps to see it against GBPUAT's broader support so a student does not mistake it for regular funding. The university's published schemes include 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. Postgraduate students are supported by 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, and by Ph.D. fellowships of about Rs 6,000 a month for up to 36 months, alongside graduate research and teaching assistantships. Against these, the Dr. Y.V. Singh Award is deliberately narrow: a Rs 20,000 recognition granted once, for the single best submitted thesis in Vegetable Science. A Vegetable Science research student would typically draw a regular fellowship or assistantship for living support during the degree, and separately compete for this award on the strength of the completed thesis.

Why Vegetable Science research matters in Uttarakhand

The award is tied to the Department of Vegetable Science in GBPUAT's College of Agriculture, the founding college of a university often linked to India's Green Revolution. Vegetable crops are central to Uttarakhand's farm economy: hill districts grow off-season vegetables such as peas, capsicum, tomato and French bean that command premium prices in plains markets, while the terai belt around Pantnagar supports intensive vegetable cultivation. Research on improved varieties, higher yields, disease resistance and better post-harvest handling therefore feeds directly into farmers' incomes. By attaching a distinguished researcher's name to the best thesis in this field, the university signals the value it places on applied vegetable-crop research. For the student, the Rs 20,000 award is modest in cash terms but works as a formal, citable marker of research quality that strengthens applications for doctoral study, ICAR positions and research fellowships.

Help and where to ask

For the current application form, the submission window and evaluation details, contact the Department of Vegetable Science, College of Agriculture, GBPUAT Pantnagar, or refer to the university website at gbpuat.ac.in. Because the award depends on the thesis itself, students should ensure their research is properly documented and submitted before applying.