Mukhyamantri Uchcha Shiksha Shodh Protsahan Yojana

What is Mukhyamantri Uchcha Shiksha Shodh Protsahan Yojana?

Mukhyamantri Uchcha Shiksha Shodh Protsahan Yojana, abbreviated MMUSSPY and often written as Mukhyamantri Uchch Shiksha Shodh Protsahan Yojna, is a research funding scheme of the Department of Higher Education, Government of Uttarakhand. In English it is described as the Chief Minister's Higher Education Research Encouragement Scheme. The Department of Higher Education lists it as the single scheme on its scheme page, sanctioned by government order number 154824(1)/XXIV-C-2/2023-25(4)22 dated 18 September 2023, and it has been running from the 2023-24 session.

Mukhyamantri Uchcha Shiksha Shodh Protsahan Yojana exists because research output from Uttarakhand's state colleges and universities has historically been limited by money rather than by ideas. A lecturer in a government degree college in Pithoragarh or Uttarkashi rarely has a laboratory budget, field survey funding or a research assistant. The scheme puts a substantial state grant directly in the hands of the researcher instead of routing it through a central agency.

Key features

• One-time research grant of up to Rs 15,00,000, extendable to Rs 18,00,000 in special circumstances.
• Monthly financial assistance of Rs 5,000 for the duration of the research.
• Grant released in three instalments through Direct Benefit Transfer.
• Project duration of two years, extendable by one more year.
• One project per researcher at any given time.
• Broad subject areas: Science, Arts and Humanities, Home Science, and Commerce and Management, with interdisciplinary proposals encouraged.
• Priority to problem-oriented, solution-based research relevant to the state.

Subjects specifically encouraged include social science, language, humanities and literature, environment and development issues, tourism, traditional science, and engineering. Co-investigators are permitted alongside a principal investigator, so a small team can work on one sanctioned project.

Who is eligible for Mukhyamantri Uchcha Shiksha Shodh Protsahan Yojana?

You can apply if:

• You are a resident of Uttarakhand.
• You are a regular professor or teacher in a state government college or a state university campus in Uttarakhand.
• Or you are a student or research scholar enrolled in a regular programme at a recognised institution in the state.
• Your institution is a government college, a state university, or a private or aided institution that receives government grants.
• Your research proposal falls in one of the notified subject areas or is a genuine interdisciplinary proposal.
• You do not already hold a sanctioned project under this scheme.

You cannot apply / are not eligible if:

• You are not a resident of Uttarakhand.
• You work at or study in an institution outside the state, or at a private institution that receives no government grant.
• You are already running a live project sanctioned under this same scheme: only one project per researcher is permitted at a time.
• You are enrolled in a distance or non-regular programme rather than a regular one.
• Your proposal is outside the notified subject areas and is not a defensible interdisciplinary proposal.

The scheme is a research grant, not a personal welfare benefit. There is no income-linked entitlement: selection is on the merit and relevance of the research proposal, judged by the department.

What documents are required?

How to apply for Mukhyamantri Uchcha Shiksha Shodh Protsahan Yojana online

The scheme is applied for only online, through the Samarth eGov portal built for it. There is no paper route.

1. Open the MMUSSPY portal at musspyuk.samarth.ac.in, the Department of Higher Education links to it as the "Apply" link on its scheme page at he.uk.gov.in/scheme.
2. Register as a new applicant with your name, mobile number and email address.
3. Collect your login credentials, which are sent to your registered mobile number by SMS, and sign in.
4. Select Mukhyamantri Uchcha Shiksha Shodh Protsahan Yojana from the list of schemes on your dashboard.
5. Fill the multi-step application form; personal details, residence details, educational qualifications, current post or enrolment, and the full research details including subject area, objectives, methodology, proposed duration and budget.
6. Upload the supporting documents; residence certificate, Aadhaar, affiliation proof, photograph, bank details and the research proposal.
7. Review every page and submit. Save or print the acknowledgement with your application number.
8. Wait for verification by your institution and the department, which evaluates the proposals and sanctions the grant.

Before you start, scan every document as a clear PDF or JPEG within the size limit the portal states. A blurred residence certificate or a bank passbook where the IFSC code is unreadable is the commonest cause of an application being sent back.

Is there an offline way to apply?

No offline application route has been notified for Mukhyamantri Uchcha Shiksha Shodh Protsahan Yojana. Applicants who cannot complete the form themselves should use their college or university computer laboratory, or ask their institution's nodal officer for the scheme. Your institution is part of the verification chain in any case, so involving it early is sensible rather than optional.

How much money is paid and when?

Mukhyamantri Uchcha Shiksha Shodh Protsahan Yojana pays two separate things.

• A one-time research grant of up to Rs 15,00,000, which the state government can extend to Rs 18,00,000 in special circumstances. The grant is released in three instalments, not as a single payment.
• Monthly financial assistance of Rs 5,000 paid to the researcher until the research is completed.

All payments are made by Direct Benefit Transfer into the researcher's bank account, so the account details entered on the Samarth portal must be accurate and active. Because the grant is instalment-based, later instalments depend on satisfactory progress on the sanctioned project. A researcher who does not submit progress reports on time should expect the next instalment to be held.

The sanctioned amount is not automatically Rs 15 lakh. The department sanctions against the budget in your proposal, so the figure you justify is the figure you are likely to receive.

How do I check my application status?

1. Sign in to musspyuk.samarth.ac.in with the credentials sent to your registered mobile number.
2. Open your application dashboard, which shows the current stage; submitted, under institutional verification, under departmental scrutiny, sanctioned or rejected.
3. Check your registered mobile number and email for SMS and email alerts at each stage.
4. Follow up with your institution's nodal officer if the application sits at institutional verification, since that step is done by your college or university and not by the directorate.
5. Call the Samarth helpline on 05649-240555 or write to ukhe.samarth@gmail.com for portal problems such as a lost password or a failed document upload.

Why applications get rejected, and how to avoid it

• Residence not established. The residence certificate is missing, expired or in a different name spelling from Aadhaar.
• Affiliation not eligible — the applicant is at a private institution that receives no government grant, or is not on a regular appointment or a regular programme.
• A weak or vague research proposal: no clear problem statement, no methodology, no timeline, or a budget that is a round figure with no justification.
• Subject outside the notified areas and not defended as interdisciplinary.
• A second project applied for while an earlier sanctioned project is still running.
• Documents unreadable or uploaded in the wrong slot.
• Bank details wrong. A mismatched IFSC or an inoperative account stops the DBT even after sanction.

The practical fixes are all pre-submission ones: get a fresh residence certificate, match the name spelling across Aadhaar, bank and certificate, write a budget that adds up line by line, and have a senior colleague read the proposal before you upload it.

Key dates and current status

• 18 September 2023: government order 154824(1)/XXIV-C-2/2023-25(4)22 sanctioning the scheme.
• 2023-24 session. The scheme became operational.
• 11 February 2025. The government order document was last updated on the Department of Higher Education website.
• 19 May 2026. The department's scholarship scheme page, which also lists the related Mukhyamantri Utkristh Shodh Patra Prakashan Protsahan Yojana, was last updated.

No fixed annual last date has been published. Applications are invited in cycles, so the Samarth portal and the department's scheme page are the two places to watch.

Where do I get help or raise a grievance?

• Samarth portal helpline: 05649-240555, for registration, login and upload problems.
• Samarth email: ukhe.samarth@gmail.com
• Department of Higher Education, Uttarakhand: highereducation.director@gmail.com
• Uttarakhand CM Helpline: 1905, the state's general grievance line.
• Your institution's nodal officer, for anything stuck at institutional verification.

Applying is free. No agent can get a research grant sanctioned for you, and no official will ask for a fee or for your portal password.

A related scheme worth knowing about

The Department of Higher Education also runs Mukhyamantri Utkristh Shodh Patra Prakashan Protsahan Yojana, an incentive scheme for the publication of outstanding research papers, listed alongside this scheme on the department's scholarship page. A researcher whose proposal is not sanctioned under Mukhyamantri Uchcha Shiksha Shodh Protsahan Yojana, or who has already completed work and published from it, should look at that scheme's government order on he.uk.gov.in.