UGC NET-JRF, ICSSR and CSIR Fellowships in 2026: The Amounts, Eligibility and Dates, Read From the Source

A Junior Research Fellowship from either the UGC or CSIR pays Rs 37,000 a month for the first two years and Rs 42,000 a month as Senior Research Fellow thereafter. An ICSSR Doctoral Fellowship pays Rs 20,000 a month. Every figure in this guide was read on the awarding body’s own page or in its own guidelines document on 13 September 2026, and each table below names its source.

This matters because the numbers most often quoted to Indian research scholars come from coaching channels and aggregator sites, and they are frequently a revision or two out of date. Our companion guide to funding a PhD in India through the PMRF and ANRF deliberately declined to state the UGC-NET JRF rate because it had not read it in a primary source. This guide answers that question, and adds the two national schemes that piece did not cover.

The three schemes side by side

The gap between the two families is the first thing to absorb. A NET-JRF holder in the social sciences and an ICSSR Doctoral Fellow are doing the same work in the same departments on roughly half the money, and the ICSSR scheme is explicitly not a top-up: you cannot hold both.

The contingency grants, which are not the same across schemes

The contingency grant pays for fieldwork, books, stationery and computing, and it is the figure most scholars discover late because it is disbursed on reimbursement rather than with the stipend.

Two CSIR rules on the contingency grant are worth diarising. It is paid on reimbursement, so you spend first and claim after; and a claim for a previous financial year is not entertained. If you have not spent it by 31 March, it is gone. For a period of less than one year the grant is admissible on a pro-rata basis, and the maximum in any year is Rs 20,000.

UGC NET-JRF: slots, eligibility and the two-year registration clock

The UGC scheme page states 11,750 slots and describes the eligibility as candidates who have qualified in NET-JRF or the UGC-CSIR joint test. Tenure is five years or submission of the thesis, whichever comes first, and the fellowship is administered through the National Testing Agency.

The clause that catches people is registration. The scheme requires that “registration for the M.Phil/PhD is made by the Universities/Institutions/Colleges within stipulated period of two years from the date of declaration of result or date of issue of award letter/date of joining the fellowship”. A JRF award is not a fellowship you can hold in reserve while you look for a supervisor; the clock starts at the result, and the registration has to be completed inside it.

Note also that the five-year tenure runs against your submission, not against your registration date. If you are budgeting your writing against the money, our guide to the UGC duration limits for a PhD in India sets out the other clock that runs beside it.

CSIR JRF: the upgradation that is not automatic

The CSIR guidelines — published as the revised Junior Research Fellowship guidelines with effect from 1 March 2023 and last updated on the CSIR-HRDG site in September 2026 — set out the same Rs 37,000 and Rs 42,000 figures, but the move between them is assessed, not granted.

On completing two years as JRF, a fellow registered for a PhD submits a work and progress report within six months. A three-member assessment committee reviews it. On its recommendation the fellow is upgraded to SRF at Rs 42,000 from the third year. Where the progress report is not found satisfactory, the committee may instead recommend that the fellow continue as JRF at Rs 37,000 for a third year, or that the fellowship be terminated.

Two further CSIR rules that change planning. The total combined JRF and SRF tenure cannot exceed five years, and that cap is inclusive of fellowships held from other funding agencies. And house rent allowance is provided where hostel accommodation is not available, following the host institution’s rules at the Central Government rates for that city — which means the HRA component is a function of where you are, not of the scheme.

Eligibility for the CSIR JRF is at least 55% in the Master’s degree without rounding off, relaxed to 50% for OBC (non-creamy layer), SC, ST, persons with disability and third-gender candidates.

ICSSR Doctoral Fellowship: lower money, different gate

The ICSSR guidelines read for this guide are the 2025-26 call, published by the Council under the Ministry of Education. Treat the amounts as the latest published rather than as a 2026-27 figure, and check the Council’s fellowships pages before you apply. The Full-Term Doctoral Fellowship is Rs 20,000 a month plus a Rs 20,000 contingency grant per annum, for a total duration of two years, with the first award letter issued for one year and the second year released only after the Council approves an extension on satisfactory progress reports and a statement of expenditure.

The eligibility conditions are stricter than the money suggests:

• A full-time bonafide PhD student at the affiliating institution throughout the tenure.
• Confirmed PhD registration, with the topic approved by the DRC or authorised statutory body on or before the last date of the call. Applications from scholars whose proposals and topics have not been approved are “summarily rejected”.
• Not more than 40 years of age on the last date of application, with five years’ relaxation for SC, ST, OBC (non-creamy layer) and persons with benchmark disability.
• At least 55% in the postgraduate degree in a social science discipline, with 5% relaxation for the same categories, and the PG mark sheet uploaded with the application or the candidature is rejected.
• UGC NET is mandatory, except that up to 10% of the fellowships may go to non-NET candidates whose proposals the ICSSR’s subject-expert panel finds outstanding.

The Short-Term Doctoral Fellowship runs for six months, or until the thesis is submitted if that comes first, and requires at least three years of completed research work. There is also a standalone one-time Contingency Grant of Rs 62,500 for scholars at an advanced stage of the work, which is a separate scheme rather than part of a fellowship.

The rule that decides which one you apply for

The ICSSR guidelines bar candidates who have already availed a UGC Junior Research Fellowship, the Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship, the Maulana Azad National Fellowship, or an ICSSR, ICAR, CSIR, ICPR, ICMR, ICHR or Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Foundation fellowship — or “any such major doctoral fellowship”. Candidates drawing the UGC Non-NET Fellowship are expressly eligible.

So the sequence is: if you hold NET-JRF, take it. The ICSSR route exists for social science scholars who did not qualify for JRF, or who hold only a departmental non-NET fellowship, and the 10% non-NET window is the one genuine opening for a strong proposal without the NET.

What we could not verify, and are therefore not stating

This section exists because repeating numbers we have not read is how unsourced figures spread through student writing.

• The ICSSR 2026-27 call figures. The Council’s Doctoral Fellowship page linked the Guidelines for 2025-26 when we read it on 13 September 2026. The amounts above are therefore the latest published, labelled as such. Open the Council’s fellowships page for the current call before you apply.
• HRA in rupees. The CSIR guidelines make HRA a function of the host institution’s rules and the Central Government rate for the city. There is no single national figure to quote, and any site that gives you one has invented it.
• Exact application windows. Calls open and close on dates the awarding body notifies each cycle. We are not reproducing a window we did not read in a current notification; your award letter and the live call page govern your case.
• How many fellowships are actually awarded against the 11,750 UGC slots. The scheme page states the slot count; it does not state utilisation, and we found no current primary figure for it.

How to cite these figures in your thesis

If a funding figure appears in your own writing, cite the awarding body’s page or guidelines document with the date you read it, not a news report. The amounts are revised by notification, so a citation without a date is a citation that will be wrong at some point. The general form for citing an official Indian instrument is in our guide to citing Indian Acts and judgments in a thesis.

The same discipline applies to journal claims in a funding application: where you say a paper is indexed, the verification route is in our guide to verifying a journal in India, and the publication requirement before submission is set out in how many papers are required before PhD thesis submission.

Writing while the fellowship clock runs

Every scheme above ties money to progress: the CSIR upgradation needs a work report at twenty-four months, the ICSSR second year needs progress reports and a statement of expenditure, and the UGC tenure ends at submission or five years. The common failure is not the research, it is arriving at each of those reviews without a written chapter to show. Tesify keeps the chapters, the methodology and the references moving together so that the progress report is a summary of work already on the page.

Start your next chapter in Tesify

Frequently asked questions

What is the UGC NET-JRF amount in 2026?

Rs 37,000 a month for the first two years as Junior Research Fellow, and Rs 42,000 a month as Senior Research Fellow for the remaining period, as stated on the UGC’s own scheme page for the Junior Research Fellowship in Science, Humanities and Social Sciences.

Is the CSIR JRF amount different from the UGC JRF?

No. The CSIR-HRDG guidelines for the JRF through CSIR-UGC NET state the same Rs 37,000 and Rs 42,000 figures. The contingency grant differs: CSIR pays Rs 20,000 a year at both stages, while the UGC rate varies by discipline and stage.

How much is the ICSSR Doctoral Fellowship?

Rs 20,000 a month plus Rs 20,000 contingency per annum for the Full-Term Doctoral Fellowship, for a total duration of two years, under the ICSSR Guidelines for Doctoral Fellowships 2025-26.

Can I hold an ICSSR fellowship and a UGC JRF together?

No. The ICSSR guidelines make candidates who have already availed a UGC JRF, RGNF, MANF, ICSSR, ICAR, CSIR, ICPR, ICMR, ICHR or JNMF fellowship ineligible. Holders of the UGC Non-NET Fellowship are eligible to apply.

Is UGC NET compulsory for the ICSSR Doctoral Fellowship?

Yes, with one exception: up to 10 per cent of the fellowships may be awarded to candidates who are not NET qualified but whose proposals are found outstanding by the Council’s panel of subject experts.

How long can I hold a JRF and SRF together?

Five years. The CSIR guidelines state that the combined JRF and SRF tenure cannot exceed five years, inclusive of fellowships from other funding agencies, and the UGC scheme tenure is five years or thesis submission, whichever is earlier.

Is upgradation from JRF to SRF automatic?

No. Under the CSIR guidelines the fellow submits a work and progress report and a three-member assessment committee recommends upgradation. If the report is not satisfactory, the committee may recommend continuing as JRF at the lower rate for a third year, or terminating the fellowship.

How soon must I register for the PhD after the JRF result?

The UGC scheme requires registration within two years of the date of declaration of the result, the issue of the award letter, or joining the fellowship. The award is not something you can hold while you search for a supervisor.

Do I get house rent allowance with a CSIR fellowship?

Where hostel accommodation is not available, HRA is provided as per the host institution’s rules at Central Government rates for that city. There is no single national figure, so ask your institution rather than a website.

Can I claim last year’s contingency grant now?

Under the CSIR guidelines, no. The grant is paid on reimbursement and a claim for a previous financial year is not entertained. Plan the spend inside the financial year.

What is the ICSSR contingency grant of Rs 62,500?

It is a separate one-time consolidated grant for PhD scholars at an advanced stage of their research, not part of the monthly fellowship. It is applied for under its own head in the Council’s doctoral schemes.

How many UGC JRF slots are there?

The UGC scheme page states 11,750 slots. It does not state how many are actually taken up in a given cycle, and we found no current primary figure for utilisation, so we are not quoting one.