Programme Description

Women Involvement in Science and Engineering Research (WISER), a programme by the Indo-German Science and Technology Centre (IGSTC), aims to build scientific capacity, retain, encourage, and promote women researchers. IGSTC is a joint initiative by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India (GoI). The WISER programme intends to:

• Enhance the representation and progression of women researchers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
• Create avenues for networking, interaction and long-term research collaboration.
• Improve existing projects by adding an additional research component to get new and better results.
• Promote women to lead consortium based bilateral projects for IGSTC programmes and other funding schemes.

Target Group

• This scheme is designed for woman researchers holding a regular/long-term research position in academia/in a research institute/in industry in India or Germany. In the following, the terms "Indian or German awardee or applicant" do not refer to the nationality but to the location of the company or organisation the applicant/awardee is working at.
• It is open to all areas of STEM. It is a unique opportunity to be a part of an ongoing research project without applying for a fresh project grant.
• The WISER programme has no age-limit (preference for early/mid-career researchers).

Number of Scholarships

20

Duration

up to 3 years

Scholarship Value

Indian awardee:

• Travel (including visa fee and insurance) approximately 1 lakh INR
• Project cost up to 12 lakh INR/year (including research staff, consumables, contingency and per diem of 2,300 EUR/month in Germany)

German awardee:

• Travel (including visa fee and insurance) approximately 1,500 EUR
• Project cost up to 14,500 EUR/year (including consumables, contingency and per diem of 2,300 EUR/month in India)

Application Papers

• Submission of an application to [email protected] according to the provided template in line with the guidelines for content and format.
• Support letter of the supervisor (German applicant) or a "No Objection Certificate (NOC)" signed by the director of the institute (Indian applicant)
• Certification of regular work contract with company or research organisation in India or Germany

Application Deadline

There is no fixed deadline. Proposals can be submitted throughout the year.