Women in Science and Engineering-KIRAN (WISE-KIRAN)

The need for women's empowerment and the promotion of gender equality is particularly crucial in the fields of Science, technology, and engineering. Historically, women have been significantly underrepresented in these fields due to various factors, including societal stereotypes and bias. Encouraging and supporting women's participation in these fields is essential for scientific advancement and innovation. By empowering women and promoting gender equality, a more inclusive, diverse and strengthen scientific ecosystem can be developed.

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is implementing a dedicated scheme 'Women in Science and Engineering-KIRAN (WISE-KIRAN)'to cater women of all walks of life in order to enhance their participation in the field of Science and Technology (S&T)with ultimate goal to bring gender parity. The WISE-KIRAN Scheme is a holistic approach to address various challenges faced by women in their scientific journey through different kinds of programmes.

The WISE-KIRAN Division runs the following programs for empowering women of varied age groups and in different domains of Science and Technology-

Fellowship Programmes

I. Fellowship for Ph.D.:

WISE Fellowship for Ph.D. (WISE-PhD): WISE-PhDProgramme aims to provide support to women who want to pursue a Ph.D. in 5 subject areas of basic and applied sciences. Women of the age group between 27-45 years are eligible to apply. However, there is 3 years relaxation in upper age for women belonging to SC/ST/PH category. The support is available for a maximum of 5 years duration.

Call for Proposal:Call is open throughout the year.

For further details: https://onlinedst.gov.in/Login.aspx

II. Opportunity for Post-Doctoral Research:

  1. WISE Post-Doctoral Fellowship (WISE-PDF) – WISE-PDF Programme aims to provide opportunity to women to continue research after Ph.D. in Basic and Applied Sciences through independent project grant. Women in age group of 27-60 years having PhD or equivalent degree in Science & Engineering can submit proposal under WISE-PDF. 

Call for Proposal:Proposal can be submitted throughout the year.

For further details: https://online-wosa.gov.in/

         2. Women's Instinct for Developing and Ushering in Scientific Heights & Innovations (WIDUSHI): WIDUSHI Programme aims to encourage and support senior women scientists to conduct research in interdisciplinary areas of Science & Technology. WIDUSHI programme provides support to women scientists who are at the verge of retirement or retired from Government service and also to the women scientists who are not at permanent position but are active researchers and continuously excelling in research field. The maximum age to apply under WIDUSHI programme is 62 years.

Call for Proposal:Call is open throughout the year for proposal submission.

For further details: https://onlinedst.gov.in/Login.aspx

        3. WISE-SCOPE: WISE-SCOPEProgrammeencourages women scientists and technologists to address societal challenges through S&T interventions.The women scientists in age group of 27-60 years who have completed Ph.D. or equivalent degree and wants to work at grassroots level are eligible for WISE-SCOPEprogramme. The support is available in 5 thematic areas namely, Agriculture and Allied Sciences (AAS), Health, Food and Nutrition (HFN), Energy, Water and Waste Management (EWWM), Engineering and Technology Development(ETD) andEnvironment, Climate and Sustainable Development (ECSD).

Call for Proposal: Call is open throughout the year for proposal submission.

For further details: https://onlinedst.gov.in/Login.aspx

III. Internship for alternative career path in STEM:

WISE Internship in Intellectual Property Rights (WISE-IPR) – WISE-IPR programme provides one-year training to women in the area of Intellectual Property Rights in order to develop a core professional skill in this domain. Women of age group between 25-45 years and having Post-Graduation/Ph.D. or equivalent degree in Basic and Applied Sciences are eligible for this programme. 

Call for Application: April-May.

For further details:https://www.tifac.org.in/index.php/programmes/capacity-building/kiran-ipr

IV. Overseas Opportunities:

Women International Grant Support (WINGS): WINGS Programmeprovides opportunities to Indian Women scientists to undertake research in the International research labs and academic institutions. There are 3 Modules in WINGS Programme:

  1. Module I: WINGS Internship
  2. Module II: WINGS Fellowship
  3. Module III: WINGS for Scientific Visit
Infrastructure Development Support in Women Institutions

Consolidation of University Research for Innovation and Excellence (CURIE):

CURIE Programme provides support to women institutionsfor establishing State-of-the art research infrastructure to enhanceresearch facilities and improving R&D activities in order to create excellence in Science & Technology (S&T) domain. The mainobjective of CURIE is to focus on strengthening research infrastructure, building research capacity andfostering a conducive environment in women institutions in the country.

The programme has 2 major components:

  1. CURIE Support to Women Universities: To develop research infrastructure in basic and applied sciences and establish state-of-the art research facilities in women universities. Establishment of special facilities in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in women universities to foster AI innovations and development of human resource for AI-based jobs is another major step under CURIE.
  2. CURIE Support to Women PG Colleges: to support Women PG Colleges of the country for developing research facilities in basic and applied sciences.

Call for Proposal: January-February

WISE-KIRAN Division is announcing a new call for proposal submission under CURIE Programme. The call is open at e-PMS (Download The file ( bytes) aspx?Id=2225 Icon).

Opportunity for Young Girls

Vigyan Jyoti:

Vigyan Jyoti programme aims to encourage girls to pursue higher education and career in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) especially in the areas where women participation is low in order to balance gender ratio across the streams. VigyanJyoti (School Component) is in implementation in 250 districts of 34 States/UTs of the country. Around 25000 meritorious girls of Class IX-XII are enrolled under Vigyan Jyoti programme during 2023-24 and getting benefits through various S&T interventions. Under this programme, various activities viz. student-parent counselling, career counselling, role model interaction, additional academic support classes, tinkering activities, special lectures, visit to scientific institutions/Labs/industries, science camps, workshops, etc. are being organized to improve participation of girls in underrepresented areas of STEM.

Policy Intervention for Gender Equality

Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI):

GATI aims to develop an indigenous Charter for Gender Equity in STEMM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics & Medicine), with a focus on bringing about transformational changes at Institutional level. The ultimate goal is to create a new ecosystem based on building competencies of institutions and provide them with ongoing mentoring support to achieve transformation. This will entail examining the full life cycle in the profession of women in STEMM at various levels in the institution. 30 Indian Institutions have participated in GATI pilot.

OM on Revision of Fellowship under different Programmes of WISE-KIRAN Division[PDF]338.06 KB

WISE-KIRAN Team

Scientists

Designation

E-mail

Programmes

Dr Vandana Singh

In-charge, Scientist-F

vandana[dot]singh[at]nic[dot]in

All the programmes

Shri Pawan Kumar

Scientist-D

pawan[dot]kumar[at]nic[dot]in

WIDUSHI, CURIE, WOS-B 

Dr Chhama Awasthi

Scientist-C

chhama[at]nic[dot]in

WISE-SCOPE, WOS-B, GATI

Dr Vineeta Kumari

Scientist-C

vineeta[at]nic[dot]in

CURIE, WOS-B, Vigyan Jyoti

Shri Shubham Goel

Scientist-B

goel[dot]shubham[at]gov[dot]in

WISE-PDF, WISE-PhD, WOS-A, WISE-IPR