Objectives & Scope
The mission is to enhance quality, efficiency, and relevance of education and research to meet Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) challenges. Key objectives include increasing industry relevance in research and promoting entrepreneurship development.
Target Areas
- Academy-Industry Collaboration
- Interdisciplinary R&D
- Cutting Edge CSE/IT Research
- IT Solutions Addressing Disability Issues
Funding Distribution
Academy-Industry Collaboration
50%
Interdisciplinary R&D
25%
Cutting Edge CSE/IT Research
15%
IT Solutions Addressing Disability Issues
10%
Supporting Clarifications & Rules
New
2nd RDG Board Meeting Clarifications (25/09/2025)
- 3rd Co-PI: Organogram may be expanded to allow a 3rd Co-PI for multiple collaborating entities.
- 1st Co-PI: Must be from the submitting entity (all areas).
- Area-A: Industry inclusion is mandatory.
- Foreign Researchers: Can be included as Co-PI in all areas.
- Defense R&D: Ineligible.
- Civil Works: Expenditure ineligible.
- Similarity Score: Section A must remain below 30% (including AI generated content).
Area-B (Interdisciplinary) Definition:
"Academic disciplines" includes organizations offering tertiary degrees, conducting relevant research, or Govt/NGOs in public service with research experience.
1st RDG Board Meeting Clarifications (14/08/2025)
A) Related Discipline Definitions
Undergraduate Level
Must offer 80% courses from:
- Programming (OOP, Web, Mobile)
- Hardware (Digital Logic, Architecture)
- Logics & Algorithms
- Systems (Security, OS, Network)
- Software Engineering
Postgraduate Level
Must cover 3 domains from:
- Algorithms, SE, Data Science
- Intelligent Computing
- Security & Privacy
- Networks & HPC
C) Foreign Universities & Industry
- "International Universitates" = Foreign Universities (QS/THE ranked eligible).
- Industry participants do not receive financial benefits.
- Foreign Co-PIs receive honorarium equivalent to public university Co-PI.
- Industry Submission Requirements: Trade license, 3-year audit reports, Tax/VAT certs, Turnover data, Organogram.
D) Anonymous Evaluation
Proposals must be split into Section A (Main proposal, anonymized) and Section B (SPMT details) for impartial review.
Tentative Timeline (2nd Round)
Call for Proposal-2nd Round
05 Jan, 2026
Application open
01 Feb, 2026
Submission Deadline
09 Feb, 2026
Proposal Review
TBA
Grant Award Ceremony
TBA