Indian Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB)

Partnership with SERB

In Fall 2016, UAlberta signed an agreement with SERB for visiting PhD students to conduct research at UAlberta through the Overseas Visiting Doctoral Fellowship (OVDF).

The objectives of the OVDF are to build national capacity in science and engineering by providing Indian students with opportunities to gain exposure and access top researchers and research facilities, leading to the creation of long-term linkages and collaborations between Indian and international universities.

Information for U of A Professors

SERB sponsors Indian students who are in their PhD programs at Indian institutions to do research abroad as a visiting student for 6-12 months.

The scholarship will cover the following:

• A living allowance of approximately $2,000 USD per month for the student, as well as funds to cover their airfare, insurance, visa fees, etc.

• Funds for the U of A supervising professor to visit the host institution and supervising professor in India (must stay a minimum of 14 days). This would include the cost of travel to India (shortest route round-trip economy class air fare via Air India not exceeding Rs.150,000 from Edmonton), a per diem of Rs. 3000/day for 14 days, or Rs.2000/day for 15-30 days, accommodation allowance of Rs.4500/day for 14 days, or Rs.3000/day for 15-30 days, and an additional allowance of $250 USD to cover costs like visa fees, medical insurance, etc.

• Similar funding is also provided to the Indian supervising professor to make a visit to the U of A to meet with the student and supervising professor here.

The scholarship does not cover the cost of Research 900 tuition and non-instructional fees (registration requirement of SERB), which is approximately $4,000 per year. Therefore, it will be the responsibility of the U of A supervising professor to cover that cost for the semesters the SERB student will be registered at the U of A. In addition, the scholarship does not provide funds for research related expenses.

The deadline for the student to submit this SERB-UAlberta application and all required documents is January 2, 2024, for a September 2024 start date.

Required Documents From U of A Supervising Professor:

• CV (SERB would like it to include information about Academic & Research Qualifications, Publications list, Patent list, Details of research projects being implemented/ completed/submitted, if any)

• A letter from the professor on department letterhead, explaining that they have agreed to supervise the student's research here, have approved the research plan, proposed start and end dates, and that the UAlberta professor will cover the cost of the Research 900 instructional, non-instructional fees, and research related expenses. 

Please note, we are recommending a September 2024 start date, to ensure there is enough time to issue official admission letters and visa application processing after SERB releases their scholarship results.