New Delhi: The Centre is planning to launch a new scheme with an aim to attract top 120 Indian-origin researchers and scientists to strengthen India’s higher education and research ecosystem.
A proposal for the Prime Minister Research Chair (PMRC) Scheme was presented during the 56th meeting of the IIT Council—the apex policy-making and coordination body for all IITs—held on 25 August 2025, the minutes of which were shared Tuesday.
According to the minutes, a copy of which is with ThePrint, a senior official from the Union Ministry of Education presented the proposal for the PMRC scheme. The council was informed that the scheme proposes to engage 120 research fellows across three categories—Young Research Fellows, Senior Research Fellows, and Research Chairs—over a five-year period.
The scheme will focus on 14 nationally significant priority sectors including semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence, clean energy, and advanced materials. “The scheme seeks to improve institutional research capacity, boost innovation, and enhance India’s global standing in science, technology, and academic excellence,” the minutes stated.
“The Council was made aware of the in-principle agreement for the Prime Minister Research Chair Scheme, with the understanding that the initiative will be launched soon in a structured, large-scale way to attract and engage global talent of Indian origin,” the minutes added.
A NITI Aayog report released last month flagged India’s growing “brain drain” problem, noting that for every foreign student studying in India, about 25 Indians go abroad for higher education.
Titled Internationalisation of Higher Education in India, the report highlighted a widening imbalance in student mobility, with over 13 lakh Indians studying overseas by 2024 compared to fewer than 50,000 inbound international students.
Warning that this out migration of skilled youth hampers innovation, weakens India’s research ecosystem, and increases dependence on foreign technologies, the report called for urgent measures to retain talent.
The NITI Aayog report had also recommended launching fellowships aimed at attracting and retaining top researchers, faculty and professionals, especially from the diaspora, through flexible engagement models, seamless onboarding, and tangible incentives to support high-impact research and long-term collaboration.
IIT Council to study outmigration for PhDs
Meanwhile, during the council meeting, a survey of alumni databases across six older Indian Institutes of Technology (Bombay, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Kanpur and Madras) was presented, with a view to analyse the socioeconomic impact of IITs within India and globally, for the BTech batches of 2013, 2014, and 2015.
It was recommended to expand the survey to all 23 IITs for the same three graduating years (2013-2015) to capture a comprehensive picture of alumni outcomes and socio-economic impact.
“It was decided to understand the reasons for IIT graduates taking up Ph.D. and Postdoctoral programs outside India, and propose measures to strengthen research pathways and academic retention,” the minutes read.
The Council also discussed the need to make the process of engaging foreign faculties in IITs easier, so as to attract the best talent from the world to teach IIT students.
“In this regard, the council chairman directed the IITs to make necessary changes in their recruitment rules’ if required. Further, a specific proposal may be submitted to the ministry of education by IIT Gandhinagar consolidating the issues from all IITs, for taking up with the relevant departments of government of India,” the minutes stated.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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