Women scientists struggle due to delay in fellowships, results
Delays in results for DST's WISE fellowships leave aspiring women scientists in limbo, impacting their research and academic plans amid funding issues.
The results for two flagship fellowships of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) –– Women in Science and Engineering (WISE-PhD) and WISE-Post Doctoral Fellowships (WISE-PDF), designed to enhance women’s participation in science and technology ––– have been stuck for up to 15 months, leaving hundreds of first generation aspiring scientists in limbo about their academic future.
Even those who have secured these fellowships are struggling, with research grants delayed by up to 18 months. The delays have come at a time when women constitute only 18.6% of the total 362,000 personnel directly engaged in research and development (R&D) activities in India.
DST’s attempts to address the challenges faced by women scientists due to “breaks in career” have added to their woes, fellows said. The restructuring of gender-based fellowships under the WISE-Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (WISE-KIRAN) initiative in 2018, and its subsequent merger with two other programmes into Vigyan Dhara scheme from January 2025, have led to delays in fund disbursement and fellowship results.
In 2023-24, DST restructured Women in Science-A (WoS-A) programme into WISE-PhD under the WISE-KIRAN initiative which launched in 2018 to support women facing career breaks due to family responsibilities. Unlike WOS-A, which included an interview, WISE-PhD has no interview stage for selection.
Under the WISE-PhD scheme, women aged 27 to 45 with postgraduate degrees in science can receive up to ₹35.69 lakh over five years to pursue doctoral research in basic and applied sciences. The WISE-PDF scheme supports women aged 27 to 60 with PhDs in STEM, offering up to ₹42.6 lakh over three years for laboratory-based research.
{{/usCountry}}Under the WISE-PhD scheme, women aged 27 to 45 with postgraduate degrees in science can receive up to ₹35.69 lakh over five years to pursue doctoral research in basic and applied sciences. The WISE-PDF scheme supports women aged 27 to 60 with PhDs in STEM, offering up to ₹42.6 lakh over three years for laboratory-based research.
{{/usCountry}}Both fellowships follow a two-stage selection process: initial screening of project proposals submitted by candidates, followed by evaluation by Subject Expert Committees (SECs). WISE-PDF applicants who clear the initial screening also face an interview.
{{/usCountry}}Both fellowships follow a two-stage selection process: initial screening of project proposals submitted by candidates, followed by evaluation by Subject Expert Committees (SECs). WISE-PDF applicants who clear the initial screening also face an interview.
{{/usCountry}}Even though the government has consistently increased the budget allocation for science and research, the DST’s research and development statistics 2022-23 (latest available) states that India spent 0.64% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on R&D in 2020–21, while the same amongst other developing BRICS countries was—Brazil (1.3%), Russian Federation (1.1%), China (2.4%), and South Africa (0.6%).
{{/usCountry}}Even though the government has consistently increased the budget allocation for science and research, the DST’s research and development statistics 2022-23 (latest available) states that India spent 0.64% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on R&D in 2020–21, while the same amongst other developing BRICS countries was—Brazil (1.3%), Russian Federation (1.1%), China (2.4%), and South Africa (0.6%).
{{/usCountry}}In 2023-24, DST approved 100 projects under WISE-PhD which increased to 140 projects in 2024-25. DST recommended 108 projects under WISE-PDF in 2023-24 and 159 projects in 2024-25.
Results delay
All DST programmes under three umbrella schemes — science and technology institutional and human capacity building; research and development; and innovation technology development and deployment — are merged under Vigyan Dhara scheme.
In an August 8 office memorandum, Jyoti Sharma of DST’s Policy Coordination and Programme Management (PCPM) division ordered a temporary suspension of funds for new projects under the Vigyan Dhara scheme, citing “limited availability of funds” and the need to prioritise ongoing commitments.
A female candidate from Calicut, Kerala, has been waiting for her WISE-PDF interview result for seven months. She applied in August 2024, was shortlisted in January 2025, and gave her interview and presentation to a DST panel in February 2025 and the long delays make it hard to plan research.
“In the fast-changing technological scenario, the work we proposed may no longer be novel by the time we start. Waiting for months between stages makes us lose touch with our proposal and wastes time preparing again,” she said while requesting anonymity.
She said that most women who apply for WISE-PhD are in their 30s with family commitments. “Without clarity on timelines, it’s difficult to plan a three-year research journey — where to stay, managing children or elderly parents,” she added.
Similarly, a young woman from Jammu, aspiring to be a scientist and contribute to society, is still waiting for her WISE-PhD results after applying for the fellowship in June last year. WISE-PhD fellowship supports research in five subject areas: physical and mathematical sciences; chemical sciences; life sciences; earth and atmospheric sciences; and engineering and technology.
“I applied for research in the engineering and technology area. It has been 15 months, and we still haven’t received the results. Preparing a proposal takes over a year, but rules say that PhD registration must be done within six months of the DST recommendation letter. Because of these delays and no new calls, many in their second year will miss the fellowship as they enter their third year before the next call of proposals,” she said.
The WISE-PhD programme provides financial support to women who wish to register for a PhD or are in the first two years of their PhD and lack fellowship support. Applicants who apply in their second year remain eligible even if they move into the third year by the time results are announced. But those already in the third, fourth, or fifth year of their PhD cannot apply.
According to researchers, calls for proposals were open year-round under the WoS-A programme, with results announced within six months. From 2023-24, WISE-PhD and WISE-PDF calls are limited to twice a year, with delays of 8–15 months.
In February 2025, the government told the Rajya Sabha that 2,076 women scientists had been supported under WoS-A over the last 10 years. WoS-A, launched in 2003-04, continued until 2023-24, with 128 new projects sanctioned that year and support extended to 226 ongoing projects in 2024-25.
The last calls for WISE-PhD and WISE-PDF were in December 2024 and February 2025, respectively, but results are still pending.
The delay in results is visible. Since 2023-24, DST has released multiple WISE-PhD selected candidate lists: three lists for life sciences; earth and atmospheric sciences for proposals up to July and October 2024, respectively and two lists for chemical sciences; engineering and technology for proposals till March 2024 and physical and mathematical sciences for proposals up to August 2024 only.
Funding Delays
The existing researchers under DST fellowships are also facing hardships due to funding delays.
Asma Tahir, a physics project scientist in a government university at Kashmir under the WoS-A fellowship, has not received her monthly fellowship and HRA for the past nine months, despite completing all project objectives. Despite financial troubles, she has still managed to publish four papers, with two more under review. “I am in the fifth year of my research. It is sad that I now have to close the project by December without receiving any funds for this year,” she said.
A researcher at a central government university in Delhi applied for the WISE-PhD fellowship in her second year and was selected in January 2024, by which time she was in her third year. However, she only began receiving the fellowship in August 2024.
“In December 2024, I received my last monthly fellowship. Since then, I have been waiting for 2025 funding. The delay has severely hampered my research—I cannot buy equipment or continue my work properly,”she said. “The uncertainty is taking a serious toll on my mental and physical well-being.”
In August 2024, the Union cabinet approved the Vigyan Dhara scheme with a proposed outlay of ₹10,579.84 crore for 2021–22 to 2025–26, aligned with the Fifteenth Finance Commission. The scheme came into effect on January 16, 2025, but funding has been modest — ₹330.75 crore was allocated in 2024–25 and ₹1,425 crore in 2025–26, adding up to just ₹1,755.75 crore, or barely 17% of the proposed outlay.
Dr Anju Thomas from NIT Trichy blamed the Vigyan Dhara scheme for delays in her DST WISE-PDF fellowship funds. She joined her host institution on December 30, 2024, with ₹15.48 lakh sanctioned for her first year, but most of it was returned to DST due to the new scheme rollout. Only her fellowship salary and HRA of ₹2.42 lakh were retained. Since April 2025, she has not received any further funds.
“This fellowship is my only source of income. The delay has caused severe financial hardship and prevented me from procuring equipment or collecting data, resulting in lost research time,” she said. Thomas, currently on leave from her job as assistant professor at VIT Vellore to focus on her research, said lack of funds is delaying her postdoctoral research.
Dr. Indu K. Murthy of Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) said systemic delays in research funding force women to postpone life decisions like housing, family planning, or further studies. “With women making up only 18.6% of India’s R&D workforce, such barriers signal their undervalued presence and risk pushing them out of academia, resulting in a loss of talent, innovation, and diversity for the nation in STEM,” said Murthy, who formerly worked as consultant scientist at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
DST officials did not respond to HT’s queries seeking reasons behind delay in fund disbursement.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union minister of state (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on July 31, 2025 stated that transition to new fund flow during the last three years “led to some difficulties in disbursement of fellowships.”
The Vigyan Dhara scheme introduced new fund flow systems, including the Central Nodal Agency (CNA) to channel funds and the Hybrid Treasury Single Account (Hybrid TSA) to route and monitor disbursements directly from the government treasury.
He said the government addressed these by releasing advanced fellowships, setting up helplines, and training stakeholders and added that DST released an advanced three-month fellowship (for January–March 2025) to the host institutions of ongoing research scholars.