CSIR Direct SRF Recruitment 2026

CSIR Direct SRF Recruitment 2026: Overview

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), through its Human Resource Development Group, is offering Direct Senior Research Fellowships for advanced research training across science and technology. The fellowship can be placed at universities, IITs, government research establishments, recognised industrial laboratories and other approved institutions across India. CSIR decides the host institution by matching the proposed research area with the facilities available.

You are applying for a research fellowship rather than a regular CSIR appointment. Your academic record, research experience, publication record where applicable and proposed work should all support the subject code you choose. The scheme is aimed at researchers who have moved beyond entry-level research training but have not completed or submitted the thesis for a PhD, MD, MS or MDS.

Posts and Disciplines

• Medical and Life Sciences: medical, pharmaceutical, biochemical, biophysical, immunological, microbiological, physiological, genetic and molecular-biology research.
• Chemical and Material Sciences: organic, inorganic, analytical, physical and material-chemistry projects.
• Earth and Environmental Sciences: earth, ocean, atmosphere, planetary and environmental research, including environmental health, climate, waste and energy themes.
• Engineering and Technology: aeronautical, civil, mechanical, chemical, metallurgical, agro-bio, food, textile, electrical, electronics, instrumentation and computer-engineering work.
• Mathematical and Physical Sciences: mathematics, operations research, statistics, astronomy, nuclear and particle physics, optics, spectroscopy, quantum information and condensed-matter research.
• Science Policy and Trans-disciplinary Research: R&D management, intellectual property, innovation policy and work that genuinely combines knowledge from two or more disciplines.

Service Conditions and Caveats

• Citizenship: Only Indian citizens can receive this fellowship.
• Tenure: The initial award is normally for up to two years and may be extended after a three-member committee reviews your progress. Earlier fellowship time counts towards the overall ceiling.
• PhD milestone: The fellowship ends when you complete the permitted tenure or on the date of your PhD viva voce, whichever comes first.
• Exclusive research: You must devote your full time to the approved programme and cannot hold another paid role during the fellowship. If you are currently employed, you need an undertaking that you will leave the job before joining.
• Research supervision: Your proposed supervisor cannot be a blood relative, and the institution, supervisor and candidate must endorse the prescribed declaration.
• Subject choice: Select only one subject code that fits your education, past work and proposed study. The code cannot be changed after final submission.

Application Submission Notes

You need to complete one-time registration on the CSIR-HRDG portal before filling the online form. Keep your research proposal and the combined declaration and undertaking ready in the prescribed format, and make sure the employment and research timeline in the form has no unexplained gap.

The portal accepts one application per candidate. Photos and signatures must follow the stated JPEG dimensions, while supporting documents must be uploaded as PDF files within the portal size limit. Use simple file names without spaces and save the completed form within the portal session time.

• Carry out the approved research programme under the assigned supervisor
• Plan experiments, fieldwork or analytical tasks for the chosen subject area
• Keep accurate research notes, datasets and supporting records
• Review scientific literature and refine the research approach
• Discuss progress with the supervisor and the assessment committee
• Prepare research papers, reports and presentations from the work
• Follow the host institution's research ethics and laboratory safety rules