CSIR-NEERI Project Associate-I CRIAD Recruitment 2026

CSIR-NEERI Project Associate-I Recruitment 2026: Overview

CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), the Nagpur laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, is hiring Project Associate-I (PAT-I) staff for its CO2 biorefinery project (GAP-3103). The project captures carbon dioxide from industrial flue gas and uses it to grow microbial and algal biomass at medium to large scale, which then becomes raw material for biofuels and other value-added products.

The posts sit with the institute's CRIAD division under project leader Er. Suvha Lama, Scientist-E, and you will work at the CSIR-NEERI campus in Nagpur. This is a contractual project engagement, not a regular CSIR post. The big plus: the interview happens online, so you do not need to travel to Nagpur unless you are selected. If you hold a Master's in Environmental Science, Biotechnology or Biochemistry and know your way around algae cultures, photo-bioreactors and data analysis in R or Python, this project fits you well.

Service Conditions and Caveats

• Tenure: The post is purely temporary and ends with the project. It gives you no claim to a regular post at CSIR or CSIR-NEERI.
• Overall project-staff cap: Your total time as project staff across CSIR laboratories cannot go beyond six or seven years, as set by clause 1.6/1.7 of the CSIR guidelines of 2 September 2024.
• Qualification status: You must already have your degree with the result declared, or at least a provisional certificate. Final-semester and result-awaited candidates cannot apply or sit the interview.
• Experience counting: Experience counts only from the date after you finished the essential qualification. Dissertation work and time spent on a higher degree do not count.
• No upgradation: Current project staff are not moved up automatically; you must apply fresh and clear the interview.
• Joining: You join only after the medical examination and character verification. If you are on another project, your resignation there must be accepted first.
• Extension and exit: A review committee checks your work before any extension, and only if funds are available. Either side can end the engagement with one month's notice or one month's pay instead.
• Accommodation: You arrange your own housing; HRA is paid as per the rules.
• Confidentiality: Every selected candidate signs an undertaking to keep project findings and related intellectual property confidential.
• Shortlisting: Meeting the minimum qualification does not guarantee an interview call; a Screening Committee may shortlist if many people apply.

Application Submission Notes

Apply through the CSIR-NEERI Project Staff Recruitment Portal. Find the row for advertisement RECRUIT_SD_10A_CRIAD_22102026 (Project Associate-I, GAP-3103) and use its Apply button.

Shortlisted candidates get an online interview over MS Teams, Skype or a similar platform. The interview date will be announced on www.neeri.res.in, so keep checking the website and your email.

• Grow and maintain algal cultures that capture carbon dioxide from flue gas
• Design and run photo-bioreactors for medium to large scale biomass production
• Test the biomass as feedstock for biofuels and value-added products
• Analyse experiment data using R-statistics or Python
• Write technical reports and scientific articles on project results
• Keep project findings and lab data confidential