PhD fellowships in Karnataka

Which state fellowships can a PhD scholar in Karnataka apply for?

Four schemes survived our checks. One is open to any full-time science scholar, two depend on your community certificate, and one on which VTU campus you are at.

We found no current notification for a Social Welfare or Scheduled Tribes Welfare Department PhD fellowship, so we give no amount for one (see below). We also found no other Karnataka state university publishing its own PhD fellowship with a public call; if yours has one, the research section will have the circular.

How does KSTePS score DST-Ph.D. applicants without a test or interview?

The Karnataka DST-Ph.D. Fellowship began in 2018–19 and is run by the Karnataka Science and Technology Promotion Society (KSTePS) from Vijnana Bhavana in Banashankari. It has no income or community condition.

Under KSTePS’s 2025–26 programme guidelines you must be a full-time PhD scholar in science or engineering at a UGC or AICTE-recognised university, institution or affiliated college in Karnataka, registered no more than 24 months before the closing date. Coursework must be passed before selection starts. You need 60% in a master’s in science, engineering or technology, and Karnataka domicile or six years of study in the state. At least 30% of awards go to women, because the scheme sits in the state’s gender budget. Part-time scholars cannot apply.

The score is a formula, not an interview

There is no test and no interview. KSTePS adds 20 to your master’s percentage for NET, GATE or GPAT, or 10 for SLET or KSET, and scales the total to 100. A national-test holder scores (master’s % + 20) ÷ 120 × 100, a state-test holder (master’s % + 10) ÷ 110 × 100, and someone with neither just the master’s percentage. The 60 awards are then split between subject groups in proportion to the applications each sent in.

Notice how little the bonus is worth once it is scaled. A chemistry M.Sc. with 76% and a NET scores (76 + 20) ÷ 120 × 100 = 80, only four points above the same candidate without one. Your master’s marks carry most of the weight, and a NET is not compulsory.

Who qualifies for the Backward Classes Welfare fellowship, and why is it offline?

The Backward Classes Welfare Department’s instructions for 2025–26 (No. BCWD-16/1/2025, 22 December 2025) set rules that surprise people:

• First-year scholars only. Your full-time PhD had to begin on or after 10 February 2025, with registration within two years of the closing date.
• Karnataka universities only, meaning a statutory university in the state or an institution under one.
• Income and age. Family income up to ₹4.5 lakh for Category I and ₹3.5 lakh for II(A), III(A) and III(B), on an unexpired Tahsildar certificate in your own name; 35 or younger; 55% in the master’s.
• Exclusions. Employees of government, aided institutions or public-sector bodies; anyone already selected for another fellowship; SC, ST and minority candidates; and more than two sons from one family (the limit does not apply to daughters).

The form is paper, handed in at the District Backward Classes Welfare Officer’s office for the district where your university is, not where you live. With it go your SSLC marks card, residence certificate, first-year fee receipt, a university certificate (on the department’s format) that you hold no other fellowship, details of an Aadhaar-seeded account in your own name (joint and minor accounts are rejected), and an indemnity bond on ₹100 stamp paper. The bond matters: abandon the PhD midway and you and your parents repay what you received.

Awards follow master’s marks, category-wise reservation, the grant available and attendance. The helpline in the notice is 8050770004.

What happened to the ₹25,000 minorities fellowship in 2022?

The Directorate of Minorities runs a “JRF model” fellowship for Muslim, Christian, Jain, Buddhist, Sikh and Parsi scholars. An order of 24 January 2017 had set it at ₹25,000 a month plus ₹10,000 a year for contingencies. Government Order No. MWD 198 MDS 2022, dated 28 June 2022, cut it for new applicants: from 2022–23 a PhD fellow gets ₹10,000 a month for three years, once per course, while the 2021–22 batch and earlier renewals stayed on the old rate. The directorate’s scheme page still shows ₹10,000, and the 2026–27 notice gives no amount, so plan on ₹10,000.

The 2026–27 notice of 14 August 2026 asks that you live in Karnataka, belong to one of the six communities, are admitted to a full-time PhD at a statutorily recognised university, have a family income of no more than ₹8 lakh a year from all sources, are 35 or younger, and are not working in a government or private institution. Applications go through Seva Sindhu; the 2026–27 window was 10 August to 31 October 2026. Payment goes only to an account that is Aadhaar-seeded and active on the NPCI mapper, so check that at your bank first.

Two clauses of the 2022 order pull in different directions. Clause 10 bars anyone holding a UGC, CSIR, ICAR or university fellowship; clause 11 says that if another fellowship is smaller than the state amount, the difference is paid. If you have a small institutional stipend, ask the district minority welfare office how it reads them. The order also refers to universities recognised by the Government of India rather than Karnataka universities, so a resident studying outside the state should ask the directorate whether that counts.

Is VTU’s Jnana Yaana fellowship open to scholars at its research centres?

No. The Jnana Yaana Doctoral Fellowship regulations (January 2020, re-posted on vtu.ac.in in February 2026) limit it to full-time scholars in VTU’s own postgraduate departments at Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Muddenahalli and Mysuru. If you are registered through a research centre in an affiliated engineering college, in Bengaluru or elsewhere, you are outside it, as our Bengaluru admission guide also notes.

Inside those departments it pays more than any other state scheme here: ₹25,000 a month for 36 months and up to ₹20,000 a year in contingency, released half-yearly. Up to 40 are awarded a year in civil, mechanical, electronics and communication, and computer science engineering, nanotechnology, aerospace propulsion, MCA and MBA. An expert committee interviews shortlisted applicants on their research topic, following the state reservation roster, and the regulations favour topics with an industry partner.

It is a residential fellowship. You live at the centre or within 15 km of it, attend on all working days and get 30 days of special leave a year for conferences. Scholars on QIP or FIP, or with other financial assistance, are not eligible, and moving to part-time ends it. For how VTU wants the finished thesis laid out, see our VTU thesis format page.

Is there a state PhD fellowship for SC and ST scholars in Karnataka?

In practice, one. The DST-Ph.D. guidelines make you choose, the BCWD instructions exclude anyone selected for another fellowship, and Jnana Yaana excludes other financial assistance. A NET-JRF pays more than any state scheme, so take it if you have it; a state fellowship is for the scholar who missed JRF. All four also assume full-time study. If you are employed, our part-time PhD in Bengaluru guide is the better read.

SC and ST scholars

The BCWD instructions shut SC and ST scholars out of that scheme, though they can apply for the DST-Ph.D. Fellowship like anyone else. We could not find a current notification for a separate Social Welfare or Scheduled Tribes Welfare PhD fellowship. The 2022 minorities order does record that, under a Social Welfare Commissioner’s circular of 29 June 2004, SC and ST M.Phil. and PhD scholars without a research fellowship were paid ₹8,000 and ₹10,000 a month respectively. Treat that as a lead: ask the District Social Welfare Officer or Scheduled Tribes Welfare officer whether a call is open this year. National SC and ST fellowships are in our national guide.

When do the Karnataka fellowship calls usually open?

The BCWD window we saw was under three weeks. What the notices show:

• KSTePS. Calls dated 27 September 2023 (closed 30 October), 30 August 2024 (closed 30 September, extended to 5 October) and a 2025–26 round from 3 November to 20 December 2025. Watch ksteps.karnataka.gov.in from August.
• Directorate of Minorities. The 2025–26 deadline was extended to 31 January 2026. The 2026–27 window was set for 10 August to 31 October 2026, and was open when we checked in September.
• Backward Classes Welfare Department. We have seen one call only: dated 22 December 2025, closing 9 January 2026. Check bcwd.karnataka.gov.in from December.
• VTU Jnana Yaana. VTU posts the call on its website for the latest batch of full-time scholars, so ask your department when you register.

Keep a folder ready from the day you register: marks cards, the dated PhD registration letter, coursework result, residence and income certificates, and an Aadhaar-seeded account in your name.