ANRF PM Early Career Research Grant

The Prime Minister Early Career Research Grant (PM ECRG) is run by the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), the body set up under the ANRF Act 2023 to seed, grow and foster a culture of research and innovation across India. The programme helps researchers start their research career in a new institution, with a flexible budget and measures meant to make research easier to carry out.

PM ECRG replaces the Start-up Research Grant (SRG) of the former Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB). It is open across all subject areas in science and engineering, and up to 700 grants can be awarded each year.

The grant is personal to the researcher and paid through the host institution. It is not for companies: the applicant must hold a regular academic or research post at a recognised academic institution, national laboratory or other recognised R&D institution. Founders who are also faculty members, for example researchers building a deep-tech startup out of a university lab, can use it to fund early research that may later feed into a spin-out, but the money is for the approved research project only and is managed through the institution's audited accounts.

What sets PM ECRG apart from older early-career schemes is its flexibility. Spending under the recurring head (consumables, research staff, travel, contingency and other costs) can be moved between items. The researcher can hire staff of any designation, or several people, as the project needs. Open-access publication charges and patent filing charges can be paid from the grant, and international travel for project work is allowed.

It is a one-time career grant: each researcher can receive it only once, and the three-year project cannot be extended.