Principal Investigator (PI) with a completed SERB project (in the last three financial years) with "Excellent" grading, is eligible for the award. PI must be in regular service, within 40-50 years of age as on December 31 of the year of call. PI should not have any ongoing fellowship/honorarium such as JC Bose Fellowship, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, Swarnajayanti Fellowship, etc.

Call for nominations would be made and awards would be granted once in a year.

PI should be within 40 to 50 years as on December 31 of the year in which call is made.

Yes. STAR is an award of recognition and can be concurrently held with other SERB projects.

The Project Completion Report (PCR) of completed project are evaluated by concerned Programme Advisory Committee (PAC), and the performance are graded based on quality of research work done in the project, its impact, publications, patents, research personnel generated, etc.

No. It is essential to send the PCR of the completed project for evaluation by the concerned PAC.

Only publications in which SERB grant is acknowledged will be taken into account as project output.

No. The PIs of excellent rated projects should also fulfill other eligibility criteria. The selection committee would choose the awardees based on performance of the completed project and other research work. Up to 30 STAR awards would be granted per year.

The PI cannot apply directly for the award. Entry would be by nomination by the Head of the Institution.

No. Only projects which have been completed in previous three financial years will be considered.

Yes, subject to fulfilling other eligibility criteria, the nomination would be considered.