Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences

Research Fellowship Fund

Guideline document - 2024

Approved by executive committee meeting on 26 February 2024

Introduction

Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences (KIAS) aims to establish and administer a research fellowship program. There will be four different types of fellowships:

a) Bachelor’s Research Fellowship,

b) Master’s Research Fellowship,

c) Ph.D. Research Fellowship, and

d) Post-doctoral Research Fellowship.

The awardees will be called bachelor research fellow, master research fellow, Ph.D. research fellow and post-doctoral research fellow, respectively.

The fellowship program will assist KIAS in becoming a world-class center of research and innovation through attracting and assisting early career researchers to undertake high quality research at KIAS.

This concept note describes key important points for establishing and administering the research fellowship fund.

Objectives

• Attract early career researchers to undertake research at KIAS.
• Support early career researchers by providing research grants and mentorship.
• Establish and expand collaboration among researchers at KIAS and other organizations.

Establishment of the KIAS research fellowship fund

KIAS will establish a dedicated fund for the fellowship program. The fund shall be collected from personal and/or institutional donation or program budget from Nepal and abroad. Overhead is not charged from the original deposit. The administrative cost may be derived from the interest earned from the bank account.

Based on the interest or requirement of the donor; the fellowships can be named fellowships. For example, fellowship supported by Ram Nepal can be named as “Ram Bachelors Research Fellowship”. The donors may also outline a broader thematic area of the research topic they wish to support.

Fellowship benefits

Fellows will receive monthly stipend and additional funding for research. They will have access to office space, internet, library and research facilities at KIAS and mentorship. The fellowship program is valid for 12 months and is fulltime. Exceptions can be provided when students have classes and other related duties as approved by the main supervisor. The research fellowship can be extended further based on the availability of funding and satisfactory performance of the fellow.

Mentorship and Supervision

Each of the fellowship awardee will be directly supervised by one or more KIAS scientists including visiting or adjunct scientists. There could be additional (co)-supervisors from the college/university and funders. Official supervising will be determined after consulting with the awardee’s university or department. The individual donor who fulfils the requirement of a mentor or supervisor can also serve as a (co)-supervisor of the awardee.

Eligibility Criteria

1. Bachelor’s Research Fellowship: A student enrolled in a recognized university or college undertaking project work or thesis work.
2. Master’s Research Fellowship: A thesis work student enrolled at any recognized university/college.
3. D. Research Fellowship: A Ph.D. research student enrolled at any recognized university.
4. Post-doctoral Research Fellowship: A researcher with a Ph.D. degree from a recognized university/college.

Application and Selection Process

KIAS will make a committee under the leadership of Director of Research to administer the application and selection process and the same committee is responsible for monitoring and evaluation of the awardee’s performance. Detail process of application and selection document will be as defined by the KIAS.

Timeline

A public call for the fellowships will be announced on first week of October and the fellowship period cover January to December of next year. Specific fellowship call will be announced based on the availability of funding.

Contact Information

Director of Research

Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences

Laboratory facility, Bagdol, Lalitpur, Nepal

Phone: +977-1-5190232

Email: info@kias.org.np