Simons–Ashoka Early Career Fellowship FAQs

Citizens of any country are eligible to apply as long as they meet the other eligibility criteria.

Applications are invited from all over the world, and fellows will be allowed to work at any suitable research lab at Ashoka University or in collaboration with laboratories in the Delhi NCR area in India. Part of the research activities can also take place in an international location or in another national laboratory.

Since the application process is a ‘rolling’ one, it is best to submit the PhD degree and apply. The degree must be awarded for the start of the programme. One is eligible to apply only if the applicant has already obtained a PhD degree, but within the two years of the date on their PhD degree. A relaxation of a further year is possible under special circumstances when justified in the cover letter. In exceptional cases, candidates with pre-doctoral degrees in relevant quantitative fields will be considered with a higher level of mentoring for planning and execution of the project.

The career interruptions that will typically be considered while calculating eligibility to apply are illness, parental leave, and providing full time care for an immediate family member. You cannot be more than 2 years post-PhD by the submission deadline. A relaxation of a further year is possible under special circumstances when justified in the application cover letter. In exceptional cases, candidates with BTech/MTech degrees in relevant quantitative fields will be considered with a higher level of mentoring for planning and execution of the project.

No. The early career fellowship is meant to support only mathematical and computational approaches in fundamental and applied biomedical sciences including but not limited to structural biology, biophysics, cell biology, genetics, and health data analytics. Some examples are epidemiology with quantitative modeling, predictive mathematical modeling from health data or of biological phenomena with impact on health, network biology in cellular or organismal level, quantitative ecology, development of computational tools for structural biology and drug development, ‘omics’ data, microscopy data, etc. While the proposal is expected to take these quantitative approaches, the candidate needs to demonstrate an ability to learn and take the science forward. Training in quantitative approaches is not a requirement but preferred.

A candidate can apply for the Simons–Ashoka fellowship even if the candidate has other financial support. If awarded the Simons–Ashoka fellowship, the other financial support will have to be terminated by the start of the fellowship.

There is no strict age limit but the eligible applicants should be within 2 years of their post-PhD level with uninterrupted academic career (exceptional cases are for illness, parental leave or similar situation). A relaxation of another additional year when justified in the cover letter. Other relaxations will be considered under special conditions on a case to case basis.

The fellowship will be evaluated based on the CV, submitted research proposal, cover letter, reference letters and the final interview. The research proposal should contain an original and innovative idea in quantitative biomedical sciences that holds promise to advance knowledge in the field of basic and health research. Successful awardees should be interested in exploring new approaches to basic and health research questions.

A good proposal usually has a clear, crisp and concise objective, research plan, sufficient detail and a good fit with the mandate of the Simons–Ashoka Fellowship. An innovative project or new approaches to the relevant research question should be a plus.

The application will be open for the whole year & the recruitment will happen on a rolling basis. Should your application be unsuccessful, you may apply at another time provided you still meet all the eligibility criteria listed in the guidelines, but your application will not be considered again unless it is substantially different from the previous one.

Not recommended. In exceptional situations, the applicant can notify of the change with justification to simonsfellowship@ashoka.edu.in

All eligible applications will be evaluated by an international committee consisting of experts in the field.

The fellowship, once awarded, will be up annually evaluated and extended up to 3 years.

The fellowship amount will be ₹1.8 million/year. This is, at the current (December 2022) exchange rate is USD 22,000. In terms of purchasing power parity, USD 22,000 in India is equivalent to > USD 65,000 in USA.

In addition, we provide medical insurance as per the prevailing guidelines of Ashoka University. The fellowship provides additional contingency funds for research, and we offer support to attend conferences in which Fellows make presentations of their original work carried out as part of the fellowship. The world-class sports complex and library are free facilities, while the multi cuisine dining is subsidised.

We have an excellent cell to help Indian and international scholars to live on campus or nearby residential apartments as per the availability and provide necessary help to obtain a visa. Those Simons–Ashoka Fellows who may opt to work and live in other locations in NCR will receive similar support from their mentoring or collaborating institutions.