Girish Sant, a pioneering policy researcher and public interest advocate in the energy sector passed away unexpectedly in February 2012. Prayas and several friends and well-wishers of Girish have set up a fellowship program to encourage researchers and professionals to imbibe his values and approach of high-quality analysis, commitment to social equity and emphasis on policy impacts.
Applications are invited from interested candidates to avail of the fellowship to be awarded in 2022. The deadline for applications to be submitted is Friday, July 15, 2022. Details of the fellowship, the application process and selection criteria are given below.
Objectives
The objectives of the fellowship are to encourage Indian professionals to take up public interest-oriented work in the Indian energy sector, and to provide some financial and professional support for such research. Hence, we are looking for motivated journalists, lawyers, engineers, social scientists, economists, statisticians, researchers and activists / advocates who are keen to explore some relevant topic of public interest in the energy and environment sector by engaging in detailed exploration.
The fellowship topic
Fellowship applicants are free to propose any relevant topic of research for the fellowship in the broad area of advancing public interest in the Indian energy sector. These could include any mix of desk research, field work, primary data collection, interviews, and surveys. As the fellowship is intended to support research and exploration activities, it will not support activities such as implementation or mobilization. The Girish Sant Memorial Committee reserves the right to decide which topics to accept or reject.
Details of the fellowship
- One fellowship would be awarded in 2022. The fellowship amount would be ₹ five lakhs. Funds would be disbursed on a quarterly basis with 20% being awarded at the beginning of the fellowship and 20% at the end of every subsequent quarter.
- Selected fellow is expected to work by and large independently.
- Selected fellow can be associated with another organization. In such a case, the respective organization should agree with the fellowship proposal and agree to mentor and guide the fellowship activities to the extent required.
- The duration of the fellowship will be twelve months.
- The selected fellow is expected to work full-time on the fellowship during the fellowship period, even if he/she is associated with another organization.
- Prayas (Energy Group) encourages the fellow to spend some time at Prayas or like-minded institutions to interact and engage with the researchers there.
- Prayas (Energy Group) will be happy to provide some mentoring and guidance to the selected fellow.
- The fellow is expected to produce a final report based on his/her work which will be available freely in the public domain, including the Prayas website.
- The fellowship would be awarded to one individual.
- The fellowship program would be managed by the Girish Sant Memorial Committee and administered by Prayas (Energy Group). The decisions of the Girish Sant Memorial Committee are final and binding regarding the fellowships.
The fellowship application process
- The applicants should submit an application electronically for the fellowship to
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Applications should reach us by Friday, July 15, 2022. - The application – in Microsoft Word or pdf format – must contain the following details:
- A complete bio-data giving the candidate’s date of birth, contact details, details of education, work experience, research and other professional interests, and list of publications or relevant writing samples.
- A detailed fellowship proposal (not exceeding five pages in single spacing 11-point font) which should contain
- A description of the research problem or issue to be explored
- Relevance and importance of the problem / issue
- Approach / methodology to exploring the problem including approximate timelines
- Name and details of the associated organization(s) where the work would be conducted, if applicable
- Names, email addresses and phone numbers of two respected individuals from the energy and/or development sectors who can be contacted for references
- Applicants are encouraged to ensure that the fellowship proposal states the problem clearly and succinctly.
- Incomplete applications will be rejected.
Selection process
- Applications would be evaluated based on the bio-data of the applicant and the fellowship proposal. The qualities that would be looked for in the application include a commitment to public interest and sustainability, clarity of thought and expression, novelty and relevance of the problem, analytical rigour, ability to do justice to the problem and appropriateness of the problem for the fellowship budget.
- Applicants enrolled in an academic program including PhD are not eligible to apply for the fellowship.
- The applicants who clear a preliminary evaluation of the bio-data and fellowship proposal will also be interviewed, in person and/or over telephone / internet. The suggested referees may also be contacted to gain further insights about the applicant.
- Upon intimation of selection as a fellow, a formal letter from the associated organization, where applicable, stating its agreement to the proposal and willingness to support and mentor the applicant should be submitted. The selected applicant also needs to sign an undertaking agreeing to the conditions of the fellowship to complete the selection process.
- The entire evaluation process may take up to two months.
For more information
You may visit the websites of Prayas and Prayas (Energy Group) to know more. We welcome queries regarding the fellowship at