OpenResearch Grant

Call for Proposals to Elevate Global Ranking of Indian Health Research Institutions in the Top-Ten of National Institutional Ranking Framework-2025

Funded by:

Indian Council of Medical Research

Grant Amount

INR: 1,000,000Project Budget

INR: 20,000,000Project Budget

INR: 80,000,000Project Budget

Deadline

Jul 13, 2026

61 days remaining

Funding Purpose

Applied ResearchPrototype Development

Subjects

MedicinePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics

Description

Opportunity Listing

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) invites restricted call for proposals from top-ten National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)-ranked medical institutions to elevate the global ranking of Indian health research institutions within the top-ten of NIRF-2025. This strategic initiative seeks to enhance research capabilities in emerging and inter-disciplinary domains, fostering high-impact globally recognised outputs including publications, patents, innovative technologies, and transformative clinical and public health solutions.

Overview

In alignment with the Viksit Bharat vision, ICMR invites mission-oriented and investigator-led research proposals from faculty members of top-ten NIRF-ranked medical and health research institutions. The initiative aims to position these institutions as key contributors to global biomedical and health research.

Reference Number: ICMR/IDC/EPMS/CallforProposal/2026

Release Date: 13th May, 2026

Eligibility

Eligible Institutions:
The call is open exclusively to the top-ten NIRF-ranked Medical Institutions as per NIRF-2025. Proposals must be submitted through eligible institutions with endorsement from the Head of Institution for research and administrative support.

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh
Christian Medical College, Vellore
Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry
Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru
King George's Medical University, Lucknow
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Tamil Nadu
Kasturba Medical College, Manipal

Eligible Investigators:

Principal Investigators (PIs) must hold regular or contractual faculty positions in eligible medical institutions.
PIs must have a demonstrated commitment to medical research.
PIs must not have more than four ongoing ICMR projects as PI.
For contractual or temporary faculty serving as PI or Co-PI, the Head of Institution must provide an undertaking for all administrative and financial responsibilities, at least one Co-PI must be a regular employee, and the PI will not draw salary from the project grant.
Inclusion of at least one Co-PI from the PI's institute is mandatory.

Exclusions:
Proposals from institutions other than the top-ten NIRF-ranked medical institutions, proposals focused primarily on infrastructure development, routine academic or departmental activities, clinical service strengthening without research objectives, proposals not aligned with biomedical or public health research, and proposals submitted without institutional endorsement will not be supported.

Funding and Benefits

Budget and Duration:

Project duration: 2 to 4 years.
Two funding tracks are available:
- Small Extramural Grants (ICMR ANVESHAN Extramural Grants): Total budget per proposal ranging from INR 10 Lakh to INR 2 Crore.
- Intermediate Extramural Grants (ICMR NISCHAYAK ANVESHAN Extramural Grants): Total budget per proposal ranging from INR 2 Crore to INR 8 Crore.
The total budget of all submitted projects from any single institute must not exceed INR 50 Crore.

Additional Support:

Training programmes, capacity development, high-end research infrastructure, international collaborations, and innovation clusters pertaining to the project may be included in the budget.
Publications and patents will be supported by ICMR.
IP guidance, patent filing, maintenance for 5 years, and technology transfer will be facilitated through ICMR's Biomedical Innovations Patent Mitra.
Regulatory guidance will be facilitated through ICMR's MedTechMitra.

Research Areas and Activities

Proposals must align with the core priority areas identified by each institute based on an objective analysis of research output over the preceding four years. Priority area selection criteria include numbers of publications in peer-reviewed indexed journals, cumulative impact factor, and Publication Equivalent (PE) scores in alignment with the IRIS-equivalent framework.

Research should address mission-oriented and investigator-led topics in emerging and inter-disciplinary domains within biomedical and public health research, with potential for high-impact publications, patents, and translational outcomes.

Application Process

Submission Guidelines:

All proposals must be submitted online only through the ICMR Extramural Project Management System (e-PMS) at https://epms.icmr.org.in.
Applicants must update personal details under the PI profile before proceeding with submission.
To submit, click on 'Apply proposal' and select the appropriate call from the dropdown menu:
- For budgets of INR 10 Lakh to INR 2 Crore: select "Call for Proposal to elevate global ranking of top National Institutional Ranking Framework-ranked Indian health research institutions - under Small Extramural Grants (ICMR ANVESHAN Extramural Grants) 2026".
- For budgets of INR 2 Crore to INR 8 Crore: select "Call for Proposal to elevate global ranking of top National Institutional Ranking Framework-ranked Indian health research institutions - under Intermediate Extramural Grants (ICMR NISCHAYAK ANVESHAN Extramural Grants) 2026".
Each institute must identify 3–5 core priority areas based on objective analysis of research output over the preceding four years.
Proposals must align with the identified core priority areas of the institute.
Proposals will be evaluated through a two-tier approach: first by an internal Scientific Review Committee at the institute level, followed by an independent evaluation by ICMR.