To improve the quality of research in various higher educational Indian institutions, Government of India introduced the Prime Minister's Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme in 2018 for carrying out research in cutting edge science and technology domains, with focus on national priorities. The scheme offers a highly prestigious and attractive fellowship for the PhD students of all the IITs, IISERs, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and some of the top Central Universities/NITs that offer science and/or technology degrees. The fellowship is very competitive, and the selection process is extremely rigorous. Candidates can apply for PMRF through two channels, direct entry channel and lateral entry channel. National review committee monitors the performance of selected students annually. Calls for PMRF Fellowship are sent out by the Departments, normally at the beginning of the semester. For more details see here.