For students aiming to study in India, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Doctoral Research Fellowship is a partially funded scholarship from Tata Institute of Social Sciences. The award covers funding is disbursed through whichever external fellowship a scholar qualifies for — UGC-NET/JRF, ICSSR Doctoral Fellowship, RGNF, or ICMR — while the Doctoral Students' Office handles the joining reports, attendance certification and progress-report processing those bodies require to keep payments running, and separately allocates a limited number of need-cum-merit hostel seats to full-time scholars. Because TISS itself pays no fixed institutional stipend, a scholar who doesn't qualify for any of the named external fellowships receives no direct funding through this route. and is open to phd / doctoral students studying social work, social sciences, habitat studies, management and labour studies, disaster studies, development studies, education, gender studies, health studies, public policy, rural development. The scholarship runs for 1-2 years and may be renewed annually based on academic performance. Eligibility is generally based on applicants need a postgraduate degree with at least 55% marks (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST/OBC-non-creamy-layer, PwD and EWS candidates) and either a qualifying UGC-NET/JRF/ICSSR score or a pass in TISS's Research Entrance Test. Selection then runs through the entrance test, evaluation of a written research proposal, and a personal interview, with the interview shortlist typically drawn at about a 1:5 ratio of test-qualified candidates to seats. The application deadline is announced annually on the official scholarship page. Applicants are encouraged to review the official eligibility criteria carefully before starting their application.