INSPIRE Scholarship 2026-27 : Latest Status, Eligibility, Amount and Application Process

INSPIRE Scholarship is a merit award from the Department of Science and Technology. Below you will find the current status, eligibility, amount, documents, selection process.

INSPIRE Scholarship 2026-27 : Latest Status, Eligibility, Amount and Application Process

INSPIRE Scholarship is a merit award from the Department of Science and Technology(DST). DST told the Rajya Sabha on August 13 that the scheme is under redesign. It has not been shut down. This matters for science students who have just passed 12th Class. INSPIRE has been the biggest national merit award for basic science students since 2008. It pays INR 80,000 every year. Students in the top 1 percent of their board can apply. So can students with a rank inside the top 10,000 in JEE or NEET. Past scholars have studied at places like IISc Bangalore, IISER Kolkata, IACS Kolkata and University of Hyderabad. Below you will find the current status, eligibility, amount, documents, selection process, board-wise cut-off marks, payment rules and renewal norms.

Latest Updates on INSPIRE Scholarship

August 13, 2026 - The Union Minister of State for Science and Technology gave a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. The scheme is under redesign. It has not been discontinued. The same reply shared some numbers. INR 2,784.15 crore has been paid out since the scheme started. A total of 1,36,298 students have received it. Old batches are still getting their money.

What is INSPIRE Scholarship

INSPIRE stands for Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research. The scheme is run by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the Ministry of Science and Technology. It covers three stages of a student's academic journey. These are the school level, the higher education level and the research career level. SHE stands for Scholarship for Higher Education. Most students searching for the INSPIRE Scholarship are actually looking for SHE. 

SHE is for students who pick basic and natural sciences after 12th Class. It does not cover professional courses. Selection is by merit. There is no entrance test for it. Scholars study at central universities, IISERs and old state universities. Some examples are IISER Pune, IISER Mohali, Presidency University Kolkata and Fergusson College Pune.

INSPIRE Scholarship Overview

The table below gives the scheme at a glance.

INSPIRE Scholarship Eligibility Criteria

SHE has a few separate entry routes. A student needs to fit any one of them. Course and age rules apply on top of that. The rules below come from the last official advertisement..

Eligibility Through Class 12 Board Merit

You must be in the top 1 percent by total marks in 12th Class. Any recognised State or Central board counts. Your board result year and your course joining year must be the same. Students who passed 12th Class in an earlier year cannot apply.

Eligibility Through Entrance Exam Rank

This route is for students with a rank inside the top 10,000. The rank can be from the Joint Entrance Examination of the IITs. It can also be from AIPMT or NEET. The rank certificate has to be uploaded with the form.

Eligibility for Integrated M.S. Students at Premier Institutes

Some students qualify through their institute. They must be in the top 1 percent of their board. They must also join an Int. M.S. or Int. M.Sc. course at a listed institute. The official list names the IISERs, NISER, the DAE Centre for Basic Sciences at University of Mumbai. and Visva-Bharati Shanti Niketan. NISER Bhubaneswar is one of the institutes named in this route.

Eligibility for National Talent Scholars

NTSE scholars can apply. JBNSTS scholars can apply. Medal winners at International Olympiads can also apply. KVPY selected students are on the official list too. That examination is no longer held.

Eligible Courses and Subjects

Four courses are eligible. These are B.Sc., B.S., B.Sc. with Research of four years, and Int. M.Sc. or Int. M.S. The scheme covers 18 subjects at UG level. These are Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology, Statistics, Geology, Astrophysics, Astronomy, Electronics, Botany, Zoology, Biochemistry, Anthropology, Microbiology, Geophysics, Geochemistry, Atmospheric Sciences and Oceanic Sciences. At M.Sc. level the list goes up to 22 subjects. Four more are added. These are Ecology, Marine Biology, Genetics and Biophysics.

Courses Not Supported

The official exclusion list is long. Engineering and Medicine are not covered. Military Science, Defence Studies and Agriculture are out. So are Psychology, Seed Technology, Home Science, Geography and Economics. Education is not covered. This includes the B.Sc.-B.Ed. dual degree.

A few science-linked courses are also left out. These are Biotechnology, Computer Science, Computer Applications, Bioinformatics, Instrumentation, Information Technology and Physical Education. Distance education courses at open universities do not qualify. M.Tech is not covered either.

INSPIRE Scholarship Eligibility Checklist

Check these points before you treat yourself as eligible.

• Your age is between 17 and 22 years

• You passed 12th Class in the same year as joining the course

• You are in the top 1 percent of your board, or you have a top 10,000 rank in JEE or NEET, or you hold a national talent award

• Your course is B.Sc., B.S., B.Sc. with Research or an integrated M.Sc. or M.S.

• Your subject is on the eligible list

• You are not taking any other scholarship at the same time

• Your course is regular, not a distance programme

INSPIRE Scholarship Amount and Benefits

The benefit comes in two parts. Both are paid every year.

Support runs for five years at most. It can also stop earlier if the M.Sc. finishes first. This covers a three-year B.Sc. plus a two-year M.Sc. It also covers a five-year integrated course. Science departments at large universities run courses of this length. Banaras Hindu University, University of Delhi and Jadavpur University are some examples.

What the Mentorship Grant Covers

The INR 20,000 grant is for a summer research project. The project has to be done outside your own college. It can be at a recognised university, institute or research lab. It must last 6 to 8 weeks. Two papers have to be uploaded after the project. One is the Project Completion Certificate. The other is the Research Project Report. Both must be in the given format. Group projects are not allowed. If you do not use the grant in a year, it lapses. You cannot carry it forward inside India.

Mentorship Grant for Research Projects Abroad

Fourth year and fifth year scholars can use the grant outside India. Unused grant from earlier years can be added here. This is done on a pro-rata basis. The total cannot cross INR 1,00,000 in five years. One extra document is needed for this. It is the travel bill with the air ticket and boarding pass. Some host institutes pay a stipend or travel grant. In that case only the balance amount is released.

How to Apply for INSPIRE Scholarship

These steps are from the last cycle. They are given for reference.

1. Registration - Open online-inspire.gov.in. Register with a working email ID and mobile number.

2. Login - Sign in with the ID and password you get after registration.

3. Application form - Fill in your personal details, board details, course details and bank details.

4. Document upload - Upload your photo, marksheets and endorsement form. Add the rank certificate if it applies to you.

5. Endorsement form - Attach the signed form in PDF.

6. Review and submit - Check every entry once. Half-filled forms are rejected without any notice.

7. Print confirmation - Save a copy of the submitted form.

The form is accepted online only. Postal copies are not taken. One student can send only one application.

Endorsement Form Requirement

The Endorsement Form is a must. It has to be signed by the Principal, Director or Registrar of your institute. A blank format is available on the portal. A sign from a department head or a section officer will not be accepted.

Documents Required for INSPIRE Scholarship

Below you can check documents required for your scholarship:

Big universities handle this form at the Registrar's office. Students at places like University of Delhi should check this first. Rules differ from one campus to another.

INSPIRE Scholarship Selection Process

Selection is only on merit. There is no interview. There is no separate exam. DST checks each form against the eligibility routes. It then applies its board-wise sharing model. The process takes at least four months from the last date. It often takes longer.

Selected students get a Provisional Offer Letter in their portal account. They also get an INSPIRE/SHE registration number. The offer stays provisional at this stage. It becomes final once the first year marksheet is submitted. Both the selected list and the rejected list go up on the portal home page.

Board Inclusive Model

Seats are not given from one common national list. DST uses a board-inclusive model instead. Every board gets a share of the seats. That share depends on how many valid forms came from that board. This helps students from boards that mark strictly. They do not lose out to boards with higher average marks. It also explains why cut-off marks change so much from board to board.

Board Wise Top 1 Percent Cut Off Marks

These numbers are from the 2023 Class 12 results. They were given in the official advertisement.

How to Check INSPIRE Scholarship Status

Students track their form from the portal itself. Follow these steps.

• Open online-inspire.gov.in

• Log in with your registered email ID and password

• Go to the dashboard and check the notification panel

• Download the Provisional Offer Letter if you are selected

• Download the rejection letter if your form was not accepted

The selected list and rejected list also go up on the portal home page. The rejected list gives a reason against each name.

INSPIRE Scholarship Payment and Disbursement

Money comes through Direct Benefit Transfer. It goes only to a State Bank of India account. That account must be linked with Aadhaar. 

The first two years are not paid one by one. The money for year one and year two comes together in the second year. That adds up to INR 1,20,000. From the third year, payment follows the normal yearly cycle. It comes once the performance report is cleared. A gap of three to four months after approval is normal. Wait for that period first. If nothing comes even after five months, write to the programme email. Add your registration number in that mail.

Bank Account Requirement

The account must be a regular savings account. It should have no transaction limit. It must be in the scholar's name only. Joint accounts are not accepted. Some account types are rejected outright. These are zero balance, no-frills, inactive, dormant, minor, limited and Jan Dhan accounts. The passbook front page has to be uploaded within six months. This is counted from the date on the provisional offer letter. If you miss it, the offer is cancelled. The portal account closes on its own. Your name then moves to the cancelled scholarship list.

Renewal and Continuation of Scholarship

The scholarship does not renew on its own. It is checked every year against your marks. You must pass all subjects in the first attempt each year. You also need at least 60% marks. A 7.0 CGPA on a 10-point scale works instead. B.Sc. (Hons.) students have to meet this in their main subjects only. You cannot convert percentage into CGPA. You cannot convert CGPA into percentage either.

Two papers go together every year. One is the Performance Report. The other is the mark sheet. If you send them separately, they will not be processed. The report needs the right signature. At a university it is the Vice-Chancellor, Registrar or Dean of Science. At a college it is the Principal, Vice-Principal, Proctor or Officer-in-Charge. A head of department cannot sign it. A section officer cannot sign it either.

Send the papers within two months of your result. Twelve months is the outer limit. After that the document will not be taken. Provisional mark sheets are not accepted. You may not have the original in hand. In that case an internet copy will do. It must be attested by the Controller of Examination or the Registrar. A scholar who fails in a year loses that year's money. It starts again the next year if marks come back up. The same rule applies if you miss an examination. Miss the performance report for two years in a row and the offer is withdrawn.

Year Wise Documents Required for Continuation

The basis for renewal changes as your course moves ahead.

Common Reasons for Application Rejection

Most rejections happen for small reasons. The table gives the problem and the fix.

The scholarship can also stop after selection. It is put on hold in three cases. The first is when the performance report or mark sheet is not sent. The second is when marks fall below 60% or 7.0 CGPA. The third is when M.Sc. enrollment details are not shared. Withdrawal is a bigger step. The offer is withdrawn if you leave the course midway. Joining again later does not bring it back. A gap of a year or more between B.Sc. and M.Sc. also ends it. Changing to a subject outside the 18 listed ones ends it too.

Changing your college or university after the first year of B.Sc. is another ground. A shift to a college under the same university is allowed. Taking a scholarship from another source is also a ground. In that case the full amount already paid can be taken back.

Other INSPIRE Programme Components

SHE is one part of a bigger programme. The other parts are for different age groups.

The Fellowship is the next step for a SHE scholar. It suits those who move into PhD research. Research-heavy universities host many of these fellows. Jadavpur University, University of Hyderabad and IACS Kolkata are among them.

INSPIRE Scholarship Contact and Helpline

Send your queries to the INSPIRE programme office at DST. Use the details below.

• Email: inspire.prog-dst@nic.in

• Phone: 0124-6690020 and 0124-6690021

• Address: Department of Science and Technology, Technology Bhavan, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi 110016

• Visits for INSPIRE queries are allowed on Mondays only

Always write your INSPIRE/SHE registration number in the mail. You will get a faster reply.