Anusandhan National Research Foundation - ANRF

22/08/2026

𝗔𝗡𝗥𝗙 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝟯𝟱 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗔𝗜-𝗦𝗘)

Through the Mission AI for Science and Engineering (AI-SE), ANRF, in collaboration with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, Department of Biotechnology, India, DRDO, Ministry of Earth Sciences Government of India, the Gates Foundation and Google, is accelerating AI-driven scientific research and innovation across the country.

BharatGen and Sarvam AI are also valued partners, providing support and contributing to this mission.

Following a rigorous evaluation process, 35 high-impact projects have been selected across four key areas:

🔹 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 & 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜
🔹 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 & 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
🔹 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 & 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴
🔹 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗶𝗼 & 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀

These projects will foster interdisciplinary innovation, accelerate discovery and strengthen India’s capabilities at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Science and Engineering.



Principal Scientific Adviser to GoI
Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
Ministry of Education

22/08/2026

𝗔𝗡𝗥𝗙 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗔-𝟮𝗗 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗙𝗮𝗯 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝘂𝗯!

Launched in partnership with the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India (MeitY), the 𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗔-𝟮𝗗 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝘂𝗯 aims to establish a strong ecosystem for R&D in 2D materials-based technologies for electronic applications.

𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁
IISc-Bangalore-2D Innovation Hub: A 2D Material-based Next Generation Semiconductor Technology Centre

Led by Prof. Mayank Srivastava, Department of Electronic Systems Engineering, IISc Bengaluru, the Hub brings together 17 leading institutions as spoke partners from across India:

𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 • 𝗜𝗜𝗧 (𝗜𝗦𝗠) 𝗗𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗯𝗮𝗱 • 𝗜𝗜𝗧 𝗞𝗮𝗻𝗽𝘂𝗿 • 𝗜𝗜𝗧 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗻𝗮 • 𝗜𝗜𝗧 𝗛𝘆𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗱 • 𝗡𝗜𝗧 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗿 • 𝗜𝗜𝗜𝗧 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗱 • 𝗜𝗜𝗧 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗵𝗶 • 𝗜𝗜𝗧 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘀 • 𝗜𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗮𝗹 • 𝗜𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘂𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗺 • 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗦 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗶, 𝗛𝘆𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘀 • 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗮 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 • 𝗜𝗜𝗜𝗧𝗗𝗠 𝗞𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗺 • 𝗜𝗜𝗧 𝗞𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗽𝘂𝗿 • 𝗖-𝗠𝗘𝗧 𝗣𝘂𝗻𝗲 • 𝗜𝗜𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗽𝘂𝗿.

The Hub will drive indigenous 2D materials-based technologies, prototypes, devices, components and systems, while promoting capacity building, intellectual property generation, start-up support and entrepreneurship.

The initiative is supported by ANRF and MeitY, with financial support also from 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁, 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗺 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁, 𝗕𝗘𝗟 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗿𝘂 and the 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗮 (𝗚𝗼𝗞).

This nationwide Hub-and-Spoke collaboration marks an important step towards building indigenous capabilities and advancing next-generation semiconductor technologies in India.



Principal Scientific Adviser to GoIDepartment of Science and Technology, Government of India
Ministry of Education

21/08/2026

𝗔𝗡𝗥𝗙 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗘𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗔-𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝘄 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 (𝗖𝗥𝗠) 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲!

The MAHA Critical Raw Material (CRM) Research Programme aims to seed, foster and nurture scientific and industrial R&D, strengthening India’s ecosystem for innovation in critical raw materials.

Launched in partnership with the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), Ministry of Mines, the programme brings together Centres of Excellence (CoEs) through a hub-and-spoke consortium model to build on complementary expertise and accelerate research, technology development and scale-up.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟵 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲:
🔹 CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory (CSIR-NML), Jamshedpur — High-grade graphite production from natural graphite
🔹 Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru — Extraction of tungsten, cobalt and molybdenum from scrap and oxides
🔹 IIT Roorkee — Recycling spent display screens for recovery of critical metals
🔹 Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), Hyderabad — Ultra-high purification of gallium for semiconductor applications
🔹 IIT Hyderabad — Integrated smelting routes for recovery of copper and critical metals from end-of-life PCBs
🔹 Nonferrous Materials Technology Development Centre (NFTDC), Hyderabad — Multi-metal extraction strategies, process flowsheets, specialty chemicals and equipment
🔹 IIT (ISM) Dhanbad — Recovery of critical minerals from mining overburden and tailing waste
🔹 IIT Bombay — Circularity and supply-chain resilience for Nd, Sc, Li and Co through a mines-to-market approach
🔹 CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (CSIR-IMMT), Bhubaneswar — Scalable technologies for extraction of rare earths and critical minerals from secondary resources

Together, these initiatives will advance fundamental understanding, enable technological breakthroughs and contribute to a resilient and sustainable critical-minerals ecosystem in India.



Principal Scientific Adviser to GoI
Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Mines, Government of India

20/08/2026

20/08/2026

𝗔𝗡𝗥𝗙 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 | 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗝𝗥𝗙, 𝗦𝗥𝗙 & 𝗥𝗔 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀

Welcome to the ANRF Ease of Doing Science Explainer Series.
This series brings you short, simple explainers on Office Memorandums (OMs) and other important provisions covered under the ANRF Ease of Doing Science Compendium.

In this episode, we explain the SERB Office Memorandum No. SB/S9/Z-06/2019 dated 1 February 2024, covering the revision of emoluments for JRF, SRF and RA engaged in R&D programmes.

The aim of this series is to make important Office Memorandums easier to understand and navigate, while retaining the original documents as the authoritative source.

📘 𝗔𝗡𝗥𝗙 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘂𝗺:
https://serb.gov.in/assets/pdf/EoDS_27_april_final_compressed_1_5_2026.pdf

Follow and subscribe to ANRF's official social media channels for more explainers on other Office Memorandums and Ease of Doing Science initiatives.



Principal Scientific Adviser to GoI
Ponnurangam Kumaraguru
Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
Ministry of Education

19/08/2026

𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 | 𝗔𝗡𝗥𝗙 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗫 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸

Three ANRF-supported researchers brought three diverse areas of research to the conversation:

🔹 Dr. Dipanshu Naware, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli — Threat Modelling and Data-driven Cybersecurity Solutions for Networked Microgrids

🔹 AVSSH Sravan Kumar, National Institute of Technology Calicut — Post-Processing of Additively Manufactured Components

🔹 Dr. Moumita Gangopadhyay, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri — Fluorescent Nanoprobes for VOC-Guided Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)

The researchers also discussed the future scope of their work, potential applications, skills required to join their research teams, and opportunities for young researchers.

🎥 Watch the recording and explore the research behind the impact: https://youtu.be/yblqqFQmEew



Principal Scientific Adviser to GoI
Ponnurangam Kumaraguru
Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
Ministry of Education

19/08/2026

𝗔𝗡𝗥𝗙 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 (𝗔𝗖𝗘) – 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹𝘀

invites institutions to submit pre-proposals under the 𝗔𝗡𝗥𝗙 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 (𝗔𝗖𝗘) programme.

The programme aims to establish high-impact research centres capable of achieving world-class excellence in Science and Engineering, supported by cutting-edge infrastructure, outstanding talent, strong collaborations, and a clear focus on research outcomes and societal impact beyond publications.

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀

🔹 Institutional programme: One proposal per institution per call

🔹 Eligible institutions:
* Category A – Institutions consistently ranked in the Top 20 NIRF Overall Ranking
* Category B – Institutions consistently ranked in the Top 70 NIRF Overall Ranking
* Category C – National Research Laboratory Clusters

🔹 Funding:
* Category A: Minimum project cost of ₹100 crore over 5 years; ANRF support up to ₹100 crore on a 1:1 matching basis;
* Categories B & C: Minimum project cost of ₹50 crore over 5 years; ANRF support up to ₹50 crore on a 1:1 matching basis;
* Significant non-governmental co-funding from industry, CSR, philanthropy, alumni and other sources is strongly encouraged.

🔹 Frontier thematic areas include:
Advanced Materials & Manufacturing | Quantum Science & Technology | Energy, Environment & Climate | Artificial Intelligence | Electronics & Semiconductors | Bio-Manufacturing | Blue Economy | Space Technologies | Digital Communications | Emerging Agriculture Technologies | Health & Medical Technologies | Other strategic frontier areas.

🔹 Research focus: Proposals should identify up to two frontier areas where the institution can build globally competitive capabilities with scientific excellence, translational potential and long-term impact aligned with Viksit Bharat @2047.

🔹 Selection: A two-stage process will be followed — institutional pre-proposals followed by full proposals from technically qualified institutions.

The ACE programme seeks to strengthen India's research ecosystem, foster global research excellence, promote innovation and entrepreneurship, and create institutions capable of competing at the highest international level.

📢 Institutions are encouraged to prepare ambitious, transformative and impact-oriented proposals.

𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: https://www.anrfonline.in/ANRF/ace_anrf



Principal Scientific Adviser to GoI
Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
Ministry of Education
University Grants Commission
AICTE

19/08/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝘇𝘆𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗢𝗻 🧬

What if some of the most important enzymes in your body were still complete strangers to science?

Serine hydrolases are one of the largest enzyme families in all of life. Humans have around 240 of them, including 115 metabolic serine hydrolases that are central to metabolism — yet more than 80% remain uncharacterised. Many of the unstudied ones have human counterparts linked to disease, and roughly 70% are conserved in the fruit fly, making Drosophila a powerful window into how they work.

Led by Prof. Girish S Ratnaparkhi from the Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, this ANRF Advanced Research Grant (ARG) project is uncovering which of these enzymes switch on during immune defence. Using Activity Based Protein Profiling — a chemo-proteomic technique that tags only the active enzymes — the team has already built an atlas of active serine hydrolases across the fly life cycle and identified a dozen that activate in response to injury and infection. CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing will now be used to determine what each one actually does.

The project has the potential to enable:
🧬 Functional identity for enzymes that have never been characterised
🛡️ A clearer picture of how the body mounts its defence against infection
🔬 New molecular targets for immune and metabolic disease
🧪 Purified proteins, antibodies and substrate screens for the wider research community
🌍 Fundamental knowledge that transfers from fly to human biology

🔗 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁: https://tinyurl.com/4tcd7kwp

This project is supported under the ANRF Advanced Research Grant (ARG) Programme, which supports cutting-edge fundamental research with the potential for long-term scientific and technological impact.

🌐 For more ANRF-funded projects, visit the ANRF PRISM Portal: https://prism.serbonline.in/

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗿: This poster contains AI-generated images which are for illustrative purposes only.



Principal Scientific Adviser to GoI
Ponnurangam Kumaraguru
Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
Ministry of Education