Committed to creating new opportunities for its students and facilitating them in their quest for excellence and success, Banaras Hindu University has launched a new scheme named International Visiting Student Program. The scheme will provide some of the outstanding research scholars of the university an opportunity to conduct their research work in a reputed global institution outside India for a semester. The scheme has been conceptualized in line with the mandates of the National Education Policy 2020 and the Institution of Eminence initiative of the Ministry of Education, Government of India, i.e. internationalization of research and establishing collaborative activities with top institutions. 

As per the scheme, approved by the Institution of Eminence, BHU, Governing Body, the selected research scholars will be able to spend one semester (up to six months) in top 500 institutions of the world (as per the THE or QS rankings). The scheme aims to foster networking, facilitate collaborative research, strengthen institutional ties, developing Experimental/ theoretical/professional skills and serve as a means of professional development of young students & scholars. 

Research scholars, who have completed their course work with 8.0 or more CGPA and have published at least two papers in the journal of international repute (Q1 or Q2) in the respective discipline, will be eligible for the scheme. Besides, the applicant should have consent from the host institution to provide necessary facilities to continue the research. 

The visiting Research Scholar will get a consolidated fellowship amount of 1,800 USD per month for the semester during the stay. The scholar will also be provided economy class return air ticket, visa fee and health insurance, if required. The scheme also offers travel within the host country to attend conferences or visit other institutes of interest, to the tune of USD 600. 

Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sudhir Kumar Jain has said that BHU is committed to enable its researchers to achieve great heights. “This initiative will enable some of our outstanding PhD students to work in a leading research university or laboratory overseas and provide them an opportunity to compete internationally’, added Prof. Jain.