National Overseas Scholarship For Scheduled Tribes (ST) Students
The National Overseas Scholarship for Scheduled Tribes (NOS-ST) provides 20 scholarships each year to ST students for pursuing Masters, PhD, or Post-Doctoral Research at top-ranked foreign universities. It covers tuition, living costs, airfare, and other expenses for study durations of up to 4 years depending on the programme. Students apply online through overseas.tribal.gov.in.
About This Scheme
The National Overseas Scholarship for Scheduled Tribes (NOS-ST) provides 20 scholarships each year to ST students for pursuing Masters, PhD, or Post-Doctoral Research at top-ranked foreign universities. It covers tuition, living costs, airfare, and other expenses for study durations of up to 4 years depending on the programme. Students apply online through overseas.tribal.gov.in.
Full official description
A scholarship scheme by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for regular, full-time students from Scheduled Tribes, to obtain higher education (post-graduate courses viz. Masters, Ph.D. and Post-Doctoral Research) from foreign institutes/universities. The Scheme is implemented through the Indian Embassies/Missions abroad, Ministry of External Affairs. 30% of the scholarship awards are earmarked for female candidates. Bachelor-level courses in any discipline are not covered under the scheme. Financial assistance is provided till completion of the course/research or the prescribed duration of the course, whichever is earlier. Selection is based on Interview based merit list prepared by An Expert Committee. The Scholarship comprises of tuition fee, Annual Maintenance allowance of USD 15400, Contingency Charges of USD 1532, Poll Tax, Visa Fee, Medical Insurance, Cost of Air journey, Incidental Journey expenses. The fields of study covered in this scheme are -:
Pure/Applied Science/Engineering/Technology/Mathematics(STEM),
Management,
Economics,
Finance,
Law,
Agriculture/Medicine,
Humanities/Social Science/Fine Arts.
- Number of Award:
20 awards every year would be sanctioned to ST students as under: Sl. NoCategoryNo. of Award 1.Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates 172.Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG)03Total****20
- Subjects and Slots covered under the Scheme:
The subjects/disciplines in which student can opt for studies abroad and the number of slots available under each field for grant of award are listed below: - Field of study****Number of slots for the field of study Pure/Applied Science/ Engineering/Technology/ Mathematics (STEM) 10Management, Economics, Finance, Law04Agriculture/Medicine04Humanities/Social Science/Fine Arts 02
- Duration of award with Financial Assistance:
Financial assistance will be provided till completion of the course/research or the prescribed duration of the course, whichever is earlier: - Sl. NoCourseMaximum Duration 1.Post-Doctoral Research 2 years 2.Ph. D4 years (four years) 3.Master's Degree 1 or 2 years (One/Two years) depending upon the type and duration of the Course.
Benefits
- Annual maintenance allowance: USD 15,400 (US/other countries) or GBP 9,900 (UK)
- Annual contingency and equipment allowance: USD 1,532 or GBP 1,116
- Tuition fees and other mandatory course fees reimbursed at actuals
- Visa fees and poll tax reimbursed at actuals
- Medical insurance premium reimbursed at actuals
- Economy class airfare from India to university and return
- Second class railway/bus fare for local travel from port of entry to study location
- 20 total awards: 17 for ST candidates, 3 for PVTG candidates
Who Can Apply (Eligibility)
- Must belong to a Scheduled Tribe (ST) or Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG)
- Must be admitted to or have an offer from a foreign university for Masters, PhD, or Post-Doctoral Research
- Family income must not exceed ₹6 lakh per annum from all sources
- Minimum 55% marks in qualifying exam
- Age limits: Masters – under 32 years; PhD – under 35 years; Post-Doctoral – under 38 years (as of 1st July of selection year)
- Only one child per family can avail of this scholarship
- 30% of awards reserved for women candidates
- Bachelor-level courses abroad are not covered
Exclusions
Note : 1 Bachelor-level courses in any discipline are not covered under the scheme. Note : 2 : Cancellation of Award The award of the scholarship will be cancelled, and no financial support will be provided. Also, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs may recover the already paid award amount in case of any of the following:
- The awardee has taken admission by submitting false documents or not conforming to the guidelines governing the Scheme.
- The awardee returning to India without successfully completing the course for which he/she has been selected.
- The student is involved in any illegal activity or antinational activity or misconduct or associated with use of narcotic substances or involved in violation of law of the host country or in the event of any police case against the candidate.
Note: 3 If the failure to complete the course is due to ill-health, he would require to submit certificate of medical officer nominated by the Indian Mission abroad.
How to Apply
A. Registration Process on Digilocker portal (Only for those candidates who doesn’t have their Digilocker Account):-
The applicant need to visit: https://www.digilocker.gov.in/signup
Enter your Full Name, Date of Birth, Date, Mobile Number, Email ID and Set 6 digit security PIN.
Submit the OTP and enter your Aadhaar Number.
Now log in to your account.
If any related document is not under Issued documents, upload all the required document at “Uploaded documents” section. B. Registration Process on National Overseas Portal:-
The applicant need to visit: https://overseas.tribal.gov.in/StudentsRegistrationForm.aspx
Enter Full Name, Mobile Number, Date of Birth, E-mail Id, State , District and set a Password.
After verifying the captcha, click on “Register” button.
On the next screen enter the received OTP. Then the confirmation message as “Your registration completed successfully” will be shown.
C. Filling up of Application Form process:-
The applicant needs to visit: https://overseas.tribal.gov.in/Login.aspx
Applicant needs to enter email ID, password and validate the captcha code.
After successful login, application form will be displayed to fill remaining information.
Applicant needs to fill complete personal information, education qualification and other details as required in the application form.
For Documents upload, applicant will be redirected to the Digilocker window, then applicant have to sign in and click on “allow” button to get the documents from the Digi-locker.
Then applicant will get the access for the section of “Issued Documents” and “Uploaded documents” on the application form.
To “Retrieve issued document” applicant needs to click on "Retrieve" button.
Read declaration part carefully Click on “Submit” button for final submission of the Application. (Any information cannot be updated/edited, if application submitted successfully.)
Note:
- Documents should be in the applicant’s Digilocker ID (https://www.digilocker.gov.in/) either in issued documents section or in Digilocker Drive.
- To know more details, please read the Instruction Manual for Application Process as per:-
https://tribal.nic.in/downloads/faqs/Instruction-manual-NOS-2022-23.pdf
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can apply for National Overseas Scholarship Scheme?
This scheme is open for all ST students who are currently pursuing or wish to opt for higher studies abroad for Masters, PhD & Post-Doctoral research programme. The candidate should fulfill the criteria as per the scheme guidelines for National Overseas Scholarship Scheme of Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The guidelines may be seen at https://overseas.tribal.gov.in/.
How many slots/awards available for National Overseas Scholarship?
There are 20slots/awardsavailable for National Overseas Scholarship foreach year as follows: Scheduled Tribes (ST): 17 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG): 03 Total 20
- Six awards earmarked for female beneficiaries. In case earmarked awards remain un-filled, these awards may be transferred to male beneficiaries.
- The Scheme doesn't provide any employment opportunities to the awardee after his/her completion of the course.
Is there any family income criteria required for availing the Scholarship?
The Total family's income from all sources of the candidate or his/her parents/guardians or spouse should not exceed Rs. 6,00,000/- per annum (excluding such allowances as are not treated as part of total income for the purpose of Income Tax) as certified by the employer. If the candidate is currently employed, a copy of latest tax assessment [ ITR, Form-16] be also enclosed in the application.
Can more than one child of the same Parent/Guardian avail Scholarship under the Scheme?
Not more than one child of the same parents/guardians will be eligible and to certify this a self-certification will be required from the candidate. An individual can be given the award only once and cannot be considered for the award for second or subsequent time.
Who can issue the income certificate?
The Income certificate should be issued by competent authority of State Government.
What is the time period within which candidate need to join the course after obtaining provisional award letter?
A selected candidate is required to join within 2 year of receipt of intimation from this Ministry regarding selection for the award/assurance. On expiry of this specified period of time, the award automatically gets cancelled.
Can aresearch scholar allowed to receive stipend from Research/teaching assistantship”?
The research scholar is permitted to supplement their prescribed allowances by Undertaking Research/Teaching Assistantship Up to US Dollar 2400 per annum and for research scholar in United Kingdom, Pound Sterling 1,560/-per annum. Where income earned is beyond these prescribed ceilings, the maintenance allowance under the scheme shall be correspondingly reduced by the Indian Mission Abroad. For other countries, US Dollar 2400 per annum or equivalent rates would be applicable.
If a student is unable to complete his /her course, what will happen in that case?
If a student defaults and does not complete the course, he/she is liable to refund entire scholarship amount received by him/her to the Ministry. The para X of the scheme guidelines "Default under the scheme" may be referred for details.
What should students do, in case they face any problem while filling the application form in Google Chrome?
If students face any problem while filling the application form in Google Chrome, they are advised to use internet explorer. In case any issue/error in internet explorer as well, they are advised to clear browser history /cache and try again.
What should be the Type and size of the documents and profile photo to be uploaded?
All documents should be uploaded in pdf file and the Profile Photo should be in .jpg/.jpeg format(Size: - 50 KB-100KB).
Which fields in the application form are mandatory?
Fields provided with black asterisk(*) mark are mandatory fields.
Do I have to fill up the online application in one sitting?
No, you can fill up the online application in many sittings by clicking 'Save Draft' button, until you are satisfied that you have entered all desirable fields correctly. The software provides auto save facility to save your application at every stage until you click on 'Submit' button finally.
Can I change my mobile number and email id after submission of application form?
No, you cannot change your mobile number and email id after submitting the applicationform. You need to maintain the same mobile number and email-id throughout the selection process. However, in case your contact detail changes due to some unavoidable reasons, the same may be communicated through online query at https://tribal.nic.in/Grievance/ with the Ministry at the earliest.
Ready to apply?
Visit the official government portal to apply for this scheme.
Apply on myScheme.gov.inDocuments Required
- Profile/Personal Photo (Image file only).
- Date of Birth (D.O.B) Certificate (10th Marksheet/ Certificate in PDF only).
- Family Income Certificate (PDF only).
- Master Degree (Marksheet) and Conversion factor formulae from CGPA to equivalent percent of mark (if applied in Ph.D or Post Doctoral Research) (PDF only).
- Ph.D (Marksheet) and Conversion factor formulae from CGPA to equivalent percent of mark (if applied in Post Doctoral Research) (PDF only).
- Graduation(Marksheet) and Conversion factor formulae from CGPA to equivalent percent of mark (if applied in Master Degree) (PDF only).
- ST Certificate (PDF only).
- PVTG Certificate (If belongs to PVTG) (PDF only).
- Copy of latest Tax-Assesment (ITR/ Form-16) (PDF only).
- Admission or Offer Letter (PDF only)
- The above documents should be in the applicant’s Digi locker ID ([https://www.digilocker.gov.in/](https://www.digilocker.gov.in/)) either in issued documents section or in Digi locker Drive. 1. Income certificate is required to be taken once only i.e., at the time of admission to course which will be valid for the entire duration of the course.
- The income certificate given at the time of admission should be taken in the same year for which the admission is taken.
- In case of salaried employee, the income of previous financial year will be considered for the purpose of eligibility. For example, if a candidate applies afresh for academic year 2021-22, the family income for financial year 2020-21 would be required.