The new scheme, backed by the Ministry of Education, Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT), reportedly aims to “bring back” Indian-origin researchers and scientists with major academic credentials to India for a defined period to pursue research and teaching.
With IITs already seeking reputed Indian-origin and international faculty, the government now plans to offer returning scholars positions in top DST and DBT research bodies. They would receive financial autonomy, operational flexibility, and a substantial setup grant to establish labs and research teams in India.
According to The Indian Express, the scheme will first identify 12-14 priority STEM areas, especially those deemed “strategically important” for national capacity building, before inviting relevant talent.
The report highlighted that experts believe the scheme aims to make the experience “seamless”, addressing housing, hospitality, and daily needs while ensuring trust in research delivery, maintaining light oversight, and fostering long-term collaboration over transactional exchanges.
The move comes as the Trump administration increasingly intervenes in US higher education policy, affecting not only international students but also researchers.
One key policy proposal urges certain US institutions to sign an agreement that would restrict international student enrolment, impose hiring limits based on race and sex, mandate tuition freezes, and more — in exchange for preferential federal funding.
The move has drawn criticism from stakeholders, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) rejecting the agreement, calling it “inconsistent with MIT’s core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone”.
Institutions like Harvard are also bearing the brunt of these policy shifts, with the Ivy League university losing billions of dollars in funding amid the administration’s demands to overhaul its admissions, governance, and faculty policies.
The Indian government’s new scheme is not its first effort to attract overseas scientists, particularly those of Indian origin.
India’s Ministry of Science and Technology already runs several initiatives to connect with the global scientific community. The Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty Scheme invites overseas scientists, including non-resident Indians (NRI) and overseas citizens of India (OCI), to spend a limited period working in publicly funded universities and research institutions.
The Ramanujan Fellowship offers high-achieving Indian researchers based abroad an opportunity to return and contribute to STEM research in India.
Similarly, the Biomedical Research Career Program supports researchers at various career stages in establishing or continuing their work in biomedical science, clinical research, and public health within India.
Indian public institutions have little experience in hiring international faculty and much experience with stifling bureaucracy
Philip G. Altbach and Eldho Mathews
But unlike these existing programs, which focus on short-term visits and projects, the new initiative aims to offer longer-term, full-time appointments for Indian-origin faculty and researchers.
However attracting top faculty to India “won’t be easy without dramatic changes in many aspects of Indian higher education”, noted American author and former professor at Boston College, Philip G. Altbach and Indian researcher Eldho Mathews, in an October 2019 article in the International Higher Education journal.
“Indian public institutions have little experience in hiring international faculty and much experience with stifling bureaucracy,” stated the authors.
“This means that processing academic appointments for foreign faculty is quite time-consuming, as approval by multiple government departments is needed in addition to standard university procedures. Indian public universities do not have processes in place to handle such appointments.”
The authors noted that while top private universities like O.P. Jindal, Ashoka and Azim Premji have attracted international and Indian-origin academics with higher pay and benefits, salaries remain far below global levels.
Senior faculty in the US and China often earn $130,00-$200,000 annually, compared to about $17,000-$38,000 in India’s IITs.
According to reports, the new proposal, once sent to the Union Cabinet for approval, aims to address challenges like procedural delays, funding uncertainty, and limited institutional support, while also refining policies on intellectual property, research autonomy, and tenure.
