Cabinet approves Phase III of Biomedical Research Career Programme

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The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the continuation of the Biomedical Research Career Programme (BRCP), Phase-III. 

This Programme is being implemented in partnership between the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Wellcome Trust (WT), United Kingdom and the SPV, India Alliance for Phase III (2025-26 to 2030-31, with another six years (2031-32 to 2037-38), to service fellowships and grants approved till 2030-31, at a total cost of Rs 1500 crore with DBT and WT, UK contributing Rs 1000 crore and Rs 500 crore respectively.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), in alignment with Viksit Bharat goals for fostering skills and innovation, has launched the Phase III of Biomedical Research Career Programme (BRCP). The programme will nurture top-tier scientific talent for cutting-edge biomedical research and promote interdisciplinary research for translational innovation. It will also strengthen systems supporting high-quality research, and reduce regional disparities in scientific capacity, to create world-class biomedical research capacity with global impact.

In Phase-III, the following programmes are proposed to be implemented: i.) Early Career and Intermediate Research Fellowships in basic, clinical and public health. These are globally recognized and tailored for the formative stages of a scientist's research career. ii.) Collaborative Grants Programme, these include Career Development Grants and Catalytic Collaborative Grants for 2-3 Investigator teams for early and mid-senior career researchers respectively with strong research track record in India, iii) Research Management Programme to strengthen core research endeavours. Phase III will also focus on strengthening mentorship, networking, public engagement, and developing new and innovative national and international partnerships.

Expected outcomes include training over 2,000 students and postdoctoral fellows, generating high-impact publications, enabling patentable discoveries, earning peer recognition, enabling 10-15% increase in support to women, 25-30% of collaborative programmes to approach TRL4 and above and an expanded footprint of activities and engagement in Tier-2/3 setting.