BRIC-ILS invites applications for Junior Research Fellow leading to PhD program

Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, is an institute under the Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council (BRIC), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India. BRIC-ILS is focused on fundamental and translational biological sciences, contributing to areas like virology, malaria parasite biology, fungal diseases, tuberculosis, cancer biology, genetic diseases, biomaterials, nanotechnology, and plant biotechnology.

The BRIC-ILS PhD program ranks among the top in the country, providing talented young minds with the opportunity to address some of the most complex challenges in biological sciences through an interdisciplinary approach. Students are guided by faculty members in one of four thematic areas: Cancer Biology, Infectious Disease Biology, Plant Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Sciences.

BRIC-ILS offers state-of-the-art infrastructure and extensive national and international collaborations that strongly support research and development activities, along with opportunities for academic exchange. It also provides valuable exposure to entrepreneurship. BRIC-ILS invites applications from Indian nationals for the position of Junior Research Fellow leading to Ph.D. program.

Positions Available : 25 Nos.
The research disciplines are listed below
Anshuman Dixit ; AI/ML assisted drug designing against cancers/ Bioengineering of enzymes (02 posts)
Arun Nagaraj ; Host immune responses in malaria (02 posts)
Amaresh C. Panda ; Circular RNA in muscle regeneration and pancreatic beta-cell biology (01 post)
Amol R. Suryawanshi ; Understanding of cancer and viral diseases through clinical proteomics (03 posts)
Debabrata Biswas ; Host bacteria interactions (02 posts)
Gulam Hussain Syed ; Host virus interaction and anti-viral drug discovery (02 posts)
Namisha Sharma ; Plant biotic stress (01 posts)
Punit Prasad ; Epigenetic factors in blood cell development and cancer (02 posts)
P. V. Ramchander ; Human/medical genetics (03 posts)
Rupesh Dash ; Chemoresistance in cancer (01 posts)
Rajeeb K. Swain ; Developmental biology and human disease modelling (02 posts)
Seema Pradhan ; Plant abiotic stress (01 posts)
Shantibhusan Senapati ; Microbial Intervention in Health and Disease (01 posts)
Tushar Kant ; Beuria Bacterial cell division and antimicrobial drug resistance (02 posts)
The applicants should visit the BRIC-ILS webpage for detailed information regarding the research activities at the Institute of Life Sciences.

Essential Qualification / Eligibility :
1. Eligibility: (a) Master's degree/4-year Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution in any area of science and technology with at least 55% marks (without rounding off); (b) Must hold a 5-year valid national fellowship such as CSIR/UGC-JRF, DBT-JRF, UGC-RGNF, ICMR-JRF, DST-INSPIRE, or any other nationally competitive fellowship offered by the Government of India.
2. Track-II: Medicine (MBBS) undergraduates or 4-year undergraduates in any branch of engineering from the non-biological sciences (BTech/BE) or pharmacy with at least 55% marks, who have qualified a national test such as GATE, GPAT, etc. may be provided with institutional/industry-funded fellowships.

Notes
1. Reservation criteria will be applied as per GOI rules and regulations.
2. Candidates awaiting final results may apply; however, if selected, they have to produce their final mark sheet before joining.
3. If the original certificate of National fellowship is unavailable, the candidate may provide a photocopy of the original admit card and the particular result page highlighting their roll number, along with the application. Candidates with score sheets can also apply; however, they must submit their certificates at the time of the interview if shortlisted.
4. There will be a 3-tier selection procedure for selecting the candidates for the Ph.D. Program. Screening of the applicants: Shortlisting based on the criteria is mentioned in the advertisement. If the number of applicants is higher, additional criteria/cut-off will be applied to make the shortlist reasonable. Selection of the candidates: the first round of interviews will be held online. Shortlisted candidates will be called for the second and final round of interviews, which will be held offline at BRIC-ILS. The shortlisted candidates will interact with the PIs of the laboratory of their interest and provide their choices. This will be followed by the final selection.
5. The list of selected candidates will be displayed on the BRIC-ILS website. The offer letter will be sent to the respective candidates stating the name of the PI assigned and the joining date. The interested student should accept the offer and join BRIC-ILS within the stipulated joining date. In case of any emergency, the joining date can be extended if intimated before the expiry of the joining date mentioned in the offer letter to a maximum of one month. Multiple extension requests will not be entertained. 6. Accommodation Facility: The Institute will provide accommodation to the candidates attending the final round of the interview on a payment basis.

7. Additional information for DST Inspire Fellows selected for BRIC-ILS-PhD program: BRIC-ILS will provide technical and intellectual assistance to all the selected candidates (DST-Inspire Fellows) for submitting a PhD project proposal for DST Inspire Fellowship. No financial support will be provided by BRIC-ILS to DST Inspire Fellows. PhD registration for all such candidates will be confirmed upon activation of any national-level fellowship within a year of joining BRIC-ILS.
8. The candidate should be below 28 years of age as of the last date of the application submission. However, the upper age limit may be relaxed up to 5 years in the case of SC/ST/Persons with Disability (PwD)/female applicants and 03 years in the case of OBC (Non-Creamy Layer) applicants.
9. Incomplete applications, providing false/incorrect information, and non-possession of essential qualifications detected by the competent authority at any stage of the selection process will lead to the candidate’s disqualification. The decision of the competent authority at BRIC-ILS will be final and binding.
10. Interested/eligible candidates may apply ONLINE through the link below.
11. Application Fees: Applicants except SC/ST/PWD are required to pay a non-refundable amount of Rs. 500/-. Candidates have to pay the application fee online only by using the link provided in the online application form.
12. Fellowship: The fellowship and other emoluments will be per the guidelines of the respective funding agencies: DST/ DBT /CSIR/UGC/ICMR and revised from time to time for fellowship holders.
13. To and fro bus/rail fare by the shortest route, limited to sleeper class, will be paid to all the candidates appearing for the final round of interview.
14. The list of candidates shortlisted for the interview will be published on the Institute's website.

Important Dates
Last date for receiving applications : 10th May 2026 (Sunday)
Date of display of shortlisted candidates and instructions on the Institute website : 13th May 2026 (Wednesday)
Date of first round of interview (Online) : 19th and 20th May 2026 (Tuesday & Wednesday)
Date of final round of interview (Offline) : 16th to 18th June 2026 (Tuesday - Thursday)
Declaration of final results on the Institute website : On or before 26th June 2026 (Friday)