The Stella Mary’s - Seed Money Scheme (SM-SMS), offered by Stella Mary’s College of Engineering, has the primary goal of fostering research and innovation among both faculty and students. This scheme provides seed funding to initiate or sustain research endeavours. Its primary objective is to enhance the chances of securing future financial support from external organizations. Applicants are required to effectively showcase that their proposed project introduces a novel research trajectory with the potential to attract external funding. Projects already backed by alternative funding sources will not be eligible for consideration.

Priority will be granted to proposals that:

• Demonstrate significant potential for securing external funding.
• Hold substantial agricultural and societal significance.
• Enhance and cultivate interdisciplinary research collaborations.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Regular faculty members along with a maximum of four students are eligible to apply under the scheme. The Principal Investigator must be the supervisor guiding the project.

Students and supervisors should establish clear project milestones. Progress report should be submitted every month end to track the project's development.

If a proposal is turned down by the Seed Grant approval committee, the PI is allowed to submit a new proposal in the next semester.

In case of resignation before completion of SM-SMS, the departing PI must transfer their responsibilities to another faculty member, who will assume full responsibility and ensure that he/she will submit an appropriate report in time.

After project completion, the Principal Investigator (PI) is required to provide a detailed report detailing the accomplishments of the project. Additionally, the PI is expected to deliver a formal presentation within the relevant department, addressing the committee. Subsequently, the PI must submit a utilization certificate in accordance with the provided format.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL

Proposal submission will commence during the initial month of the semester. Project proposals must adhere to the prescribed format for submission. The duration of the Seed Money Scheme (SMS) is limited to a maximum of one semester and no extensions beyond this period will be granted.

COMPLETION OF PROJECT

PI will be responsible to submit three copies of project completion report along with final Utilization Certificate.

EVALUATION OF PROJECT

The date of proposal evaluation meeting will be notified by the office of the R&D.

ALLOCATION OF FUNDS

The funding support under this scheme will be up to Rs. 10,000 (for a semester). No Additional grant will be provided. Half of the funding will be released upon reaching 50% project completion, and the remaining half will be provided upon the successful conclusion of the project. If necessary, an amount less than 50% can be obtained at the project's initial stage by submitting a formal requisition with proper justification to the principal through the Research and Development (R&D) cell.

The provided funding covers expenses related to the following activities:

• Acquisition of minor equipment/software directly associated with the proposal, not currently accessible within SMCE.
• Procurement of consumables.
• Financial assistance for travel and registration to attend conferences within India only
• Contingency expenditures, including books, annual membership fees for technical societies (excluding subscription charges), and similar essentials.
• Any additional essential items, contingent upon prior approval from the Principal.

ADMINISTRATION OF GRANTS

The Principal Investigator is responsible for the administration of granted funds. In particular, he/she must be certain that over-expenditures do not occur.

APPROVAL COMMITTEE

The committee for evaluating the initial proposal and the final completion report will be notified by the office of R&D.