The aim of the RSET Research Seed Money Scheme is to promote faculty and student scholarship and intellectual contributions. Under this scheme, faculty and students can take up Minor Research Projects that have a focus on a wide range of topics and have an impact on society. Under this head, a faculty member or a student (or a group of faculty members or students) can apply for Research Seed Money (financial support) with well-prepared proposals when official calls are made once an academic year. A scrutiny committee chaired by the Principal, under the coordinator-ship of the Dean, R&D will make recommendations to the management for the final approval of the awardees.

The RSET Research Seed Money Scheme has the following specific objectives:
(a) To promote research among faculty members and students of RSET
(b) To facilitate publication in indexed journals
(c) To convert research projects into products, patents, and consultancy work


The following guidelines are set for the successful implementation of the RSET Research Seed Money Scheme:

1) Eligibility: Any faculty member of RSET who has put in a minimum of 2 years of continuous service, has been confirmed in service and does not have any ongoing projects from RSET
OR
A full-time Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. student at RSET

2) The seed money can be up to a maximum of Rs 50,000/- for a project.

3) The duration of the research project shall be up to 12 months. An extension of up to 3 months may be granted with the prior written permission of Principal. An additional extension of few months can be given for the registration related to the publication of research articles and patents with the prior written permission of Principal, as per his/her discretion.

4) Research expenses shall include the hiring of expertise/human resources, purchase of equipment, software or services, expenses towards data collection, and source materials, publication charges (up to 10,000 INR) etc. However, research expenses on travel, printing and stationery, contingency, etc. shall not exceed 20% of the approved funding.

5) The Seed Money can also be used towards patenting of staff or student ideas. In such cases, RSET shall be made a party of the patent with not less than 50% stake in case of single-person patents or 33% of the stake in case of a multi-person patent that is applied through this scheme.

6) The Seed Money will be disbursed as 60% in advance. The remaining 40% shall be disbursed at the end of the project duration, on submission of the completed project report and outcome (publication, patent, proof of concept, software or application), considering the actual expenditure incurred, duly supported by the Utilization Certificate, original bills and vouchers.

7) At least one research paper (in SCOPUS/SCI/SCIE indexed journal or conference) or a patent or an external consultancy grant must be published/received within a period of one year from the submission of the final project report, from the relevant project. This outcome will be considered when the Principal Investigator (PI) applies for future projects under Research Seed Money Scheme.

8) Research papers based on a project funded under this scheme must compulsorily mention the institutional affiliation and acknowledge the funding received under this scheme. In the event of this research being a final B.Tech/M.Tech project, the Project Report must also acknowledge the financial assistance received.

9) The hardware and software purchased/developed utilizing the funding from this scheme will be the property of the institution.

10) Student project proposals submitted for funding must compulsorily have scope for further research and development, i.e. either it should be a project which can be carried forward by subsequent student groups under the guidance of the Project Guide, or it should be adjudged to have a very strong and relevant research component. Proposals which address pressing societal needs and have immediate practical utility are appreciated.

11) No special leave is permissible for carrying out these research projects.

12) For faculty members, no exemption from regular work assignments is permissible, other than what is stated in the staff policy. Students are expected to work on the research project during their assigned project hours/after class hours, without disrupting their regular academic schedule.

13) An Agreement of Commitment will be executed once the proposal is accepted. This is an undertaking by the Principal Investigator to complete the research within the specified period and to refund the funded amount in full in the event of not completing the project/leaving the institution during the project duration.

14) A Progress Report in the prescribed format must be submitted at halfway mark by the PI and Co-PI. The Final Project Presentation and Report submission will be scheduled at the end of the project duration.

15) Only bills and vouchers settled after the acceptance of the project proposal under this scheme will be considered for reimbursement. In the case of student projects, the Project Guides must countersign the bills and vouchers after verifying the dates and details while submitting the Utilization Certificate and supporting documents.

16) Repeat Grant will be considered for a faculty member only after a gap of one year from the successful completion of a minor research project.

17) Publication under this scheme will not be eligible for any other monetary incentives from RSET.

18) In the event of non-submission of the research report and measurable outcome within the stipulated time, the PI and Co-PI are obliged to refund the entire amount claimed under the scheme.

The RSET Research Seed Money Scheme serves as a steppingstone for the faculty members and students to take seed project concepts in frontier areas of engineering and technology and other subjects taught in the college into fruition. For projects which require more financial support, faculty members may avail themselves of schemes initiated by our parent university or external funding agencies.