INSPIRE-SHE Scholarship Paused for Redesign: No New Call Yet, What Science Students Should Do
Key Takeaways
- ✓The Department of Science and Technology (DST) says INSPIRE-SHE is not scrapped, but is being redesigned, and the new application call has been delayed.
- ✓No date has been announced for the next call or for the redesigned scheme.
- ✓We found no official notice announcing a fresh application window, so do not rely on any website that shows a 2026-27 deadline.
- ✓It is not clear from public reports what the pause means for students who already hold the scholarship.
What to Do Now
An important official update has been released regarding this scholarship. Check the details, verify your eligibility, and submit your application before the deadline.
Check Scholarship Details →Related Hubs
Students waiting for the next INSPIRE-SHE application call will have to keep waiting. DST has said the scheme is not scrapped, but it is being redesigned, and it has not said when applications will reopen.
Read the scheme details on our INSPIRE Scholarship for Higher Education page.
online-inspire.gov.in) and apply to other science-friendly scholarships in the meantime.---
What DST has said
In July 2026, DST posted on X: "INSPIRE-SHE scheme is not scrapped. It is being redesigned currently. Hence, there has been a delay in announcing the call." Careers360 reported this on 16 July 2026 and said the delayed call is the one for 2025.
In August 2026, a written Rajya Sabha reply from Union Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh described the scheme as under redesign. ThePrint, reporting on 13 August 2026, said the aims are to improve the implementation framework and to align the scheme with emerging priorities in science education and research.
Neither report gives a restart date or details of what will change.
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What students have been asking for
On 20 July 2026, the student organisation ABVP gave Jitendra Singh a memorandum. According to Careers360, it asked for:
- release of the 2025-26 INSPIRE-SHE notification
- prompt payment of pending scholarship and fellowship instalments
- a fixed timeline for future notifications
- a grievance mechanism
According to ABVP, the minister assured the delegation that the notification and pending payments would be taken up "at the earliest". The report gives no date, and it does not include a statement from the minister himself. ABVP's claims about pending payments have not been independently verified.
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What we do not know
Public reports do not say:
- when the next application call will open
- what the redesigned scheme will look like, including eligibility and amount
- whether payments or renewals for current scholars are affected
- whether a 2026-27 batch will be selected at all
Some websites, including some databases, still show a December 2026 deadline for INSPIRE-SHE. We could not find an official notice that supports it. Treat any such date as unconfirmed.
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What science students can do in the meantime
- Check the official portal for notices. A real call will appear on
online-inspire.gov.in. - Apply for other scholarships. If you are a first-year undergraduate in science, look at the Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship for College and University Students, and our state and category hubs.
- Keep your documents ready: Class 12 marksheet, bank account in your own name linked to Aadhaar, and your college admission proof. See our NSP guide for the usual process.
- If you already hold INSPIRE-SHE, ask your college nodal officer about your instalments and renewal.
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Background
INSPIRE-SHE (Scholarship for Higher Education) was launched in 2008 to attract students to science at an early age. ThePrint reports a cumulative disbursement of ₹2,784.15 crore to 1,36,298 students across 33 states and Union Territories. Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan had the most beneficiaries.
We will update this page when DST publishes an official notice.
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