CSIR Innovation Award for School Children (CIASC)

The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) provides the CSIR Innovation Award for School Children below (CIASC) for 18 years. The organisation holds a talent-based competition every year and selects students who submit the best proposals based on creative designs and technology projects.

CSIR is an industrial R&D organisation, and the objective of the CSIR innovation award for school children is to encourage students with intellectual property and support their innovative ideas. The students can participate in the competition by sending their technological and design ideas through proposals. The organisation will select the winners based on their utility ideas for a new concept or a solution for an existing problem. The last date to submit applications for CSIR Innovation Award's science and technology innovation for rural development still needs to be updated.

Note: CSIR Innovation Award for School Children (CIASC) application for 2023 still needs to be updated. However, the expected date for 2023 will be declared soon.

Table of Contents 

• Eligibility Criteria
• Rewards
• How to Apply?
• Essential Documents
• Selection Criteria

CIASC Eligibility Criteria 

Interested candidates can submit their proposals in English or Hindi through the principal or head of school. The candidates who have submitted the proposals to the central/state government, ministry, department or organisation cannot apply for the CSIR innovation award for school children. The students should fulfil the following requirements: 

• Candidates studying up to class XII who are not more than 18 years of age as of January 1st are eligible to apply.
• They should have enrolled in an Indian school.
• The candidates should obtain an authentication letter from the head of school.
• The students participating in the CSIR science innovation award for school children can submit the proposals individually or as a group.
• They should ensure their proposals contain novel ideas for new concepts or a solution/design for existing problems.
• The students should prove their innovation concept by creating a model, prototype or experimental data.

CIASC Rewards 

The students with the best ideas will secure a scholarship of up to INR 1,00,000. They will also get a chance to attend a training-cum-awareness sessions with the CSIR officials. The organisation distributes cash awards and prizes to 15 winners.

Given below are the details of the CSIR young innovation award for school children 2023 prize distribution: 

Tabulated below are the details of the CSIR innovative award for school children CIASC scholarship amount: 

Note: The CSIR organisation will not mandatorily distribute all the above fifteen cash awards.

How to Apply for CIASC? 

Interested applicants should ensure they meet the eligibility criteria before applying for the CIASC 2023 competition. They can either submit their proposals online or offline within the last date. The stepwise procedure to apply for the CSIR innovation award for school children are as follows: 

For Offline Application 

Step 1 - The candidates should prepare a proposal on their innovation either in English or Hindi. It should not contain more than 5,000 words.

Step 2 - Next, they should obtain a sealed and dated authentication letter from the school principal approving the candidate's participation in the CSIR innovation award for school children.

Step 3 - They should enclose the proposal and the authentication letter in an envelope and mark 'CIASC - 2023' on the top left corner of the envelope.

Step 4 - The candidates should send the envelope through a registered post or courier.

Step 5 - They should post it to the below address:

Head, CSIR-Innovation Protection Unit, NISCAIR Building, 14 Satsang Vihar Marg, Special Institutional Area, New Delhi - 110 067 

For Online Application 

Step 1: The candidates should prepare a scanned copy of the proposal and the authentication certificate.

Step 2: They should mail it to ciasc.ipu@niscair.res.in.

CIASC Essential Documents 

The candidates should attach the following documents while submitting their entries for the CSIR innovation award for school children: 

• A proposal in Hindi or English not exceeding 5,000 words
• A separate page containing candidate's personal information such as:
  • Title of the innovation
  • Candidate's name
  • Date of birth
  • School and residence address
  • Current class
  • The contact number of the school or residence
  • Email address
• An authentication letter signed and dated by the school principal verifying the candidate's enrollment at the school and approval for participation.

Selection Criteria for CIASC

The shortlisted students will receive a training-cum-awareness programme on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) by the Innovation Protection Unit - IPU of CSIR. The committee will decide on the final list of students after the training.

The selection criteria for the CSIR innovation award for school children are as follows: 

• The organisations categorise the proposals in biotechnology, biology, chemical, electronics and engineering, device and design.
• The candidate's proposals should relate to innovations developed, published or exhibited.
• The proposal should not contain more than 5,000 words in English or Hindi.
• The CSIR's high-level awards selection committee will select the candidates.
• The organisation will intimate only the selected students.

CIASC Terms and Conditions 

The decisions made by the organisation are final and binding. It will not entertain any queries or correspondence regarding the selection process. Listed below are the important terms and conditions of the CSIR innovation award for school children programme: 

• The students should submit new ideas or a design or a solution for an existing problem through proposals.
• They should prove their innovation through experimental data, a prototype or a model.
• The proposal should describe the subject matter, a solution, highlight its key features and advantages.
• The candidates should include drawings and photographs in the proposal if required.
• The organisation will not accept essays and information downloaded from the internet or copied from published literature.
• The students should mention if they seek the help of the teachers, parents or friends.
• They should obtain an authentication certificate with a seal and date from their school principal.
• CSIR will announce the awards in New Delhi, and it will cover the travel and stay costs of the selected candidates. 

Note: To know more about the CSIR innovation award for school children, the candidates can click here.

For more details, visit our Scholarships 2023 Directory.