IIM Lucknow launche'99 Moonshots' fellowship to support PhD research

IIM Lucknow has introduced the "99 Moonshots" fellowship, a new grant aimed at boosting research output among its doctoral scholars.

The fellowship, supported by the institute’s postgraduate program alumni from the class of 1999, will fund two PhD candidates this year.

The initiative is intended to enable promising scholars to pursue in-depth research and produce work that benefits academia, industry, and society.

Fellows will receive advanced academic guidance, incentives for publication, and funding to attend top international conferences.

Sanjay Singh, Dean (Programme) at IIM Lucknow, expressed gratitude to the alumni for establishing the fellowship.

He said their contribution “reflects the true spirit of the IIM Lucknow alumni community” and congratulated the first recipients for demonstrating “outstanding academic promise.”

The fellowship was proposed by the class of 1999 to strengthen the institute’s research output and enhance its global ranking, according to alumnus Ashish Bhagare.

This year, two PhD scholars will benefit, with plans to support more candidates in the future.

Applicants must submit research proposals for evaluation by a designated committee.

Awardees will receive a publication award of ₹100,000 for work accepted in top journals and a conference grant of ₹300,000 to present at leading international forums.

They will also receive academic support, including contingency and data-collection grants, in line with the PhD program manual.

To ensure progress, fellows are required to provide research updates every six months to a monitoring committee comprising their Thesis Advisory Committee and a representative from the 1999 alumni batch.

The "99 Moonshots" fellowship highlights IIM Lucknow’s focus on nurturing world-class scholars.

By combining financial support with structured guidance, the initiative aims to elevate research standards and strengthen the institute’s international standing.