PREAMBLE

TKMCE Management has sanctioned Seed Money to create a vibrant atmosphere of research in the Institution and to enhance the research outcomes of the Departments. The aim of the Seed Money Grant is to promote research preferably interdisciplinary, by Faculty Members having PhD with an age limit of less than 50 Years. This scheme also supports faculty members in developing research resources in the area of expertise and to develop innovative or interdisciplinary approaches or methodologies.

OBJECTIVES

• To provide required support based on research framework and guidelines.
• To create an enabling environment within the Institute to encourage research.
• To promote inter-departmental collaboration.
• To test a novel idea and to generate preliminary results before submitting proposals to external agencies.
• To promote researches in Indian Knowledge System.
• To facilitate the preparation of formal research proposal for research funding.
• To motivate the faculty members thereby enhance their research activities.
• To increase research publications in SCI/SCIE/unpaid SCOPUS.
• To promote generation of IPR and product/process development.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Only regular faculty members with PhD/ submitted the thesis shall apply for the Seed Money grant as the Principal Investigator (PI).
• Faculty members shall not have any active research grants when submitting their Seed Money application.
• The faculty member applying for the research grant must be the sole PI. A PI may submit only one application at a time but can be a co-investigator on one more proposal.
• Co-Investigator(s) may be included, preferably from other department(s), to encourage interdisciplinary research and publications.
• A PI from one project proposal may only serve as the Co-Investigator on an interdisciplinary project from another department.

DURATION OF THE PROJECT:

The provision of seed money grant is for a maximum period of one and a half years. In case of any delay in the projects, it is expected from PIs/Co Investigator to take the extension of the project from Research Council and update the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) accordingly. In any case, the duration of the project shall not exceed two years from the date of sanction of the seed money.

REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE SEED MONEY PROJECT PROPOSAL:

The Project Proposal Evaluation Committee(PPEC), appointed by the Principal, will evaluate the proposal for feasibility and acceptance. The project shall be accepted or rejected based on the PPEC's recommendations. The Principal shall issue an approval or rejection letter to the Principal Investigator, clearly outlining the feedback and suggestions provided by the PPEC. The grant amount depends on the funds allocated for the scheme for the given year and other factors such as the number of applications and the quality of the proposal.

RULES FOR SEED MONEY GRANT:

1. 1. The application in the prescribed format must be submitted to the Dean (Research ) through the Head of the concerned department within 30 days of notification. The application format will be available on the college web site.
2. 2. Generally, up to ₹1 lakh may be granted as seed money for a project proposed by a faculty member. The PPEC has the discretion to grant more, up to a maximum of ₹1.5lakhs.
3. 3. Item-wise financial estimates should be clearly mentioned in the submitted proposal, showing rates, quantities, and totals for each item. The maximum allowable expenditure for consumables, fieldwork/travel, and contingency shall not exceed 20%, 10%, and 10% of the total estimate, respectively. There shall be no salary or honorarium component in the project. No expenditure on the following is permissible under the scheme:
   • Major instruments, laptop, computer, printer, scanner.
   • Recruitment of manpower: Research Fellow/Project Assistant.
   • Organizing or attending conferences, seminars, webinars and other such events.
4. 4. Process of Selection:
   • The Dean (Research) will announce the submission of research proposals.
   • Faculty shall submit their proposal strictly in the "Prescribed Format" to the Dean (Research).
   • Research council shall recommend the subject experts based on the area of proposal.
   • A Project Proposal Evaluation Committee (PPEC) constituted by the Principal will review the proposal.
   • The committee may call the faculty for face-to-face interview/presentation.
   • The report of the PPEC will be submitted to the Principal for final decision.
   • Result of the review by PPEC and final decision of the Principal will be informed to the PI through a sanction/rejection letter.
   • Approved proposals will be forwarded to the Finance Section of TKMCE for the release of funds.
   • After the receipt of sanction letter, the Investigating Team may request for advance/initiate procurement) as per the general practices adopted in the Institution.
5. 5. Evaluation of progress:
   • PPEC shall conduct a quarterly review of all research work carried out under this Seed Money Grant. This shall include the review of the accounts related to the project too.
   • The progress report and utilization of funds shall be reported every six months.
   • The PI shall submit progress report and utilization of funds to the Dean (Research) in a format given in Annexure II.
   • It is the responsibility of Investigating Team to provide all original bills (as per the Kerala Government Store Purchase rules) duly certified for the expenditure incurred for the Project to the Finance section of TKMCE office in every six months with the recommendation of Dean (Research).
   • All bills are to be addressed to the Principal TKMCE.
   • The investigators shall make a presentation of the outcome of the research before the PPEC.
   • After successful completion of the project, the PI shall submit the final report (Annexure III), statement of expenditure, and utilization certificate to the Dean (Research).
   • The whole or part of the granted money remaining unutilized within the prescribed time limit should be refunded to TKMCE by remitting back the balance amount.
   • In cases where the progress of the research work is wholly unsatisfactory, the Principal, based on the review of ad-hoc team, may recommend withdrawing the grant and the funds allocated till then be returned.
6. 6. The fund shall be provided in three installments. The first installment up to 40 % shall be provided in the beginning of the project. The second installment i.e. 40 % shall be provided on the basis of progress report and utilization certificate. The final installment i.e. 20% shall be provided after the submission of project report and fund utilization certificate.
7. 7. Utilization certificate and Statement of expenditure (two copies) shall be submitted to the finance section of TKMCE through Dean Research.
8. 8. The PIs are required to submit two copies of the report of the project to the office along with final utilization certificate.
9. 9. The accounts shall be audited by the Accounts officer of the institution.
10. 10. If the PI chooses to leave the project or the Institution when the project under the Seed Money Grant Scheme is ongoing, then Co-Investigator should act as PI for the remaining duration of the project. In the absence of Co-Investigator the entire amount minus the money already spent towards the project shall be refunded to the Institute. Any intellectual property generated during the course of such a project will be owned by TKMCE.
11. 11. The sanction of seed money under this scheme does not entail any right to the investigator for further claims of funding from TKMCE.
12. 12. The equipment purchased for the project will be the property of concerned Department of the institute and on completion of the project shall be transferred to the Department in which the project is undertaken.
13. 13. Though travel for research work is understood to be a part of the expenses, the faculty may not use the grant to attend conferences, seminars or workshops (travel as well as registration fee).

DELIVERABLES:

The key deliverables include:

• Initiation and leading research on thrust areas impacting the global relevance to enhance research profile of the Institution
• Formulation of Research Clusters/Groups leading to the scholarly growth of Faculty Members, PDFs, Doctoral Scholars and PG/UG students
• The results and findings from the preliminary research should be utilized to apply for and obtain publication in high-impact journals and /or patenting.
• Final project report in the format specified in Annexure III