ICMR STS 2022: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The registration for STS 2022 has already begun and the last date for registration is 11th February 2022 and last date for protocol submission is 21st February 2022.

Students are free to choose any topic related to medical/dental research depending on their research interest. The topic should be relevant and should lead to creation of new knowledge or help in gaining new knowledge or skills by the student. Research should not be carried out on well-established/ known facts.

Students can select any one of the following study types Study type: • Clinical Investigations • Epidemiological Investigations • Field Operational Research • Health Education • Laboratory Investigations • Product Development • Therapy and Management • Any other, please specify

The students can select any of the following subject areas Subject area: • Accident, Injuries & Trauma • Allied Science • Anatomy & Forensic medicine Anaesthesia • Bioinformatics & Biostatistics • Biochemistry • Child Health/Pediatrics & its Subspecialties • Critical & Intensive Care & Nursing • Cardiology (includes surgical areas) • Dermatology & Venereal Diseases • Education & Advocacy • Endocrinology • Ear, Nose, Throat (ENT) • Environment & Occupational Health • Gastroenterology & Hepatology • Geriatrics • Gynecology & Obstetrics • Hematology • Human Genetics • Microbiology/Immunology/Immunization • Nephrology & Urology • Neurology • Obesity, Nutrition & Dietetics • Oncology, Pathology & Cytology • Ophthalmology • Surgery • Traditional Medicine • Oral health, pediatric dentistry, endodontics, periodontology, orthodontics, • oral surgery, and prosthodontics • Orthopedics • Pharmacology • Physiology • Public Health & Epidemiology • Pulmonology & Respiratory Medicine • Psychology, Mental Health & Socio-Behavioral Research • Radiology • Social & Preventive Medicine • Any other, please specify

ONLY Indian National MBBS/BDS students studying in recognised medical/dental colleges of India can apply for STS. Students who are holding OCI cards/ PIO cards/ NRI’s studying in Indian Medical/Dental College can also apply. Students from foreign medical/dental colleges are not eligible for this program.

Please visit ICMR website (www.icmr.nic.in) and go to through all the information/ instructions under STS link, register your email address and then apply ONLINE. Link: http://14.139.60.56:84/

Students should use their email id and in case they do not have an email they may create a new e-mail id before registration. They should remember their email id and its password and be able to access their account.

• Undergraduate medical students (MBBS/BDS) • Not yet appeared in their final exams. • Paramedical/ dental/ non-medical/ students of other courses are not eligible.

No, you will not be eligible.

From the year 2019 onwards, BDS students are eligible to apply for STS.

Last date for registration : 11th February 2022 Last date for proposal submission: 21st February 2022

A student can apply each year till he/ she appears in the final year exams. However interns are not eligible.

Registration form is divided into three sections Login Details: Student’s active email id and mobile number. Course Details: Student name, course, college name and address. Personal Details: Student’s date of birth and residence address. Kindly note that Guide’s details/ title of proposal/ other details are not required at the time of registration.

This may happen if your internet browser is not updated. Kindly update your internet browser or try to access STS link from another location/ computer system.

You would get a time limit of 20 minutes to fill up and submit the online form. Kindly have everything ready for submission and complete the process in the given time. If the opened window is kept idle for more than 20 minutes then the page will show error upon clicking anything after that. And you will need to start all over again. So keep all the documents and information ready before starting proposal or report submission. You would get a time limit of 20 minutes to fill up and submit the online form. Kindly have everything ready for submission and complete the process in the given time. If the opened window is kept idle for more than 20 minutes then the page will show error upon clicking anything after that. And you will need to start all over again. So keep all the documents and information ready before starting proposal or report submission.

Yes, you will get a confirmation message on your computer screen and an automated email will also sent into your registered e-mail ID. In case after successful submission is done and you do not receive email then please send an email for the same to stshrd2017@gmail.com.

You will get an opportunity to make a change in your registered details at the time of proposal submission. After proposal has been submitted you may send an email request to stshrd2017@gmail.com for changing previously registered details. However registered email address will not be changed.

The submission will begin after the registration period is over. Proposal submission starts on 21st January 2022 and last date is on 21st February 2022.

Please note that one student should register once and submit only one proposal. Similarly one guide can take one student under him/ her each year. In case duplicate names of student or guide are found all applications will be automatically rejected.

You can have a co-guide however, ICMR recognises only the main guide as this is a short term project for undergraduate MBBS/BDS students.

No this is not permitted.

Your project can be a part of a larger project; however the exact work done by the student should be specified. NOTE: A separate Ethics Committee approval is required for the student’s project with the exact title and the Ethics Committee letter should also mention name of the student and Guide.

The program automatically searches for duplicate registration and all duplicate entries will be deleted. In case you need to register again you must send an email to stshrd2017@gmail.com and request to cancel your incorrect previous registration. In case the registration period is over you may send an email to stshrd2017@gmail.com for changing previously registered email-id.

No, this is not permitted. All regulatory clinical trials fall under the preview of Drugs & Cosmetics Act & Rules and should not be conducted by an undergraduate student.

Name and Contact details of student/guide should not be present in the proposal/report (including name, address, email-ID, telephone number). Name of medical/dental college or Department may be present if relevant to the objectives of the study.

Part B (Guide details) may be filled up by the student or the guide.

Application Attestation Form (AAF) is to be submitted with the research proposal Report Attestation Form (RAF) is to be submitted along with the report.

Attestation of photograph is not required.

It is possible that STS online link IP is blocked in your institution or in your locality due to some security reasons. In such case you should request your network administrator to unblock IP address or try to submit from another place/location.

On successful completion you will get an automated message as well as an email will be sent to your email address. Kindly do not press refresh button while uploading or when the submission process is going on.

Result for proposals will be announced around early April every year and for the report around last of February every year. For more details please read the updated notifications on the ICMR website.

Minor changes may be acceptable. You may however need to take permission from the ethics committee for any changes. Major changes will not be permitted. You must inform (with appropriate justification/reason) regarding the changes at the time of report submission. These will be reviewed and may or may not be accepted.

No, you do not have to submit anything now. You must obtain an ethics committee approval before beginning your research. You are free to complete your work during any 2 months between April- September every year and submit the report before given last date. At the time of report submission, you will be required to submit all documents including ethical clearance or other information like change of guide etc. (IEC clearance should be obtained before 15th August 2022)

Ethics committee approval should be obtained any time between January-April before beginning your research work. Submission of ethical clearance at the time of submission of application/proposal is optional. However before beginning research the ethics committee approval is mandatory and should be obtained. A copy of the same must be submitted along with the report. No research should be done if ethics committee has not given the clearance. Report on research carried out without the ethical clearance or late approval by IEC’s which does not give 2 months’ time for research or for any other such reason, the report may not be accepted. IEC approval should be obtained before 15th August 2022.

No you cannot, you can do STS from the same Medical/Dental College you are studying in. In case you are transferred to other Medical/Dental College, then Approvals from all Higher Authority of the new colleges, new Guide will be required and to be sent to ICMR for approvals.

The student and his/her Guide from the same medical/dental college are free to work in collaboration with another Institute after obtaining due approval from the other Institution/College. Kindly note that in such cases IEC approval will be required from both the Institutions. In case project involves field work in nearby areas and no other Institution is involved, then the ethics committee of the medical/dental college should be willing to review and monitor the work, taking responsibility of the safety and welfare of the research participants.

Preferably the parent should not be the guide of his or her child in view of conflict of interest, however permission of college authorities may be taken for exceptional reasons and the conflict of interest may be declared to the ethics committee.

No, it is not required. You may extract the relevant data and present it in the tabular form in the report.

No, you need to only submit one blank unsigned consent form/ case report form. Names or any confidential information about patients/ research participants should not be submitted.40. My guide has left/moved/transferred from medical college. May I change my guide?

Yes, the student may approach another faculty member who fullfills eligibility criteria from the same department and same college and take permission of college authorities regarding the change. You do not need the permission of ICMR for this change. However you need to inform ICMR regarding this before report submission time through email and also update the same details at the time of report submission. The student must carry out the research in his/ her own medical/dental college under the guide who is employed in the medical/dental college as a faculty. Only permanent full time faculty members working in any of the Department of the Medical/Dental College where the student is enrolled can act as the guide.

If there is a change of guide you will be able to provide the details of new guide in the ONLINE Report Submission Form at the time of report submission between August – October. You will also be required to provide reasons for this change. There is no need to put this information in the STS report or to send information to us by email.

• Within Acrobat, click on the Tools menu and select Combine Files. • Click Combine Files, and then click Add Files to select the files you want to include in your PDF.. • Click, drag, and drop to reorder the files and pages. • When finished arranging files, click Combine Files. • Many free tools are available on web, through these tools you can also merge files into one PDF.

Student can make use of internet or available software’s/ tools for making/ reduce the size of pdf file as many free tools are available through internet. In case you have a difficulty, kindly take help from computer personnel.

• Open the Microsoft Word. • Choose the “Insert” tab and from that menu ribbon select “Picture” option. • Browse your graphic file. • Choose your image, and then click Insert.

• In Excel, select the worksheet data/graphs/chart that you want to copy to a word document. • On the Home tab, in the clipboard group, click copy. Keyboard shortcut: you can also press CTRL+C. • In the word document, click where you want to paste. • On the Home tab, in the clipboard group, click paste or paste special. Keyboard shortcut: you can also press CTRL+V

Please clink on “I forgot my password?” link on STS login page. Enter your registered email id and press “Recover Password” button. An automated email will be sent to your registered email account with your password.

There is no specific requirement; you are free to choose any file name.

No, since STS is an online paperless program, there is no need to submit hard copies of the documents.

Payments will be made online, only to the STUDENT’S OWN SINGLE HOLDER nationalized bank account. The payment of stipend will be made by RTGS only and therefore it is essential for the student to have a bank account in his/ her name only. PARENT’s/GUIDE’s ACCOUNT WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

No joint account will be accepted.

A cancelled cheque is one, in which the word “Cancelled” is written over it and should not be signed or dated. By writing the word cancelled over the cheque, no one can misuse it. However, the information on the cheque is required by ICMR account department to verify the account number, cheque number, IFSC and MICR codes etc.

You are free to publish a paper/ present your work in conferences without seeking permission from ICMR. However you must acknowledge the support received from ICMR under STS program for your research and send a reprint of your paper to ICMR for records.

Kindly note that there is no procedure for automatic publication of STS reports in ICMR journal/ bulletin. In case you want to publish, you may consult your guide and identify a suitable journal and write up a paper for submission as per journal requirements.

Several Government agencies including ICMR offer travel scholarships, however these fellowships are not linked to STS program. You may visit the website to obtain further details and apply accordingly.

e-Certificates will be issued online on STS portal after declaration of report results (around September or October every year) and an email will be sent to students informing about the same. The students will be requested to login with their credential and download their respective e-certificates from the ICMR-STS website.

About 3 months (around June) after report results are declared stipend will be transferred through online mechanism into the student’s own single holder bank account as per details provided in the online submission form. An email will also to sent to inform the students at that time.

Yes, stipend/e-certificate shall be issued only to those students whose report is approved by Experts after evaluation. In case the report is not accepted by ICMR, no stipend/e-certificate will be issued to the student.

The cost of research is to be borne by the medical/dental college/department where the research will be conducted. The student should discuss the same at the beginning itself with College Research administration and his/her Guide, before submitting STS research proposal to ICMR.

No these are not required.

You will have the opportunity to edit/ update your address in the online form at the time of report submission or if the change is after report submission you may send details of your new address by email to stshrd2017@gmail.com

Contact information is provided on ICMR-STS website main page. http://14.139.60.56:84/

To recognise the efforts of the Guide, his/her name is printed in the STS Certificate. Co-Guides are not recognized by ICMR for STS Program. The Certificate will be issued only to the Student whose report will be selected. However the Guide can keep a Xerox /scan copy of the same.

The part D submission is protocol submission with all annexures. Final report is the final document that you submit after completing your project with your study’s result.