It is clarified that all contract appointment in the extramurally funded research projects are treated as fresh appointment and not continuation of an earlier one (Copy of contract appointment letter is at Annexure-II).

1. Duration/Extension of the contract appointment
   The appointment will be purely on a contractual basis and comes to end on the day the project comes to an end and also the candidate is  in no way assumed to be permanent and derives no right whatsoever in that regard.
   The first/initial contract appointment will be given for a duration of three months only. Subsequently, the contract appointment will be extended for further periods on a six monthly or yearly basis only on the recommendation of PI.  The responsibility of seeking extension is with the employee and should be done at least 15 days before the expiry of the tenure. (Reference: Approval of Dean’s Research Committee (DRC) in its meeting held on 18^th September, 2020 and Director, AIIMS).
2. Recruitment Rules, Eligibility criteria and salary structure for project staff
   The Research Section is following the eligibility criteria and pay structure for the research staff as per the rule of concerned funding agency.  With the approval of competent authority, the Research Section has compiled the revised recruitment rules for ease of Principal Investigators (PIs) at AIIMS (Annexure-I).
   1. Projects funded by DST, SERB, DBT, CSIR and DRDO–
      1. Recruitment Rules as per DST OM No. SR/S9/Z-08/2018 dated January 30, 2019 regarding revision of emoluments and guidelines on service conditions for JRF/SRF and RA;
      2. Recruitment Rules as per DST OM No.SR/S9/Z-05/2019 dated 21^st August 2019 regarding essential qualifications and monthly emoluments of scientific/technical manpower other than JRF/SRF/RA.
   2. Projects funded by ICMR –
      1. ICMR OM No.16/107/2008-Admn.II dated 04.10.2016 and OMNo.16/107/2008-Admn.II dated 31.10.2018 regarding guidelines for recruitment of staff for Research Projects.
      2. Salary of JRF, SRF and RA will be as per ICMR OM No. 16/139/2014-Admn.II dated 11.06.2019. For salary of other staff, clarification has been received from ICMR to follow OM No.16/107/2008-Admn.II dated 04.10.2016 guidelines.
   3. Projects funded by AYUSH and other Ministries of Govt. Of India –
      1. As per ICMR guidelines.
      2. In projects funded by AYUSH, those candidates with qualification & experience related to Ayurveda, Yoga and complementary or Alternative Medicine will also be eligible to apply depending on project requirement.
   4. Projects funded by International agencies–
      The RRs should be as per ICMR or DST-DBT guidelines. However, salary may be given as per sanction of the funding agency.
      1. rojects funded by Private /Pharmaceuticals industries–
         Both RRs and salary should be as per ICMR or DST-DBT guidelines.
         NOTE:
         1. It is brought to the notice of all Principal Investigators that Government funding agencies/ departments have become very strict regarding recruitment rules of the project staff and are withholding further release of funds in subsequent years if these guidelines are not strictly followed. Hence, all Project Investigators are hereby directed to ensure compliance to the recruitment guidelines issued by respective Government funding agencies while advertising and recruiting such project staff under their projects.
         2. It is pertinent to inform that in DST/DBT/SERB/CSIR/DRDO funded projects, if the candidate has cleared NET/GATE/National Level examination (as mentioned in OM No. SR/S9/Z-08/2018 dated January 30, 2019), he/she will be eligible for JRF/SRF. The National Level examination list will also include the AIIMS PhD entrance examination.
            However, if  the candidate has not cleared NET/GATE/ National Level examination, then he/she will be eligible for Project Associate-I and Project Associate-II with the same salary of JRF/SRF as per DST OM No.SR/S9/Z-05/2019 dated 21^st August 2019. However, PI should inform the funding agency and seek the approval for changing the position of JRF/SRF to Project Associate-I and II before recruitment of manpower in the project.
         3. If a candidate is registered for PhD at AIIMS against a post in a project, there is no need to advertise the post and interview the candidate. In such cases, the PI is requested to send the following to Research Section:
            1. Application of the candidate duly recommended and forwarded by the project investigator;
            2. Proof of AIIMS PhD registration;
            3. Certificate/undertaking of PI that the selected candidate is against the same funded project for which PhD seat was sanctioned.
         4. The DST/DBT/SERB OM applies mainly to science and engineering graduates/post graduates. However, for recruitment of research staff including JRF/SRF/RA from medical/para medical/ pharmaceutical/social science/humanities/other miscellaneous backgrounds, it is requested that PI may seek clarification from the concerned funding agency for providing guidelines of recruitment rules and emolument details for such posts at the time of sanction of the project.  Subsequently, PI may please apply the same as approved by the funding agency for recruitment of such project staff.
         5. For any other clarification relating to recruitment rules and salary of project staff (not listed in these OMs), Project Investigators are requested to get necessary guidelines from funding agency. Only then will they be accepted by Research Section.
         6. These RR guidelines may be revised from time to time depending upon any modifications communicated by the funding agencies. PIs will be informed accordingly.
3. Resignation/Termination of contractual project staff
   A contract research staff can tender resignation or, a project investigator can terminate the contractual service of research staff before the completion of the project or completion of the extension of appointment. The tendered resignation or termination is accepted on the recommendation of PI as per the following terms and conditions:
   1. The institute reserves the right to terminate the contract appointment at any time with 15 days’ notice.
   2. The project employee can resign from the post either by giving 15 days’ notice or by paying 15 days salary in lieu thereof.
      1. Project employees resigning without giving 15 days notice or depositing 15 days salary, will NOT be issued experience and no dues certificate.
      2. They will not be considered for appointment to any other project in AIIMS.
      3. ‘a’ &’b’ can be relaxed by the competent authority at the discretion of the PI.
4. Final no dues certificate
   After acceptance of resignation/termination of contract appointment, the research staff has to submit no dues certificate from his/her PI  EHS, Security office, Library etc. through project investigator and the Research Section will issue a final No Dues Certificate.
5. Experience certificate
   The certificate of work experience for the period involved is issued by the Research Section to the project staff on his/her request duly forwarded by project investigator. Project investigators are not allowed to issue experience certificates to project staff who have been employed through research section for research projects  .