Under the Indo-German Joint Research Collaboration Programme, both the countries will support collaborative scientific researches between Indian and German research groups, who are working jointly on a particular scientific project.

The support will be provided by both India and Germany to the researchers under the programme called 'Project-based Personnel Exchange' which is a bilateral research promotion programme that is a result of the agreement concluded between the German Academic Exchange Service and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) way back in 1998.

The aim of the programme is to strengthen the collaboration between Indian and German research groups, who are working jointly on a particular scientific project. It envisages financial support for operational mobility. Particular emphasis is accorded to further academic training and specialization of young academics. Research collaborations entered into with the intention of initiating further extensive projects, such as the preparation of joint applications meant for submission to any other funding organisation, are highly preferred for this programme.

University professors, scientists and post-doctoral researchers from German and Indian universities and those in permanent employment at independent research institutes are eligible to apply. The programme is open to academics in the disciplines of agricultural sciences, veterinary medicine, forestry, engineering, earth sciences, mathematics, theoretical computer science, informatics, medicine, life sciences, health sciences, animal sciences, nutritional medicine, physics, material sciences and chemistry.

The prerequisite for applying is a concrete and precise scientific research project of high quality, on which academics from both countries jointly, and to the extent possible complementarily, want to work on. It would not suffice to describe scientific problems of a general nature that both research groups are interested in. The basic funding for the project (personnel and material costs on both sides) must be secured by own funds or by third party funding. The research group on both sides should each consist of a project leader and up to two doctoral students or post-doctoral researchers. The total number of participants in the project on both sides should not exceed three from each side.