ICMR being an apex research agency for formulation, coordination and promotion of Biomedical Research in the country is also engaged in promoting critical mass of human resources as well as fostering research temperament amongst medical graduates. Amongst its several Human Resource Development programmes the Council has reinstituted Talent search scheme of providing financial support to selected 'Medical Graduates/ Postgraduates'. The scheme has the approval of its Governing Body (GB) held on 2nd August 2000 and 11th July 2003.
The programme is designed to identify young medical graduates with brilliant academic records for pursuing postgraduate qualifications & to motivate them to opt for career in its research cadre. The selection of the candidates will be made on the basis of a competitive National level examination consisting of a written test conducted at 3 or 4 Centres in the country. The candidate passing all MBBS examination in the first attempt with 60% or more aggregate marks will be eligible for the examination.collaborations.
Under this programme, the selected medical graduates would be provided financial assistance for 4-5 years and a total of 25 fellowships will be available per year. (Programme is ongoing at three Centres viz., King George's Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow; National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru and SRIHER (Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research), Chennai .