A narrow, specific grant, not a living stipend for study abroad
This is a narrow, specific grant: up to three months of funded travel for an Indian PhD student in the humanities or social sciences who needs to be physically somewhere else, an archive, a library, a specific expert, to do research their home institution can’t support. It isn’t a living stipend for study abroad and it isn’t renewable into anything larger; it’s reimbursement on actuals against fixed caps: $1,000 for travel, $2,000 a month for living costs, $500 for materials, $500 for health costs.
Eligibility is tightly scoped, and one requirement matters more than the rest
Eligibility is tightly scoped to who this is actually for: an Indian passport holder already registered for a PhD at an Indian university, with a confirmed synopsis, first-class results at both Bachelor’s and Master’s level, and proof that the person or institution abroad has actually agreed to see you. That last point matters. This isn’t speculative travel funding; the Foundation wants evidence the visit is already arranged in substance before it funds the logistics.
Can’t be combined with a sibling Inlaks award in the same year
Note too that you can’t apply for this grant and the separate Inlaks-King’s India Institute Studentship in the same year, so if you’re eligible for both, you have to pick one. If your PhD synopsis isn’t confirmed yet, or you’re at an earlier career stage entirely, it’s worth checking the Foundation’s own Inlaks Scholarship for postgraduate study abroad instead, which runs on its own separate terms.
A 50-year-old family foundation, with real recipients to show for it
The Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation has run since 1976, founded by Indoo Shivdasani, and is marking its 50th anniversary in 2026 with over 1,400 scholarships, awards, fellowships, art residencies, internships and grants given out across its history, both in India and abroad. The Foundation backs this specific grant’s credibility with named past recipients rather than a generic pitch, including Saloni Verma, a 2023 Inlaks Research and Travel Grantee.
This round has closed
The Foundation’s own page now states plainly that applications for this round are closed. Shortlisted candidates from the round that closed 31 August 2026 will hear back in the first week of October 2026, and no date for a next round has been published yet, so check the Foundation’s site directly before assuming a fixed annual pattern will repeat.