Kalpana Chawla National Scholarship (KCNS)

Kalpana Chawla National Scholarship is provided by Educharya.com based in Pune. The award winners get a chance to visit NASA on a 3-day trip. School students from class Vth to Xth and class XIth & Xth pursuing science can take up the scholarship examination. Kalpana Chawla National Scholarship winners are selected on the basis of a 2 stage selection process where 84 prize winners are given various monetary and other benefits including a trip to NASA camp. In 2017, 2134 students across India were selected for round 2 out of which 84 were selected to be provided with various prizes. The scholarship providers aim to give equal opportunity to all irrespective of their rank and performance in school.

Eligibility Criteria

Candidates interested in taking up the scholarship must be studying in a school affiliated to any of the recognised board. Students who satisfy the criterion set below are eligible to apply and write the scholarship examination:

• The students must be citizens of India.
• Students belonging to  Vth, VIth, VIIth, VIIIth, IXth and Xth standards in CBSE, ICSE, State boards or any other recognised boards of education are eligible to apply for the scholarship examination.
• Students studying in  XIth and XIIth standards must have taken science stream in any of the boards mentioned above to be eligible to take this scholarship examination.
• Students from outside India can also apply provided the applicant’s school is affiliated to one of the education boards recognised in India.
• There is no age limit restriction to apply for the scholarship examination.

How to Apply for Kalpana Chawla National Scholarship

Interested students who satisfy all the eligibility conditions mentioned above should follow the below-set steps to successfully apply for the Kalpana Chawla National Scholarship. The students must have a computing device with a stable internet connection to proceed with the application:

1. Click on the following link to go to the application page.
2. Fill up all the fields with correct and accurate information.
3. Upload all the scanned copies of the required documents wherever mentioned. The required documents list is provided below.
4. After successfully providing with all the necessary information and uploading all the required documents. Click on the SUBMIT button to submit the application form and successfully register for the Kalpana Chawla National Scholarship.
5. After completing the registration process, a user ID will be provided which should be later used for login and identification purposes.
6. There are no application fees required to register for this scholarship examination.

Documents Required

The soft copies of the following documents are to be submitted while filling up the online application. The documents will be used as proof while verification purposes and candidates are requested to have original and hard copies of the same which should be produced whenever requested and demanded by the Educharya authorities.

1. Proof of Identification (eg. Aadhar card, PAN card, School Identity Card etc.)
2. A soft copy of the passport size photo of the applicant.
3. Marks card/sheet of the previous academic year of the student.
4. Marks card/sheet of the current academic year of the applying student.

Selection Procedure of Kalpana Chawla National Scholarship

The eligible candidates who have successfully applied for the Kalpana Chawla National Scholarship will be required to go through a two-stage selection process to be able to get a chance to win a trip to NASA. The Kalpana Chawla National Scholarship test will be based on the school and academic curriculum of the current class of the participating students. The student is expected to study and be thorough with all the courses in the current academic year as well as gain additional knowledge which is comprehensible to a student of that education level. Only students who have outperformed everyone else will stand a chance to win exciting prizes and a trip to NASA camp. To provide a fair chance to all the participating students, EduCharya provides practise papers for the scholarship exams which will be available for nine weeks from 9th September onwards. The practise papers can be accessed online. The selection process will be held as described below:

1. The first stage is an online exam for which the students would have to log in from a computer at the required time to take the test. The test can be taken by the student from the comfort of home if he/she so desires. The final list will be selected on the basis of the result of this online examination and would be announced as a class-wise merit list.
2. The students who have successfully qualified in the online examination will have to go through the next stage named as the Rapid-fire round where the students have to answer a series of questions through a video call using services like Skype etc.

The final list of shortlisted students will be split into 4 categories according to their performance in the two rounds taken combinedly.

Awards and Prize Distribution

A total of 84 successful students who have performed exceptionally well over the two qualifying rounds will be classified further into four categories as compared to performance among them. Each category will contain a list of 21 students in them. Out of 21 students in each category, 9 prize winners must be from 5th standard to the 7th standard AND 10 prize winners are to be from 8th standard to 10th standard. One prize from each category is reserved for children of farmers and military personnel. The prize among each category is given as such:

• Top 21 ranks in the scholarship exam are given the award of first prize. The first prize winners will get an opportunity to visit NASA camp for a period of 3 days.
• The next 21 rank holders will be given an award of second prize. Each student in this category is will get a cash offer of ₹100000.
• The third prize winner category will comprise of 21 students and will be provided with an amount of ₹50000.
• The final 21 students in this winners list will be given a consolation prize of ₹21000 for each student.

Important Dates regarding Kalpana Chawla National Scholarship

The important dates indicating all the key events regarding the scholarship exam is provided below:

Terms and Conditions

• The applying student’s parents or guardians approval is necessary to be eligible for the examination. The responsibility of monitoring the student’s activity during examination and subsequent trip falls solely on the respective student’s parents or guardians.
• The student’s who involve in unfair practices at the time of the scholarship exam will be disqualified.
• Student’s who provide false information during the time of application will not be allowed to take up the examination.
• Incomplete and invalid registrations will not be selected to write the examinations. Students are expected to provide all the necessary information at the time of registration.
• The candidates are expected to have a very good and stable connection. In the event of any connectivity failure or power failure. Educharya is not liable to provide any retest or any sort of compensation.
• The participating candidates and their parent/guardian do not have any grounds to question or challenge the selection process of themselves or any other students taking part in the scholarship examination.
• The registration for the Kalpana Chawla National Scholarship in and of itself doesn’t guarantee the provision for the award. The students should go through the selection process and be shortlisted to receive any compensation.
• Any award or compensation given to a participant cannot be transferred to any other participant.
• In the event of any dispute regarding the participation of any of the candidates which cannot be proven otherwise. The participation shall stand cancelled.
• Timelines of the exams are liable to change based on the ground conditions.
• Educharya reserves the right to verify documents at any time it deems fit.
• NASA camp winners can’t exchange the trip for cash under any circumstance.
• The first prize winners will be requested to hand over a medical certificate.
• The second and third prize winners will be provided monetary compensation only after the first prize winners have completed their NASA camp trip.
• The terms and conditions are subject to change over time.