IIT Madras has launched the SBI Foundation ACE Potential Athlete Sports Scholarship, a technology-driven programme targeting 90 national-level athletes aged 15 to 19 years across seven sports disciplines. The scholarship, backed by the institute's Acrophase human performance research initiative, combines financial support with sports science, data analytics, and personalised nutrition guidance to help young talent reach peak potential.

What the Scholarship Offers

Each selected athlete will receive a monthly stipend of ₹40,000, along with sports science-based performance assessments and customised nutrition plans developed by the IIT Madras–Acrophase team. The programme is designed to bridge the gap between raw athletic talent and elite-level performance by integrating wearable technology, biomechanics, and behavioural psychology into training frameworks.

The 90 scholarships are split equally between 45 boys and 45 girls, covering athletics, swimming, boxing, wrestling, shooting, archery, and badminton. Athletics receives the largest allocation with 18 slots, followed by swimming and shooting with 16 each. Archery gets 12 places, wrestling and boxing 10 each, and badminton eight.

The Acrophase Initiative: Science Behind the Sports

Acrophase is described as India's first human performance research centre, emerging from the research and innovation ecosystem of IIT Madras. Built on the institute's strengths in engineering, biomedical science, and data analytics, the initiative translates academic research into field-deployable solutions. According to IIT Madras, Acrophase brings together 'wearable industry experts, researchers from IIT Madras, and experts in human physiology and biomechanics' to curate performance enhancement programmes for athletes at all levels.

'Behind every promising athlete are years of training, discipline and the ambition to go further. But talent alone is not enough; the right support can shape how far that journey goes,' IIT Madras said in a statement.

Funding and Partnerships

The scholarship is co-funded by the SBI Foundation and the Wadhwani Foundation. These partnerships have enabled Acrophase, through IIT Madras, to extend support to both able-bodied and para-athletes across India, using what the institute describes as 'inclusive, research-driven performance and capacity-building frameworks.'

Eligibility and Selection Process

Applicants must be Indian citizens competing at the national level and between 15 and 19 years of age. Applications opened on 7 October and will remain open until 16 November 2026. Selection is based primarily on sporting merit. Where candidates are otherwise equally matched, preference will be given to athletes from lower-income families, underscoring the programme's social equity dimension.

With applications still open until mid-November, young national-level athletes have a narrow window to apply for what could be a pivotal early-career intervention.