The University Grants Commission (UGC) in association with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) conducts the National Eligibility Test (NET) twice a year to determine eligibility for lectureship and for award of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) to Indian nationals to ensure minimum standards for the entrants in the teaching profession and research.
CSIR conducts Joint CSIR - UGC NET exam twice in a year in the following areas
- Chemical Sciences
- Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences
- Life Sciences
- Mathematical Sciences
- Physical Sciences.
The pattern for the Single Paper MCQ test shall be as given below:
- The MCQ test paper of each subject shall carry a maximum of 200 marks.
- The exam shall be for duration of three hours.
- The question paper shall be divided in three parts
- Part 'A' shall be common to all subjects. This part shall be a test containing a maximum of 20 questions of General Aptitude. The candidates shall be required to answer any 15 questions of two marks each. The total marks allocated to this section shall be 30 out of 200
- Part 'B' shall contain subject-related conventional MCQs. The total marks allocated to this section shall be 70 out of 200. The maximum number of questions to be attempted shall be in the range of 20-35.
- Part 'C' shall contain higher value questions that may test the candidate's knowledge of scientific concepts and/or application of the scientific concepts. The questions shall be of analytical nature where a candidate is expected to apply the scientific knowledge to arrive at the solution to the given scientific problem. The total marks allocated to this section shall be 100 out of 200.
- Negative marking for wrong answers.