CSIR-NET
The science-stream counterpart of UGC-NET: qualifies candidates for the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF, ₹37,000/month) and for Assistant Professor/lectureship eligibility in the sciences, and is accepted for PhD admission in CSIR laboratories, IITs and universities.
Eligibility
M.Sc. or equivalent (integrated BS-MS, B.Pharm, MBBS, BE/B.Tech in relevant fields) with at least 55% marks (50% for SC/ST/PwD); final-year students may apply under the result-awaited category. For JRF the upper age limit is 28 years, relaxable by up to 5 years for SC/ST/PwD/women and 3 years for OBC-NCL. There is no upper age limit for the Assistant Professor/lectureship category, and no cap on attempts.
Age limit: JRF: 28 years maximum (+5 years for SC/ST/PwD/women, +3 years for OBC-NCL); no age limit for the lectureship/Assistant Professor category
Exam pattern
Single Computer-Based Test (CBT) of 3 hours, 200 marks, in one of five subjects: Chemical Sciences; Earth, Atmospheric, Ocean and Planetary Sciences; Life Sciences; Mathematical Sciences; Physical Sciences. Each paper has three parts — Part A (general aptitude, common to all subjects, typically attempt 15 of 20), Part B (subject multiple-choice questions) and Part C (higher-order analytical questions carrying the most marks). The number of questions, attempt caps and marks per question vary by subject, and negative marking applies in most parts (Mathematical Sciences Part C has none). Results are declared in separate merit lists for JRF and for Assistant Professor eligibility.
Syllabus at a glance
Part A tests graph and data interpretation, numerical ability, series and basic logical puzzles. Parts B and C cover the full postgraduate syllabus of the chosen science: for example, Life Sciences spans biochemistry to ecology and evolution; Physical Sciences spans classical and quantum mechanics, electrodynamics, thermodynamics and electronics; Chemical Sciences spans organic, inorganic and physical chemistry. Part C questions demand application and derivation rather than recall.
Upcoming dates
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Admit card for June 2026 exam | Mid-July 2026 (a few days before the exam) | expected |
| CSIR-NET June 2026 exam (CBT) | 17–18 July 2026 | confirmed |
| Provisional answer key | Late July 2026 (about 7–10 days after the exam) | expected |
| June 2026 result | Aug – Sept 2026 | expected |
| December 2026 cycle notification | Around Dec 2026 | expected |
| December 2026 cycle exam | Feb – Mar 2027 | expected |
Expected dates follow the usual calendar; confirm on the official notification before planning.
Free prep material
Standard books
- CSIR-JRF-NET Life Sciences: Fundamentals and Practice (Pathfinder) — Pranav Kumar & Usha Mina
- Concise Inorganic Chemistry — J.D. Lee
- Principles of Physical Chemistry — Puri, Sharma & Pathania
- Introduction to Electrodynamics — David J. Griffiths
- Quantum Mechanics: Concepts and Applications — Nouredine Zettili
- Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations — R.S. Aggarwal (Part A)
How toppers play it
- Learn your subject's exact part-wise scheme — attempt caps and negative marking differ between Parts A, B and C — and plan attempts in advance rather than answering linearly.
- Max out Part A first: its 15 attemptable aptitude questions (graphs, ratios, series) are the cheapest 30 marks in the paper and can be perfected in two to three weeks.
- Be ruthless in Part C — questions carry heavy negatives, so skip anything you are less than about 70% sure of; qualifying cut-offs are usually only 45–55%, so you do not need to attempt everything.
- In Life Sciences breadth beats depth (the syllabus rewards wide revision); in Physical, Chemical and Mathematical Sciences, Part C is derive-and-apply, so practise full solutions, not recognition.
- Drill the official previous papers from csirhrdg.res.in under timed conditions — the part-wise time pressure, not difficulty, is what fails most first-timers.