National Entrance Screening Test (NEST)
The National Entrance Screening Test or NEST is a compulsory test for admission to the 5-year Integrated MSc programme in basic sciences - Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics – at National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar and University of Mumbai - Department of Atomic Energy Center for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UM-DAE CBS), Mumbai. Both NISER and CBS are autonomous institutions established by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India, in 2007.
All the candidates admitted to 5-year Integrated MSc programme at NISER and CBS are eligible for INSPIRE, Govt. of India, scholarship of 5,000/- per month and 20,000/- per year for carrying out summer projects.
Besides, top performers at NISER and CBS, securing overall grades above certain threshold at the end of final semester, will be eligible to appear directly for the interview for admission to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Training School.
Eligibility criteria for admission:
Educational qualification:
Candidates should be from science stream (having any combination of Biology/Chemistry/ Mathematics/ Physics) at class XII and must write the NEST 2016 examination.
Candidates who have passed class XII examination or equivalent from any recognised Board in India in 2014 or 2015 or are appearing in 2016 are eligible for admission. Admission will be offered strictly on the basis of Merit List of NEST 2016. Candidates should secure at least 60% marks (for SC/ST it is 55%) in aggregate or equivalent grade in class XII examination. However, there is no restriction on appearing for NEST.
Age limit:
General and OBC category candidates - born on or after August 01, 1996.
SC / ST / PD candidates – 5 years relaxation.
Intake and Reservation of seats:
NISER – 132
CBS - 47
Important Dates:
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Start of Online application for NEST 2016 | January 04, 2016 | |
Closing of Online application | March 04, 2016 | |
Download of Admit Card begins | April 15, 2016 | |
NEST 2016 examination | May 28, 2016 (Saturday) 10:00am – 1:00pm | |
Announcement of results in NEST website | June 17, 2016
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Test Pattern:
Duration - 3 hrs and will start at 10:00 am
Five sections of objective (MCQ) type questions and 50 marks in each section.
Section 1:
It is the general section and is compulsory for all candidates. There will be no negative marking in general section.
Sections 2 through 5:
Will contain subject specific questions from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. Candidates are permitted to attempt as many subject-sections as they wish. However, only the best three subject scores along with the score in the general section will be counted for evaluation and merit list preparation.
In the subject sections, there will be negative marking for incorrect answers. Some questions may have one or more correct answers for which marks can only be earned by marking all correct answers and no wrong answer.
Language of the question paper will be English only.
Scoring system
1. In NEST-2016 examination, there would be five sections with 50 points each.
2. Section 1 (General section) is compulsory.
3. Candidates can attempt 'as many' from the remaining subject sections.
4. During preparation of merit list, score for the general section would be considered along with three best scores from the remaining subject sections.
5. As merit list calculation will be performed on marks obtained in the general section and in (best) three subject sections, the 'total' marks for NEST-2015 becomes 200 (50 x 4 = 200).
'Section-wise' and 'total' cut-off marks
1. Total score of each candidate will be the direct sum of his/her score in the general section and his/her best three scores in the subject sections.
2. For each section, “20% of the average of the best 100 scores in that section” will be considered as Section-wise Minimum Admissible Score (SMAS).
3. SMAS for different sections can obviously be of different numerical value.
4. A candidate must score equal or more than respective SMAS in General section as well as in at least three subject sections. These subjects sections will then be counted for merit list calculation. If a candidate secures SMAS in all four subject sections, then the best three subject scores will be counted.
5. If a candidate does not secure SMAS in the general section, he/she would not be allotted any merit rank and would not be deemed eligible for admission.
6. If a candidate does not secure SMAS in at least three subject sections, he/she would not be allotted any merit rank and would not be deemed eligible for admission.
7. SMAS for OBC students would be 90% of respective SMAS for general category students.
8. SMAS for SC/ST/PD students would be 50% of respective SMAS for general category students.
9. Additionally, a candidate is required to score equal or above a total minimum admissible score (MAS), to get a merit rank. MAS for NEST-2016 is 100, which is 50% of total marks, i.e, 200.
10. A candidate scoring less than 100 (MAS) in total would not be allotted any merit rank and would not be deemed eligible for admission, even if he/she secures SMAS in all sections.
11. A candidate scoring equal or more than MAS but not securing SMAS in the general section or in at least three subject sections would not be allotted any merit rank. It is important that both MAS and SMAS conditions are fulfilled to get a merit rank.
12. MAS for OBC students would be 90% of MAS for general category students.
13. MAS for SC/ST/PD students would be 50% of MAS for general category students.
Ranks
1. For candidates who satisfy all the clauses, a merit list would be prepared in descending order of total scores.
2. If total score of two or more candidates becomes equal (i.e. in the case of degeneracy), candidates with higher score in the general section will get a better rank.
3. If the degeneracy persists, then the best scores in the subject section of the two students would be compared. The student with the better score in any of the subject section would get a better rank.
4. If the degeneracy still persists, the students would be given same provisional rank at the time of declaration of the result and the degeneracy would be broken by comparing class 12th marks and date of birth in that order, during admission/counselling.
Syllabus:
The syllabus for NEST 2016 primarily follows the NCERT/ CBSE science syllabus of class X-XII.
General Section - There is no specific syllabus for the general section. This section tests candidate's familiarity with, but not detailed understanding of, major historical milestones in subjects like astronomy, biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, computer science and environmental science. Questions will be designed to test analytic abilities and comprehension of scientific passages. Some of the questions in this section may require knowledge of class X mathematics.
Application Process:
Candidates must fill-up the online application form on or after January 4, 2016.
The application fee for the male candidates of General/OBC category is 700/-. The application fee for SC/ST/PD categories and all female candidates is 350/-. Payments can be made by DD or using credit card/debit card/net-banking through online payment gateway
Admit card: The admit card for NEST 2016 will be available for downloading from April 15, 2016
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