National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) Notification and Dates 2015

National Entrance Screening Test (NEST-2015)

National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar and University of Mumbai - Department of Atomic Energy Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UM-DAE CBS), Mumbai, have jointly announced the schedule of National Entrance Screening Test - 2015 (NEST-2015) for the Academic Session 2015-16

NEST - 2015 will be conducted on 30th May 2015 (Saturday) from 09.30 a.m. - 01.00 p.m at 52 centers across the country

National Entrance Screening Test

The National Entrance Screening Test or NEST is a compulsory test for admission to the 5-year Integrated M.Sc program in basic sciences - Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics - at National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar and University of Mumbai - Dept. of Atomic Energy Center for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UM-DAE CBS), Mumbai; both NISER & CBS are autonomous institutions estd by Dept. of Atomic Energy (DAE), Govt. of India, in 2007

These institutes have started with the mandate to provide high quality teaching in basic sciences by a faculty of distinguished scientists embedded in a vibrant research environment and to create a national pool of scientists ready to take up research challenges in the frontiers of basic and applied sciences

The Integrated M.Sc program at these institutes follows a semester-based course structure and continuous assessment within a flexible and innovative academic curriculum, exposing the students to research early in their program

All the candidates admitted to 5-year Integrated MSc programme at NISER and CBS are eligible for INSPIRE, Govt. of India, scholarship of 5000/- p.m. & 20000/- per year for carrying out summer projects
The details of the Integrated MSc programme, courses, research activities, facilities and faculty profile at NISER and CBS can be found on their respective websites (www.niser.ac.in andwww.cbs.ac.in)

Eligibility Criteria

Educational Qualification: Candidates seeking admission to NISER and UM-DAE CBS for the academic session 2015-16 should be from science stream (having any combination of Biology/ Chemistry /Mathematics /Physics) at class XII and must write the NEST 2015 examination

Candidates who have passed class XII examination or equivalent from any recognised Board in India in 2013 or 2014 or are appearing in 2015 can appear in NEST 2015 examination

Admission will be offered strictly on the basis of Merit List of NEST 2015

Candidates securing at least 60% marks in aggregate or equivalent grade in class XII examination will be eligible for admission to NISER and CBS; however, there is no restriction on appearing for NEST

For candidates belonging to scheduled castes SC/ST/PD categories, the minimum requirement of marks is 55% in aggregate

Where only letter grades are available, a certificate from the Board specifying equivalent percentage of marks is required. In the absence of such a certificate, the decision of the Admissions Committee of the concerned Institution will be final

Age limit

General and OBC category candidates born on or after 15th July 1995 are eligible for admission to the integrated M.Sc programme of NISER/CBS; the age limit is relaxed by 5 years for SC/ST/PD candidates
However, there is no restriction on appearing for NEST 2015

Necessary certificates supporting eligibility criteria have to be furnished at the time of admission.Please also note that the offer of admission is subject to verification of all original certificates at the time of counselling

Number of Seats & Reservation

For the academic session 2015-16, the total number of seats at NISER and CBS are 100 + 2 and 45 + 2, respectively; two seats in each institution are reserved for candidates from the state of Jammu & Kashmir
The number of seats reserved for SC/ST/OBC (Non-Creamy-Layer) and PD is according to the Govt. of India norm

To claim seats under reserved category, relevant documents must be furnished at the time of admission
For the details of reserved seats and category certificates refer to the websites of the participating institutions

NEST 2015 Examination

The NEST 2015 will be conducted at 52 major towns and cities all over India on 30th May 2015 (Saturday), 09.30 am - 01.00 pm

Based on the performance in NEST 2015, a common Merit List of the candidates will be prepared and posted on NEST 2015 website on 19th June 2015

The successful candidates will be called for counselling and admission will be strictly according to the Merit List until all the seats are filled

Separate merit list for different category candidates will be made available before counselling

Exam Centres

Agartala, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Balangir, Balasore, Bengaluru, Berhampur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Burdwan, Calicut, Chandigar, Chennai, Cuttack, Dehradun, Delhi-East, Delhi North, Delhi South, Dharwad, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jamshedpur, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolkata-North, Kolkata-South, Lucknow, Madurai, Mangalore, Mumbai, Patna, Nagapur, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Shillong, Shimla, Silchar, Siliguri, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Udaipur, Varanasi, Visakhapatnam

Candidates must choose 2 (two) centres in order of their preference while filling up of application form; it is allowed to select two centres from the same city, such as Delhi-East and Delhi-North

Every effort will be made to allot the centre of first preference

Please note that ultimately the allotment of an examination centre by the Chief Coordinator has to be regarded as final and request for change of centre will, in general, not be entertained

The centre (venue) address will be mentioned on the NEST admit card

Exam Rules

Candidates must reach the test centre at least half an hour before the start of the examination; the examination is of 3½ hrs duration and will start at 09.30 am

Candidates will not be allowed to enter the examination hall after 10.00 am; the earliest a candidate can leave the examination hall is 10.30 am, unless it becomes necessary to leave before on medical grounds

The earliest one can carry the question paper out is 11.30 a.m., use of log tables and calculators in the exam hall is not allowed

Candidates must bring their own pen, pencils (HB), eraser and sharpener; exchange/ sharing of these items with other candidates is strictly prohibited

Candidates must bring their Admit Card and their school photo Identity Card or any photo-ID issued by Govt. agencies to the examination hall

Any candidate found adopting unfair means will be expelled from the examination hall without warning; mobile phone and other similar electronic gadgets are strictly not allowed inside exam hall

Question Type

The question paper will consist of 5 (five) sections of objective (MCQ) type questions carrying60 marks in each section

Section 1 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

The questions are designed to test candidates' subject comprehension and analytic ability; 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

For NEST question papers of last few years, refer to the NEST-2015 website

Language of the question paper will be English only

Answering Questions: The answers to each question are to be marked on an OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) sheet; details of how to answer on OMR sheet will be given in question paper and OMR sheet

Syllabus: The syllabus for NEST 2015 primarily follows the NCERT/ CBSE science syllabus of class XI-XII (The detailed syllabus for NEST exam is provided in Annexure-2)

There is, however, 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

Note: Previous NEST question papers (2007 to 2014) are available in NEST website

How to apply

To apply for NEST 2015, candidates can fill-up application form using either online (preferable) oroffline mode

For online application, candidates should visit www.nestexam.in on or after 05th January 2015

Candidates are strongly advised to read through the detailed online application procedure available on the website

Off-line application is to be filled on a prescribed form, which is available from the NEST office on payment (through Demand Draft only: refer ‘Mode of payment’ below) of the required application fee listed below

The request for the application form along with the demand draft (DD) must reach the NEST office (address given in next page) on or before 19th February 2015

Please provide correct postal address with valid PIN number in your request

NEST cell is not responsible for non-delivery of the offline kit or any kind of postal delay; once we receive the request along with a demand draft of correct amount and validity, the off-line form along with this brochure will be mailed by Speed-Post to the candidate

The filled-in form should reach us back by 07th March 2015

Please note that, NEST office will deposit the demand draft immediately after the off-line form is dispatched

Note: Each off-line form carries a unique application number and hence photocopies of a form should not be used for filling multiple off-line applications

Such applications will summarily be rejected

The address for postal communications is given under “Address for correspondence” - next page

Application Fee

The application fee for the male candidates of General/OBC category is Rs.700/-; the application fee for SC/ST/PD categories and all female candidates is Rs.350/-; for offline applications the fee should be paid by Demand Draft only

For online applications, it can be paid by using credit card/debit card/net-banking through ‘State Bank Collect’ online payment portal or by DD

For offline applications, please add Rs.50/- as postal charges to the application fees mentioned above. Please refer to the fee-chart below:

Male: General, OBC & DT/VJ/NT Candidates: Rs.700/- (online) and Rs.750/- (Offline)

All Female Candidates: Rs.350/- (Online) and Rs.400/- (Offline)

SC/ST and PD (All Candiates): Rs.350/- (Online) and Rs.400/- (Offline)

Mode of Payment

Demand Draft: DD for required amount may be prepared from any bank and should be drawn in favour of NISER-NEST and payable at Bhubaneswar; it is advisable that candidate write her/his name (all candidates) and application number (only online candidates) at the back of the DD before dispatching

The DD has to be sent preferably by speed post at the address given below and must reach NEST office

For online candidates, the DD should reach NEST office on or before 07th March 2015; for off-line applications, the demand draft and the request for application form should be sent in a single envelope

State Bank Collect online payment facility (SB-Collect): State Bank Collect (SBC) is a multimodal payment portal where payments can be made using credit/debit cards and internet banking facility

This payment method is available only for online applicants

A detailed step-by-step instruction for payment through SBC is available on NEST website and also inside the online application portal for NEST 2015

Online candidates who opt for online payment need not send any document to NEST office (paperless application)

Please refer to the instruction sheet (the ‘How to Apply’ tab on www.nestexam.in) for details on all payment methods

Admit Card

The admit card for NEST 2015 will be available for downloading / dispatch from 07th April 2015

Admit cards will not be dispatched for online applicants; such applicants must download their admit cards from NEST website (after login)

Admit cards will be sent by post to the mailing address of the offline candidates; it is, therefore, important that the postal address with pin code in offline paper application form be clearly and correctly written

Please note that NEST office will not be responsible if admit card fails to reach the candidate in time because of postal delay or incorrect mailing address

In case the admit card is not received by 01st May 2015, the NEST office at the address given below must be notified

It may be possible to re-send the admit card but only electronically if email address of the candidate is provided. Safe-keeping of the admit card is strongly advised because the successful candidates have to produce the admit card in original during the counselling and admission

Address for correspondence

Requests for off-line application form + Demand Draft, completed off-line application form and any NEST-2015 related queries by postal mail must be sent at "The Chief Coordinator, NEST 2015, NISER, Institute of Physics Campus, Sachivalaya Marg, Sainik School (PO), Bhubaneswar-751005", Odisha

For any queries requiring quicker response, contact at NEST helpline (active from 05th January 2015); Phone: 0674-2304036 (Mon-Fri, 09.30 - 13.00 & 14.00 - 17.00); Email: nest@nestexam.in

The official website of NEST 2015 is: www.nestexam.in

Applications incomplete in any respect will not be accepted

Important Dates

Start of Online / Offline application for NEST 2015: 05th January 2015

Last date for receiving request for Offline application form + Demand Draft: 19th February 2015

Closing of Online/Offline Application: 07th March 2015

Download/Dispatch of Admit Card begins: 15th April 2015

NEST 2015 Exam: 30th May 2015 (Saturday) 09.30 am - 01.00 pm

Announcement of results in NEST website: 19th June 2015

Important things to remember

i) Candidates must reach the examination venue at least half an hour (30 minutes) before the start of the examination

ii) Candidates will not be allowed to enter the examination hall half an hour (30 minutes) after the start of the examination, i.e. 10.00 am

iii) Candidates will be allowed to leave the examination hall only after one hour from the start of the examination, i.e. 10.30 am

iv) Use of log tables and calculators in the examination hall are not allowed

v) Candidates must bring their own pen, pencil, eraser and other stationeries

vi) Candidates must bring their Admit Card and Identity Card to the examination hall

vii) Mobile phone and other electronic gadgets are not allowed inside examination

For further details, visit the link: nestexam.in/docs/15/NEST-2015-Brochure-Syllabus(52).pdf