National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) 2012 Details

National Entrance Screening Test 2012 (NEST 2012)

NEST 2012 Date: 27^th May, 2012 at 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM (Sunday)

National Entrance Screening Test - 2012 (NEST-2012) Entrance Test for Admission to 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

Academic Session: 2012-13

About NEST

National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) is a compulsory test for students seeking admission to National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar and University of Mumbai - Department of Atomic Energy Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (CBS), Mumbai. Both NISER and CBS have been started by Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India in 2007. Their mandate is to train scientific manpower for carrying out cutting edge scientific research and for providing input to scientific programs of Department of Atomic Energy and other science institutions in the country conducting basic and applied research. The test is conducted in about 40 centers across India. This brochure gives the detailed procedure for applying for the test, syllabus of the test and various deadlines.

General Instructions:

i. Candidates must reach the examination center at least 30 minutes before the beginning of the test.
ii. Candidates will not be allowed to leave examination until one hour after the beginning of the test.
iii. Use of log tables, cell-phones and calculators in examination hall will not be permitted.
iv. Candidates MUST bring their admit card and school identity card to examination hall.

NEST 2012 Important Dates:

i. Website opens for information : January 03, 2012
ii. Online submission of application starts : January 05, 2012
iii. Last date for receiving request of application form (postal) : February 13, 2012
iv. Last date for receipt of completed application form with DD (online/postal) : March 13, 2012 (till 5:00 pm)
v. Online applications freezes : March 13, 2012 (midnight)
vi. Dispatch of offline admit cards starts : April 15, 2012
vii. Download of online admit cards starts : April 15, 2012
viii. Date of examination : May 27, 2012 (Sunday), 2:00 - 5:00 pm
ix. Announcement of results on NEST website : June 18, 2012

Eligibility: Students securing at least 60% marks (or equivalent grade) in agregate in Class XII (or equivalent) examination from any recognized Board in India are eligible to apply. Only for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates and for Persons with Disability (PD), the minimum requirement is 55%. Students who have passed the Class XII qualifying examination in 2010 or 2011 or are appearing in 2012 are eligible to apply. (Where only Letter grade is given by the Board, a certificate from the Board specifying equivalent percentage marks will be required. In the absence of such a certificate the decision of the respective Admissions Committee will be final.)

Age Limit: General category candidates and candidates belonging to Other Backward Castes (OBC) born on or after 01 October 1987 are eligible to apply. For SC/ST/PD candidates the age limit is relaxed by 5 years. In any case, the eligibility criterion mentioned in point 1 above must be satisfied.

Number of Seats and Reservation: The details of number of seats and their break-up as per statutory government norms have been listed in respective websites of NISER (http://www.niser.ac.in) and UM-DAE CBS (http://www.cbs.ac.in). This year (2012), the total number of seats is 60 at NISER and 35 at UM-DAE CBS. The admission will be very selective and students who are highly motivated to pursue higher education and research in science and its applications are likely to be selected.

Application Fee: Application fee for appearing in NEST is Rs. 600/- for general category and OBC male candidates. For SC/ST/PD candidates and female candidates the amount is Rs. 300/-. The application fee may be paid by demand draft or by electronic mail transfer to NEST account.

Demand Draft: Demand draft may be drawn from any bank provided that it is drawn in the name of NEST and payable at Mumbai.

Electronic Payment: Required bank details are as follows:
Bank and branch name : Bank of Baroda, Kalina Branch
Account name and number: NEST, 06720100017374
IFSC code : BARB0KALINA

Detailed instructions for payment of fees are available at www.nestexam.in.

Application Procedure: Candidates may apply on-line, by filling up the application form at NEST-2012 website (www.nestexam.in) or by procuring a paper application form for NEST examination by writing to Chief Coordinator, NEST-2012.

On-line Applications: Applying on-line is a preferred mode of applying. For this, candidates need to have an email address which they regularly use. Candidates should first visit NEST-2012 website and register themselves. Confirmation of registration will be sent to you by email. On receiving the confirmation email, candidates can begin filling up of the form. The form may be filled in more than one sitting. Candidates should carefully read the instructions for filling of the form given at the web-site. The candidates should not forget to save the filled form and take a print-out for their reference.

It is mandatory that candidates upload their passport-size photograph and signature and fill in details of draft or electronic mail transfer details at appropriate place. Without these the application is incomplete and will not be considered.

If the candidate is paying the fees by demand draft, he/she should write his/her name and application number on the back side of the draft and send it with a photocopy of printed application form to Chief Coordinator.

Last date for completing on-line application, including payment of fees is March 13, 2012

Off-line Applications: If the candidate wishes to apply off-line, he/she must write to

The Chief Coordinator, NEST-2012,
UM-DAE CBS,
Health Center Building, University of Mumbai,
Kalina Campus, Mumbai 400 098

for getting the application form. Note that this is the only method of obtaining paper application forms. Photocopied application forms will not be considered.

Candidates should carefully read the instructions accompanying the application form before filling the form. On filling up the form, the candidate should paste passport size photograph at appropriate place and sign his/her name in the box provided. They should fill correct payment details and send the form along with the draft to Chief Coordinator at the address given above. Candidates should not forget to write their name and application number on the reverse of the draft. If the payment is made by electronic money transfer, they should write the details on the form.

Last date for receiving requests for off-line applications is February 13, 2012.
Last date for receiving completed application forms is March 13, 2012.

Please note that even when the neft money transfer is fast, it takes time for the bankers to inform us of the details and then we need to cross check with the on-line forms (which is done manually, as it is not through payment gateway). This may take upto a week so the candidates should wait for a week before they send emails inquiring NEFT money transfer. For offline forms, do NOT send DD with request letter. Send it only with filled-in form.

How to Apply (Applications can be submitted in either of the following ways: 1 or 2)

1. Online form submission is the most convenient and preferred way. Follow these steps to go for it.

i. Register yourself before you login. It is assumed that you already have an e-mail ID.
ii. Confirm your registration from a mail sent to you just after registration.
iii. Login in the NEST homepage with your mail-id and password.
iv. Fill the form and save it or, modify an already saved form.
v. Upload passport photo and scanned signature.
vi. Transfer fees or Send DD (in favour of "NEST", payable at Mumbai). Quote Appl.No. in both cases.

2. A letter of request can be sent to get the printed form by post. This form will have to be sent back along with DD after filling it properly. Please send a self-addressed envelop of size 30cm X 22cm. Do NOT send the DD with request. Send the DD only with filled-in form.

Note: Please do NOT submit the application both by online and by post. Such forms, if found, will summarilly be rejected.

Examination Schedule: NEST-2012 examination will be conducted on Sunday May 27 from 2 pm to 5 pm.

Examination Centers: The names of NEST examination centers are given in Appendix I. Candidates should mark their first and second preferences at appropriate place in the application form. Every effort will be made to allot a center of their choice to the candidates. However, allotment of an examination center by the Chief Coordinator, NEST 2012 will be regarded as final and any request to change of center will not be entertained. The address of the center allotted to a candidate will be mentioned in NEST admit card.

Question Paper Pattern: The question paper will have five sections. The first section, which is compulsory for all candidates will include general questions. The next four sections will include questions on (1) biology, (2) chemistry, (3) mathematics and (4) physics. Candidates may opt to answer any three of these four sections. All sections carry equal marks. The questions will be aimed at testing the comprehension and analytic ability of the candidates. The questions will be of objective type with four answers given for each question. Some of the questions may have one or more correct answers. For these questions, candidates are expected to mark all the correct answers and none of the wrong answers. Wrong answers will be awarded negative marks.

Language of the question paper will be English only.

Admit Cards: Admit cards will be mailed to candidate’s postal addresses beginning from April 15, 2012. Candidates will have an option of downloading their admit cards from the web site of NEST (www.nestexam.in). This procedure is recommended for the candidates who have filled the application form on-line. Candidates must ensure that their mailing address entered in the application form is correct and legibly written. NEST office will not be responsible if the admit card does not reach a candidate in time because of postal delay or incorrect address. In case you do not receive the admit card by May 1, 2012, you may write to Chief Coordinator, NEST-2012 by speed post or by email (email address: nest@niser.ac.in). We may be able to send the admit card of such candidates electronically if an email address of the candidate is provided.

NEST Result: Results of NEST examination will be announced on June 18, 2012 on NEST web site. Candidates can see their result at NEST website (htttp://www.nestexam.in) by entering their application number or admit card number. Dates of counseling for NISER and CBS will be announced on their respective web pages and the candidates will also be informed by email and letter.

Syllabus for NEST: The syllabus for NEST examination is basically same as CBSE syllabus of 12th standard. Detailed syllabi of biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics are given in Appendix II. There is no specific syllabus for the general section. This section is expected to test the candidate’s familiarity with (and not a detailed understanding of) major historical milestones in astronomy, biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics. The questions based on mathematics up to 10th standard will be included in this section. In addition, there will be questions on given passages to test candidates’s ability of comprehension and application.

All the questions will be of objective type with some questions having one or more correct answers. For such questions, marks will be awarded if all correct answers and no wrong answers are marked. There will be negative marking.

List of Center Names and Codes:

Code	Center Name	Code	Center Name	Code	Center Name
01	Agartala	14	Delhi South	27	Patna
02	Ahmedabad	15	Guwahati	28	Pune
03	Allahabad	16	Hyderabad	29	Raipur
04	Bangaluru	17	Indore	30	Ranchi
05	Berhampur (Odisha)	18	Jaipur	31	Sambalpur
06	Bhopal	19	Jammu	32	Simla
07	Bhubaneswar	20	Kochi	33	Silchar
08	Calicut	21	Kolkata North	34	Udaipur
09	Chandigarh	22	Kolkata South	35	Varanasi
10	Chennai	23	Lucknow	36	Burdwan (W. B.)
11	Dehradun	24	Madurai	37	Vishakhapattanam
12	Delhi East	25	Mumbai
13	Delhi North	26	Nagpur

Useful Links:

1. NEST 2012 Brochure
2. NEST 2009 Question Papers
3. NEST 2010 Question Papers
4. NEST 2011 Question Papers
5. NEST Basics of Online Form
6. NEST New Registration

Contact:

National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER),
Institute of Physics Campus,
PO: Sainik School,
Bhubaneswar, Orissa - 751005,
India.
Phone: +91 (674) 230 0637,1058,1823
Fax: +91 (674) 2300142
E-mail: nest@niser.ac.in
Website: www.nestexam.in