THE CSIR each year conducts a national level entrance examination to award Junior Research Fellowships tenable at different universities and its own research labs in five science subjects viz, physical, chemical, biological, mathematical and earth sciences.

Scheme of the Examination
CSIR has brought in major changes in the way the test is conceived and administered. It is now a completely objective test in Multiple Choice Questions format. A single paper, it has to answered in 3 hours. The paper is divided into three parts

Part A (20 questions carrying 2 marks each - answer any 15 )

This section will focus on General Science, Quantitative Reasoning & Analysis and Research Aptitude. 

Part B (50 questions carrying 2 marks - answer any 35) & Part C (75 questions carrying 4 marks - answer any 25 )

Both part B& C have a common syllabus and is different for different scientific streams. Questions in Part B are of MCQ type and that of Part C are analytical in nature. They expect the candidate to apply the science knowledge in their given discipline and arrive at a given solution.

There shall be negative marking @25% for each wrong answer.

The examination is designed to test your ability to retain and remember scientific concepts as well as your ability to apply and analyse a particular problem. Since you have substantial choice in Part C, do a trend analysis of past papers to see how different sections in your choice subjects fare in terms of the number of questions asked   and plan your strategy accordingly.

Get your basis right: Since most of the questions basically test your conceptual clarity, begin from your NCERT text books. Clarify concepts thoroughly so that any form of its application to a  particular problem becomes easy for you. Time yourself and try and solve the practice problems given in your text books and try and discern patterns in the examiners set questions. 

Give it adequate time: Do not believe in crash courses to crack this exam. Since it deals with analytical problems, it is impossible to get those right by using just shortcuts. So don’t join courses like ‘14-days to crack CSIR’. The only thing that will crack is your money. It takes a better part of a year to get the preparation right.

Do selective study: The syllabus is quite vast and no one could actually complete the entire syllabus with the time available unless you want to give it two to three years. So based on your experience at MSc level select the subjects which are close to you and prepare them thoroughly. The competition is too tough, so missing a single question in your own area may leave you far behind.

Nature of questions: The questions either test your fundamentals or look at issues that are in the cutting edge of your disciplines. Unless you are a keen observer of events and happenings in your subject you might easily miss out newer developments. Keep it a point to follow either Nature or Science, preferably both. Do not stretch yourself too much; a good focused study on the basic premises might see you though. 

(Careers36o has commissioned an expert to present a past paper analysis of  the CSIR-JRF exam. Look forward to the same in the May edition of Careers360)