List of PhD Entrance Exams  IN INDIA for Life Science/ Biotech 

Dear Life Science/Biotech PhD aspirants, if you are confused and tired of looking for various PhD entrance examinations conducted in India, their applications, and examination dates, NDBSI is here to ease out your struggle.

Here are the major national level entrance exams for PhD admission conducted in India which you can apply if you have completed or if you are in the final year of M.Sc, B.Tech in Biosciences, Biotechnology, Zoology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Microbiology, etc

Kindly go through the details of the examinations and let us know if we have missed any.

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1. CSIR – UGC NET Exam

 

The CSIR- UGC NET exam is the national level exam for Junior Research Fellowship or Lectureship conducted by National Testing Agency. It is conducted twice every year; in June and December to select talented researchers who can contribute their knowledge to the educational industry. The exam assesses basic logical and reasoning skills as well as subject knowledge in Life Science. Candidates who have completed their masters or pursuing masters are eligible to apply. Those who qualify for the CSIR NET exam possess a higher chance of being selected for a PhD program offered by different universities in India. If you are successful in securing a PhD position after qualifying the CSIR JRF, you will receive a monthly stipend of Rs 35000 from CSIR during the course of your PhD.

Application Mode: Online

Registration Begins: March and September

Registration Fees:  INR 1000 for General, INR 500 for OBC/ EWS, INR 250 for SC/ ST/ PwD

Examination On:  June and December

Examination Mode: Online

Official Website:   csirnet.nta.nic.in

2. Joint Graduate Entrance Examination for Biology and Interdisciplinary Life Sciences (JGEEBILS)

JGEEBILS is conducted by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Graduate School in order to provide candidates admission to the postgraduate and doctoral programs conducted by it. The exam is conducted every year in December. Candidates who hold masters in any branch of Biology, professional masters (M.Pharma./M.Tech.), or who completed a 4-year degree program (e.g., MBBS, BDS) are eligible to apply

Candidates who qualify the entrance exam are eligible to apply for a life science/biotech PhD. program in the Department of Biological Sciences, TIFR, Mumbai, National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, and TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences (TCIS), Hyderabad. The exam is conducted in both online and offline mode. Those who qualified for the CSIR NET exam are also required to apply for this entrance exam for admission to the PhD program in the institutes mentioned above. Those who secured a PhD position will receive a monthly scholarship of Rs 35,000.

Application Mode: Online

Registration Begins: October

Registration Fees:  INR 900 for Male

INR 300 for Female

Examination On:  December

Examination Mode: Online and Offline

Official Website:  http://univ.tifr.res.in/gs2020/about/about.htm

3. DBT JRF Biotechnology Eligibility Test 

The DBT JRF examination is conducted by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology in April every year. The qualified candidates get a fellowship amount of Rs. 25,000 + HRA to pursue research in Biotechnology initially for three years and extendable to 2 more years based on the performance. The exam will be conducted online and will comprise questions from General Science, Mathematics, Chemistry, General Aptitude, Analytical, Quantitative Ability, General Biotechnology, etc. and Specific Areas of Biotechnology.

Candidates who have completed their M.Sc/M.tech/M.V.Sc Degree or B.E/B. Tech in Biotechnology from a recognized university is eligible to apply. The merit list is divided into two categories based on the performance. Candidates selected under category I (Top 275) are eligible to avail fellowship and they are tenable in any University/Institute in India where the candidates register for the PhD program.

Application Mode: Online

Registration Begins: February

Registration Fees: INR 1000 for General/OBC/EWS

INR 250 for SC/ST/PWD

Examination On:  April

Examination Mode: Online

Official Website: http://dbtindia.gov.in/

4. ICMR Junior Research Fellowship Exam

Indian Council of Medical Research conducts a national level entrance exam every year in July to provide fellowships for students who wish to pursue research in the field of biomedical sciences with emphasis on Life Sciences. A total number of 120 fellowships will be awarded for life science candidates. The qualified candidates in the entrance exam can enroll for the life science/biotech PhD program of any University recognized by the UGC/MCI. The validity of the fellowship will be six months. It is a 2-hour exam. The exam paper consists of 3 sections, and each question carries one mark. Candidates have to score a minimum of 55% marks in order to qualify in the exam.

Application Mode: Online

Registration Begins: March/April

Registration Fees: INR 1000 for General/OBC, INR 800 for SC/ST/PH/VH

Examination On:  July

Examination Mode: Offline

Official Website: https://icmr.nic.in./

5. NIMHANS PhD Entrance Exam

National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences conducts a national level online exam to grant admission to PhD, super-specialty, post-graduate, postdoctoral, PG courses, and undergraduate courses. The 90 minutes online exam is conducted twice every year. Once in March and again in October. The qualified candidates are eligible to attend the interview for various PhD positions available at the institute.

Application Mode: Online

Registration Begins: January and August

Registration Fees: INR 1000

Examination On:  March and October

Examination Mode: Online

Official Website: http://nimhans.ac.in/

6. JNU PhD Admission Entrance Test (JNUET)

Candidates interested to join for PhD at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, can apply for the national level entrance exam conducted every year. The exam is conducted online by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The qualified students who managed to secure a PhD. position at the JNU will have to bring their own scholarship based on national level tests or avail UGC-non NET scholarship.

Application Mode: Online

Registration Begins: March

Registration Fees: INR 1000 for Gen and INR 500 for SC/ST/PWD & OBC

Examination On:  May

Examination Mode: Online

Official Website: https://www.jnu.ac.in/admissions

7. Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE)

GATE is a national level examination conducted across the country jointly by IISc and seven IITs on behalf of the National Coordinating Board (GATE), Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), and Government of India with an aim to examine the understanding of various engineering and science undergraduate subjects. Admission to doctoral programs with MHRD and some other government scholarship/ assistantship at engineering colleges/ institutes in the country are open to those who qualify through GATE. Master students in their final year are eligible to apply.

Application Mode: Online

Registration Begins: August

Registration Fees: INR 1500 for Gen and INR 750 for Indian female, SC, ST and PH

Examination On:  February

Examination Mode: Online

Official Website: http://gate.iitd.ac.in/index.php

8. University of Hyderabad PhD Entrance Exam

Candidates with a suitable qualification i.e., master’s in relevant discipline, can register for the PhD program provided by the University of Hyderabad. Candidates can register by filling the online application form and the required fee. Candidates will be chosen for the life science/biotech PhD program according to the performance in the entrance test followed by an interview. UGC NET/CSIR NET/NBHM /JRF/ICMR/ ICAR/ DBT are also eligible to apply for PhD courses. Such candidates will be exempted from the university-based Written Test.

Application Mode: Online

Registration Begins: October

Registration Fees: INR 550 for Gen, INR 500 for EWS and INR 350 for OBC, INR 250 for SC/ST/PH

Examination On:  November

Examination Mode: Offline

Official Website: http://acad.uohyd.ac.in/notifications.html

9. Indian Agricultural Research Institute PhD Entrance Exam (IARI)

Indian agricultural research institute (IARI) offers PhD in 26 various disciplines in Agriculture. The selection is based on the written exam, Academic Performance, and Interview. The application process is online as well as offline. Candidate can download the application form through the website and submit it with the application fee.

Application Mode: Online and Offline

Registration Begins: April

Registration Fees: INR 1000 for UR/OBC and 500 for SC/ST/PC/CWSF

Examination On:  May

Examination Mode: Offline

Official Website: https://phdentranceiari.icar.gov.in/

10. National Institute of Immunology Entrance Exam (NII)

Candidates who would like to join for PhD in Immunology, Infectious and Chronic Disease Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Chemical, Structural and Computational Biology at the National Institute of Immunology can apply for the NII entrance exam. Candidates with M.Sc. in any branch of Science (e.g., Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics) M.Tech., M.B.B.S., M.V.Sc., M.Pharm. Or equivalent qualification as per the norms of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi are eligible to apply. NII selects candidates either through JGEEBILS or through the computer-based entrance exam conducted by NII. The institute currently provides a Junior Research Fellowship of Rs.31000/- per month.

Application Mode: Online

Registration Begins: December

Registration Fees: INR 1000 for Gen/OBC, INR 500 SC/ST/PwD

Examination On:  February

Examination Mode: Online

Official Website: http://www.nii.res.in/

11. AIIMS PhD Entrance Exam

All India Institute of Medical Science Conducts national-level computer-based entrance exams every year to select candidates for its various PhD programs. Candidates with medical degrees like MBBS/BDS and non-medical degrees like M.Sc/M. Tech and BAMS are eligible to apply. The non-medical candidates who qualified in any of the national levels entrance tests like CSIR-UGC NET for JRF, ICMR – JRF, DBT – JRF, GATE are preferred.

Application Mode: Online

Registration Begins: November

Registration Fees: INR 1500 for Gen/OBC, INR 1200 SC/ST

Examination On:  January

Examination Mode: Online

Official Website: http://phd.aiimsexams.org/Welcome_DM.aspx

Candidates who qualify the entrance exam are eligible to apply for a life science/biotech PhD. program in the Department of Biological Sciences, TIFR, Mumbai, National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, and TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences (TCIS), Hyderabad. The exam is conducted in both online and offline mode. Those who qualified for the CSIR NET exam are also required to apply for this entrance exam for admission to the PhD program in the institutes mentioned above. Those who secured a PhD position will receive a monthly scholarship of Rs 35,000.