Hey friends! I am excited to share my personal journey of cracking JRF. After preparing for CSIR-NET/JRF, I got All India Rank-48 (AIR-48) in my first attempt. Before going further, you must know what kind of exam it is and why you need to crack this exam?
- What is Joint CSIR UGC NET/JRF?
The CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) NET/JRF is a national eligibility test, conducted by the NTA (National Testing Agency), for Indian citizens for the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and Lectureship (LS)/Assistant Professor positions in Indian universities and colleges. These eligibility criteria were approved by the UGC (University Grants Commission). By clearing JRF, your enrollment becomes so easy and you get a good stipend during the PhD course. You need to give the same exam for qualifying JRF and NET. There are separate cut off sets every year for JRF and NET. The key difference lies in the requirement for achieving a higher score to clear the JRF, as compared to NET.
- Age Limit and educational eligibility criteria?
The eligibility criteria for the CSIR NET JRF examination states an age limit of 30 years. However, in case of CSIR NET LS (Lectureship)/Assistant Professor there is no upper age limit. However, candidates falling under specific categories such as SC/ST/PwD/Women/Transgender are eligible for age relaxations, with the maximum age limit extended to 33 years for them. In academic criteria; the applicant must have any of the following degrees in the science field such as: M. Sc., MBBS, B. Pharma, B. Tech, BE, B. Sc. (Hons). Note: Individuals holding Bachelor’s degrees, like B. Tech, are eligible solely for Junior Research Fellowships (JRF) and cannot apply for lectureships.
- How many attempts are permissible in the CSIR-NET/JRF exam?
There are no limits on how many times a candidate can attempt for the CSIR NET exam. Candidates can attempt the exam repeatedly, provided they meet the eligibility criteria. However, it is important to note that the CSIR NET scorecard is valid for only two years from the date of result announcement. Therefore, candidates planning to use their CSIR NET scores for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) or lectureship roles must apply within this two-year validity period of the scorecard.
- When and how to fill the form?
The CSIR NET exam takes place twice a year, typically in June and December. Consequently, candidates have two chances each year to participate in the examination and enhance their scores. Moreover, if a candidate applies for a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and meets the eligibility criteria for lectureship, they are considered for both positions.
Candidates who have completed their MSc or are awaiting their final MSc results are eligible for lectureship, provided they satisfy the CSIR NET eligibility requirements.
It is essential to mention that CSIR NET Admit Card 2024 will not be issued to candidates who do not meet the eligibility criteria. You can apply for CSIR-NET JUNE 2024 till May 21, 2024 and the date for CSIR-NET DECEMBER 2024 will be announced at the end of October 2024. For application form you can visit the official website https://csirnet.nta.ac.in/ and fill all the required sections very carefully.
IMPORTANT NOTE: 1. You can mention your reservation category only if you have a certificate issued from the government.
2. During filling the examination option, you can opt for JRF if you are within age criteria.
- What are the new guidelines set by UGC for admission to PhD in 2024?
Starting from the June 2024 session of CSIR-NET, a new category labeled “admission to PhD only” has been implemented. This category aims to streamline the PhD admission process across universities nationwide. Instead of universities conducting their own entrance tests for PhD admissions, they can now utilize CSIR-NET scores. The selection criteria for PhD admission will be based on both the NET marks and the performance in the interview or viva voce. Additionally, candidates falling under categories 2 and 3 will have their NET marks valid for one year for PhD admission purposes.
- How to crack joint CSIR- NET/JRF 2024 in the first attempt?
Lately, this question is striking to most of you guys preparing for CSIR-NET/JRF 2024. The same question arose in my mind: is it possible to crack this exam in the first attempt? Don’t worry, here I am telling you step by step approach to achieve your task within few months:
1. Decide your Goal: The very first step is to decide your goal that you are really willing to clear this exam or you are just following the crowd blindly. If yes, then it will give you more strength to clear this exam.
2. Design your personalized roadmap:
You can start your preparation during graduation, post-graduation and fix the time for preparation. Before starting your preparation, you should have clarity in your mind about which topics you need to cover for your exam.
- Firstly, you have to identify the mandatory topics analyzed from previous 10 years’ question papers.
- List your mandatory topics in which your concepts are weak and start preparing from that.
- Fix your learning source, from where you are going to study your all material. Most people make mistakes here by following multiple study material notes and teachers because all teachers have different ways to teach the same concept. So you need to fix this from where you are going to cover your topics. From my point of view, you can visit Youtube channels of expertise in their field and keep following them. You can purchase a course from them which is available at cheaper rates.
“NOTE: Be careful when joining offline coaching classes, as most of them have only experts in a few fields, not in all fields. You can purchase the best online course of one expert and hence you have multiple options.”
- Divide your topics according to time, when and in how much you are going to take to cover your mandatory topic. Fix your time for each topic and start learning concepts from very basic. “If you have a strong backbone in basics, you can easily crack the toughest exam.” Focus on grabbing deep knowledge for each topic.
3. Fix your daily routine
This is a key factor to decide your seriousness for clearing the exam. Let’s say, you start studying at 6 AM on the first day and keep studying till late at night. On the very next day, you should not be able to start your study at the same time (6 AM). This is not going to work for the long term. So here fixing the daily routine becomes the most important factor, if you want efficient preparation. Decide days/hours/weeks for one topic and finish that first. Then fix a day to analyze your progress by self examination of previously studied topics.
Things Keep in Mind: Pray to GOD from going to the study table, Eat healthy, and take a good sleep according to your body.
4. Tips and tricks (shortcuts) for preparation
Joke……Haha! Here is no shortcut for any success. You can apply shortcuts only when you are an expert in that field. This is the very last step after preparation before going to the final exam. After the multiple revisions, you are able to brief the entire topic on one page. It is very helpful before exams as it gives you important pointers for memorizing a particular topic.
5. Practice session
This is the most important session for competitive exams to solve the previous year and test series question. Many people keep preparing for multiple topics but they forget to practice them, by which they meet only failure and nothing else. From my own experience, I chose my mandatory topics very wisely and kept practicing each topic 20 times before the exam. By practicing multiple times, I became an expert in my subject and I cleared the exam with very ease.
6. Stress handling during exam
Huhh,,,…Yes, this is also an important task when you are going to sit on a hot seat for an exam. In brief, most people keep doing only preparation but they are not able to handle the stress in the examination hall. In stress their mind efficiency approaches negative, this mostly happens if you have fear of clearing exam. The only solution to this problem is the positive mindset, practice meditation, and daily physical exercise for 30 minutes, during your preparation phase will help you handle stress at exam time.
ALL THE BEST TO ALL STUDENTS
Hope this article will help you in cracking exam 2024.