NOTIFICATION : UGC NATIONAL ELIGIBILITY TEST FOR JUNIOR RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP AND ELIGIBILITY FOR LECTURESHIP – DECEMBER,2008

UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION (UGC)
NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL TESTING (NET) BUREAU
UGC NATIONAL ELIGIBILITY TEST FOR JUNIOR RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP AND ELIGIBILITY FOR LECTURESHIP – DECEMBER,2008

Last date for receipt of duly completed Application Forms at the respective Test Centres is 07-11-2008.

Candidates should submit their Application Forms only to the Registrar of the University from where they wish to appear in the Test as indicated in item 10 below. The application must be strictly as per the prescribed format.

APPLICATION SENT DIRECTLY TO THE UGC OFFICE WILL NOT BE ENTERTAINED.
1) The University Grants Commission announces holding of the National Eligibility Test (NET) on 28th December, 2008 (Sunday) for determining the eligibility of Indian nationals for the Award of Junior Research Fellowships (JRF) and eligibility for Lectureship in Indian universities and colleges. UGC will conduct NET in 77 (seventy seven) subjects (listed under item no. 9) at 66 (sixty six) selected University Centres (listed under Item no. 10) spread across the country.

The result of the UGC-NET held on 29th June, 2008 and the one to be held on 28th December, 2008 will be made available on the UGC website : www.ugc.ac.in and shall also be published in the Employment News as and when it is declared. The candidates will not be individually intimated about their result.

The candidates who qualify for the award of Junior Research Fellowship are eligible to pursue research in the subject of their post-graduation or in a related subject and are also eligible for Lectureship. The universities, institutions, IITs and other national organizations may select the JRF awardees for whole time research work in accordance with the procedure prescribed by them. The award of JRF will depend on the performance of the candidate in NET. However, the candidates qualifying exclusively for Lectureship will not be considered for award of JRF. Candidates appearing in NET should clearly specify in the prescribed Application Form whether they are applying for both JRF & eligibility for Lectureship OR only for eligibility for Lectureship. Candidates who qualify the Test for eligibility for Lectureship will be governed by the rules and regulations for recruitment of Lecturers of the concerned universities/colleges/state governments, as the case may be.

Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Visually Handicapped (VH)/ Physically Handicapped (PH) candidates will be given such special concessions as may be decided by the Commission.

2) JUNIOR RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP :
Candidates qualifying for the award of Junior Research Fellowship will be eligible to receive fellowship of UGC under various schemes, subject to finding their placement in universities/IITs/institutions. The validity period of the offer is two years w.e.f. the date of issue of JRF Award Letter. However, in case the candidates have already joined M.Phil/Ph.D., the date of commencement of fellowship shall be from the date of declaration of NET result or date of their joining, whichever is later.

3) CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBILITY :
i) Candidates who have secured at least 55% marks (without rounding off) in Master’s Degree OR equivalent examination from Universities/Institutions recognised by UGC in Humanities (including languages) and Social Sciences, Computer Science & Applications, Electronic Science etc. are eligible for this Test. The Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Physically Handicapped (PH)/Visually Handicapped (VH) category candidates who have secured at least 50% marks (without rounding off) in Master’s degree examination are eligible for this Test.

ii) Candidates who have appeared OR will be appearing at the qualifying Master’s degree (final year) examination and whose result is still awaited OR candidates whose qualifying examinations have been delayed may also apply for this Test.

However, such candidates will be admitted provisionally and shall be considered eligible for award of JRF/Lectureship eligibility only after they have passed their Master’s degree examination or equivalent with at least 55% marks (50% in case of SC/ST/PH/VH category candidates). Such candidates must complete their P.G. degree examination within two years from the date of NET result with required percentage of marks, failing which they shall be treated as disqualified.

iii) The Ph.D. degree holders whose Master’s level examination had been completed by 19th September, 1991 (irrespective of date of declaration of result) shall be eligible for a relaxation of 5% in aggregate marks (i.e., from 55% to 50%) for appearing in NET.

iv) Candidates are advised to appear in the subject of their post-graduation only. The candidates whose post-graduation subject is not covered in the list of subjects in item No. 9, may appear in a related subject.

v) Candidates seeking concession in fee are required to submit attested copy of their OBC/SC/ST/PH/VH certificate along with their Application Forms.
Other candidates are not required to submit any certificates/documents in support of their eligibility alongwith the Application Form. Therefore, the candidates, in their own interest, must satisfy themselves about their eligibility for the Test. In the event of any ineligibility being detected by the Commission, their candidature will be cancelled and they shall be liable for legal action.

4) AGE LIMIT & RELAXATION :
i) Junior Research Fellowship : Not more than 28 years as on 01.12.2008. A relaxation upto 5 years is provided to the candidates belonging to SC/ST/OBC/PH/VH categories and to women applicants. Relaxation will also be provided to the candidates having research experience, limited to the period spent on research in the relevant/related subject of post-graduation degree, subject to a maximum of 5 years, on production of a certificate from appropriate authority.
Three years’ relaxation in age will be permissible to the candidates possessing L.L.M. Degree. Total age relaxation on the above ground(s) shall not exceed five years under any circumstances.

ii) Lectureship : No upper age limit.

5) EXEMPTION (ELIGIBILITY FOR LECTURESHIP) :
i) For M. Phil/ Ph.D candidates: The candidates having Ph.D. Degree in the concerned subject are exempted from NET for Under Graduate and Post Graduate level teaching. The candidates having M. Phil Degree in the concerned subject are exempted from NET for Under Graduate level teaching only. The candidates who have passed the UGC/CSIR JRF examination prior to 1989 are also exempted from appearing in NET.

ii) For SET Candidates: The candidates who have cleared the State Eligibility Test (SET) accredited by UGC for eligibility for Lectureship held prior to 1st June 2002, are exempted from appearing in NET, being eligible to apply for Lectureship anywhere in India. For SET held from 1st June 2002 onwards, the qualified candidates are eligible to apply for the post of lecturer only in the universities/ colleges belonging to the state from where they have cleared their SET. All SET qualified candidates are also eligible to appear in NET, if they so desire.

6) EXAMINATION FEE AND MODE OF PAYMENT :
For General candidates, the examination fee is Rs.450/-; for Other Backward Classes (OBC), the fee is Rs. 225/- and for SC/ST/PH/VH candidates, it is Rs. 110/-. The fee should be paid in the form of a single crossed demand draft from any Government of India Bank/Scheduled Government Bank payable at their Service Branch, New Delhi/Delhi only with six months’ validity drawn in favour of the Secretary, U.G.C., New Delhi. Fee once paid, will not be refunded under any circumstances.

7) SCHEME AND DATE OF TEST :
(i) The Test will consist of three papers. All the three papers will be held on 28th December, 2008 in two separate sessions as under:
First Session: Paper I; 100 marks 1¼ Hours (09.30 A.M. to 10.45 A.M.)
First Session: Paper II; 100 marks 1¼ Hours (10.45 A.M. to 12.00 NOON)
Second Session: Paper III; 200 marks 2½ Hours (01.30 P.M. to 04.00 P.M.)

Syllabus of Test:
Syllabi for all NET subjects can be downloaded from the UGC Website www.ugc.ac.in and are also available in the libraries of all Indian universities. UGC will not send the syllabus to individual candidates.

In Paper III, candidate has the option to answer either in Hindi or in English in all subjects except the languages where the candidate is required to write in the concerned language only. In case of Computer Science & Applications, Electronic Science and Environmental Sciences, the question papers will be in English only.

In case of any discrepancy found in the English and Hindi versions, the questions in English version shall be taken as final.


ENCLOSURES TO BE SENT WITH THE APPLICATION
Candidates should send the following documents with their application:-
i) A crossed Bank Draft towards examination fee payable to Secretary, University Grants Commission, New Delhi. Candidates should mention their name, Subject Code and Centre Code on the reverse of the Demand Draft.
ii) SC/ST/Visually Handicapped/Physically Handicapped/ OBC certificates, in case applicable, duly attested by a Gazetted Officer.
iii) Two self addressed unstamped envelopes of 10” X 4” size.

CHECK LIST
The candidates are advised to check the following points carefully before submission of application:-
i) Whether they fulfil the eligibility conditions for the Test as prescribed under the heading ‘CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBILITY’ and ‘AGE LIMIT’.
ii) Whether they have filled all the columns of the Application Form correctly.
iii) Whether they have filled the name of the subject and centre as well as their codes in columns 3 and 4 respectively.
iv) Whether they have filled their CATEGORY in Column 8 in words, viz., GEN/SC/ST/OBC correctly.
v) Whether VH/PH candidates have filled Column 9 correctly. Only VH/PH candidates have to fill this column and the others have to leave it blank.
vi) Whether they have signed the Application Form and Attendance Slip.

NOTIFICATION
EXAM. DATE : 28-12-2008
CLOSING DATE : 07-11-2008