NEST 2022 - National Entrance Screening Test : Application Form, Exam Date, Eligibility, Syllabus and Exam Pattern

NEST 2023 - The National Entrance Screening Test acronym as NEST is a compulsory test for getting admission to the 5-year Integrated M.Sc. programme in basic sciences - Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics at:

• National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar
• University of Mumbai - Department of Atomic Energy Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UN-DAE CBS), Mumbai. and
• Integrated Science Education and Research Center (ISERC), Visva Bharati, also participated in NEST-2020 and will admit students for its Integrated M.Sc. course from the Merit List.

National Entrance Screening Test NEST-2023 Important Dates

Date of Notification and commencement of Application

• Yet to be Announced.

Last Date for Submission of Application Form

• Yet to be Announced.

Date of Entrance Exam

• Yet to be Announced.

Date of Declaration of Result

• Yet to be Announced.

NEST 2022 was held on:

• 18th June 2022

NEST 2023 Eligibility

NEST 2023 Pattern

The NEST question paper consists of 5 (five) sections.

1. Section 1 is compulsory for all candidates to attempt and will have questions on general science to test candidates' awareness of basic scientific facts.
   
   Note: There will be no negative marking in this general section.
   
   
2. Sections 2 through 5 will contain questions from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. Candidates are required to answer any three of these four sections. The questions will be of objective (MCQ) type designed to test candidates' subject comprehension and analytic ability.
   
   Note: There will be negative marking for incorrect answers. Some questions can have one or more correct answers for which marks can only be earned by marking all correct answers.

Important: The language of the question paper will be English only.

NEST 2023 Syllabus 

NEST consists of questions from the following subjects

Syllabus of General Knowledge

There is no specific syllabus for the General section.

• This section aims to test the candidate’s general ability to comprehend qualitative and quantitative aspects of a given scientific passage and interpretation of graphs of simple systems.
• This will be done by giving a passage on some scientific topic and questions based on the concepts elaborated in the passage will be asked.
• It is also designed to test the candidate’s familiarity with (and not a detailed understanding of) major historical milestones in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, computer science and environment.
• There will also be some questions to test the grasp of mathematics up to the 10th standard and application capabilities of the same to simple problems.

Syllabus of Biology

Cell Biology

• Cell theory and cells as the unit of life.
• Tools and techniques of cell studies - use of microscope and calibration (microscopy), elements of the microscope.
• Biomembranes - transport mechanism, cellular respiration.
• Cell organelles - structure and functions.
• Discovery and structure of DNA, processes of replication, transcription, genetic code and translation.
• Principles of the basic techniques in molecular biology.

Anatomy and Physiology

• Digestive System - Modes of nutrition. Structure of alimentary canal and associated glands, digestive enzymes and gastrointestinal hormones. Absorption of products of digestion, peristalsis, balanced diet.
• Respiratory System - Gaseous exchange in animals. Structure of respiratory organs, mechanism of breathing, gaseous transport, tissue respiration.
• Circulatory System - Open and closed systems. Functions of blood and 1ymph. The microscopic structure of blood and blood vessels. Structures and working of the heart. Distribution of arteries and veins. Circulation of blood coagulation. Blood groups.
• Excretory System - Elimination of nitrogenous waste. Osmoconformers and Osmo regulators. Structure and function of kidney tubules. The arrangement of excretory organs.
• Nervous System - General account of the brain, spinal cord and nerves. Reflex actions (simple and conditioned). Sense organs (eye and ear).

Reproductive System

• Sexual and asexual reproduction.
• General arrangement and functions of reproductive organs.

Developmental Biology

• Basic features of development in animals.
• Types of eggs, fertilization, cleavage, blastula.

The diversity of Animal Life

• Principles of classification, binomial nomenclature.
• The general classification of animal phyla up to classes (invertebrates) and up to sub-classes / order (vertebrates), with a detailed study of the types as indicated:

(i) Protozoa - Amoeba, Entamoeba, Paramecium, Plasmodium, Parasitic trypanosomes

(ii) Porifera

(iii) Coelenterata - Hydra

(iv) Platyhelminthes - Taenia and Fasciola

(v) Aschelminthes - Ascaris

(vi) Annelida - Pheretima and Nereis

(vii) Arthropoda - Crustaceans and Insects

(viii) Mollusca

(ix) Echinodermata

(x) Chordata - General characters of fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals

Genetics and Evolution

• Fundamentals of genetics and evolution.
• Human genetics - human chromosomes, sex determination, sex-linked inheritance. Evidence and theories of organic evolution.
• An organisation of the heredity material in chromosomes. Equational division.
• Reduction division. Mitosis and Meiosis compared and contrasted.
• The significance of meiosis.
• Mendel's laws of inheritance.
• Discovery of linkage, sex-linked inheritance.
• Crossing-over, is the stage at which crossing-over occurs.
• Neurospora genetics.
• Mutation - discovery, types of Mutation and Mutations in diploids.
• Role of mutations in evolution.
• Elaboration of Mendel's laws of inheritance.
• Monohybrid or Dihybrid crosses.

Ecology

• Physical and biological factors influencing organisms.
• Food chains, pyramids of numbers and biomass.
• Biological equilibrium.
• Interspecific associations.

Botany

• Anatomy and Physiology of Plants - Meristems. Plant growth and development.
• Internal and external regulators of growth and development in the plant.
• The internal structure of root, stem, secondary growth and leaves. Xylem and Phloem - their cell elements and functions.
• The internal structure of dicot and monocot leaves.
• Photosynthesis - history, importance, factors and mechanism, stomatal mechanism, transpiration and respiration. Comparative study of dicot and monocot anatomy.
• Absorption and cell-water relations, transport of water and minerals, tropic and turgor movements.
• The significance of life cycles with special reference to the alternation of generations as exemplified in Funaria, Selaginella and Pinus (no structural details).
• Systematics - Principles of classical and new systematics.
• Binomial nomenclature.
• Familiarity with taxa.

Humans and Environment

• Soil, rainfall and temperature with reference to natural resources.
• Our natural resources - their uses and abuses.
• Environmental pollution and preventive measures.

Syllabus of Chemistry

Physical Chemistry

• Measurements in chemistry -
  • SI units for fundamental quantities, significant figures, significant figures in calculations
• General topics -
  • Concept of atoms and molecules.
  • Dalton’s atomic theory.
  • Mole concept.
  • Chemical formulae.
• Balanced chemical equations.
  • Calculations (based on the mole concept) involve common oxidation-reduction, neutralization and displacement reactions.
  • Concentration in terms of mole fraction, molarity, molality and normality.
• Gaseous and liquid states -
  • The Absolute scale of temperature.
  • Ideal gas equation.
  • Deviation from ideality, van der Waals equation.
  • Kinetic theory of gases, average, root mean square and most probable velocities and their relation with temperature.
  • Law of partial pressures.
  • Vapour pressure.
  • Diffusion of gases.
• Atomic structure and chemical bonding -
  • Bohr model, the spectrum of a hydrogen atom, quantum numbers.
  • Wave-particle duality, de Broglie hypothesis.
  • Uncertainty principle.
  • Qualitative quantum mechanical picture of the hydrogen atom, shapes of s, p and d orbitals.
  • Electronic configurations of elements (up to atomic number 36).
• Auf bau principle.
  • Pauli’s exclusion principle and Hund’s rule.
  • Orbital overlap and covalent bond.
  • Hybridisation involves s, p and d orbitals only.
  • Orbital energy diagrams for homonuclear diatomic species.
  • Hydrogen bond.
• Polarity in molecules, dipole moment (qualitative aspects only).
  • VSEPR model and shapes of molecules (linear, angular, triangular, square planar, pyramidal, square pyramidal, trigonal bipyramidal, tetrahedral and octahedral).
• Energetics -
  • The first law of thermodynamics.
  • Internal energy, work and heat, pressure-volume work.
  • Enthalpy, Hess’s law.
  • The heat of reaction, fusion and vaporization.
  • The second law of thermodynamics.
  • Entropy.
  • Free energy.

The criterion of spontaneity

• Chemical equilibrium - Law of mass action. Equilibrium constant. Le Chatelier's principle (effect of concentration, temperature and pressure). The significance of ΔG and ΔGo in chemical equilibrium. Solubility product, common ion effect, pH and buffer solutions. Acids and bases (Bronsted and Lewis concepts). Hydrolysis of salts.
• Electrochemistry - Electrochemical cells and cell reactions. Standard electrode potentials. Nernst equation and its relation to ΔG. Electrochemical series, emf of galvanic cells. Faraday's laws of electrolysis. Electrolytic conductance, specific, equivalent and molar conductivity, Kohlrausch's law. Concentration cells.
• ChemistryChemical kinetics - Rates of chemical reactions. Order of reactions. Rate constant. First-order reactions. Temperature dependence of rate constant (Arrhenius equation).
• Solid-state - Classification of solids. Crystalline state, seven crystal systems (cell parameters a, b, c, alpha, beta, gamma), the close-packed structure of solids (cubic), packing in fcc, bcc and hcp lattices. Nearest neighbours, ionic radii. Simple ionic compounds, point defects.
• Solutions - Raoult's law. Molecular weight determination from lowering of vapour pressure, the elevation of boiling point and depression of freezing point.
• Nuclear chemistry - Radioactivity. Isotopes and isobars. Properties of alpha, beta and gamma rays. Kinetics of radioactive decay (decay series excluded), carbon dating. Stability of nuclei with respect to proton-neutron ratio. A brief discussion on fission and fusion reactions.

Inorganic Chemistry

• Study of different groups in the periodic table - Group 1A (Preparation, properties and reactions of alkali metals, with emphasis on the chemistry of Na and K and their compounds-oxides, peroxides, hydroxides, carbonates, bicarbonates, chlorides and sulphates) Group 2A (preparation, properties and reactions alkaline earth metals with emphasis on Mg and Ca and their compounds such as oxides, peroxides, hydroxides, carbonates, bicarbonates, chlorides and sulphates)
• Group 3A (chemistry of Boron and its compounds - diborane)
  Group 8A (preparation, properties and reactions of inert gases with emphasis on the chemistry of Xenon)
  Group 7A (halogen chemistry with special emphasis on the chemistry of chlorine)
• Study of nonmetals - C, S, N, P (especially oxides and oxyacids compounds of these elements, in addition, phosphines for P, ammonia for N) and O (peroxide and ozone), Si (silicones and silicates). (Allotropes of C, S, N should be covered.)
• Transition elements (3d series) - Definition, general characteristics, variable oxidation states and their stabilities, colour (excluding the details of electronic transitions) and calculation of spin-only magnetic moment.
• Coordination compounds - nomenclature of mononuclear coordination compounds. cis-trans and ionization isomerism, hybridization and geometries of mononuclear coordination compounds (linear, tetrahedral, square planar and octahedral).
• Metals and metallurgy - General methods involving chemical principles. General operation stages involved in the metallurgical operation. Metallurgy of p-block element (emphasis on Al). Metallurgy of Fe-triad (Fe, Co, And Ni with more emphasis on Fe metallurgy). Metallurgy of coinage metals (Cu, Ag with more emphasis on Cu).

Organic Chemistry

• Concepts - Hybridisation of carbon. Sigma and pi-bonds. Shapes of simple organic molecules. Structural and geometrical isomerism. Optical isomerism of compounds containing up to two asymmetric centres, (R, S and E, Z nomenclature excluded). IUPAC nomenclature of simple organic compounds (only hydrocarbons, monofunctional and bi-functional compounds). Conformations of ethane and butane (Newman projections). Resonance and hyperconjugation. Keto-enol tautomerism. Determination of empirical and molecular formulae of simple compounds (only combustion method). Hydrogen bonds - definition and their effects on the physical properties of alcohols and carboxylic acids. Inductive and resonance effects on acidity and basicity of organic acids and bases.
• Polarity and inductive effects of alkyl halides. Reactive intermediates are produced during homolytic and heterolytic bond cleavage. Formation, structure and stability of carbocations, carbanions and free radicals.
• Preparation, properties and reactions of alkanes - Homologous series, physical properties of alkanes (melting points, boiling points and density). Combustion and halogenation of alkanes. Preparation of alkanes by Wurtz reaction and decarboxylation reactions. Preparation, properties and reactions of alkenes and alkynes - physical properties of alkenes and alkynes (boiling points, density and dipole moments). The acidity of alkynes. Acid-catalyzed hydration of alkenes and alkynes (excluding the stereochemistry of addition and elimination). Reactions of alkenes with KMnO4 and ozone. Reduction of alkenes and alkynes. Preparation of alkenes and alkynes by elimination reactions. Electrophilic addition reactions of alkenes with X2, HX, HOX and H2O (X=halogen). Addition reactions of alkynes; Metal acetylides.
• Reactions of benzene - Structure and aromaticity. Electrophilic substitution reactions - halogenation, nitration, sulphonation, Friedel-Crafts alkylation and acylation. Effect of o-, m- and p- directing groups in monosubstituted benzenes.
• Phenols - Acidity, electrophilic substitution reactions (halogenation, nitration and sulphonation). Reimer-Tieman reaction, Kolbe reaction.
• Characteristic reactions of the following (including those mentioned above) -
• Alkyl halides - rearrangement reactions of alkyl carbocation, Grignard reactions, nucleophilic substitution
• reactions Alcohols - esterification, dehydration and oxidation, reaction with sodium, phosphorus halides, ZnCl2 / concentrated HCl, conversion of alcohols into aldehydes and ketones. Ethers - Preparation by Williamson's Synthesis. Aldehydes and Ketones - oxidation, reduction, oxime and hydrazone formation. aldol condensation, Perkin reaction. Cannizzaro reaction. Haloform reaction and nucleophilic addition reactions (Grignard addition).
• Carboxylic acids - formation of esters, acid chlorides and amides, ester hydrolysis. Amines - basicity of substituted anilines and aliphatic amines, preparation from nitro compounds, reaction with nitrous acid, the azo coupling reaction of diazonium salts of aromatic amines, Sandmeyer and related reactions of diazonium salts. Carbylamine reaction. Haloarenes - nucleophilic aromatic substitution in haloarenes and substituted haloarenes (excluding Benzyne mechanism and Cine substitution).
• Carbohydrate - Classification. mono- and disaccharides (glucose and sucrose). Oxidation, reduction, glycoside formation and hydrolysis of sucrose.
• Amino acids and peptides - General structure (only primary structure for peptides) and physical properties. Some examples of separation of the amino acid mixture using physical properties.

Syllabus of Mathematics

Algebra

• Algebra of complex numbers, addition, multiplication, conjugation, polar representation, properties of modulus and principal argument, triangle inequality, cube roots of unity, geometric interpretations.
• Quadratic equations with real coefficients, relations between roots and coefficients, the formation of quadratic equations with given roots, and symmetric functions of roots.
• Arithmetic, geometric and harmonic progressions, arithmetic, geometric and harmonic means, sums of finite arithmetic and geometric progressions, infinite geometric series, sums of squares and cubes of the first n natural numbers.

Logarithms and their properties

• Permutations and combinations, Binomial theorem for the positive integral index, properties of binomial coefficients.
• Matrices as a rectangular array of real numbers, equality of matrices, addition, multiplication by a scalar and product of matrices, transpose of a matrix, Determinant of a square matrix of order up to three, inverse of a square matrix of order up to three, properties of these matrix operations, diagonal, symmetric and skew-symmetric matrices and their properties, solutions of simultaneous linear equations in two or three variables.
• Addition and multiplication rules of probability, conditional probability, Bayes Theorem, independence of events, computation of the probability of events using permutations and combinations.

Trigonometry

• Trigonometric functions, their periodicity and graphs, addition and subtraction formulae, formulae involving multiple and sub-multiple angles, and the general solution of trigonometric equations.
• Relations between sides and angles of a triangle, sine rule, cosine rule, half-angle formula and the area of a triangle, inverse trigonometric functions (principal value only).

Analytical Geometry

• Mathematics Two dimensions - Cartesian coordinates, the distance between two points, section formulae, the shift of origin. The equation of a straight line in various forms, the angle between two lines, and the distance of a point from a line. Lines through the point of intersection of two given lines, the equation of the bisector of the angle between two lines, concurrency of lines. Centroid, orthocentre, incentre and circumcentre of a triangle. The equation of a circle in various forms, equations of tangent, normal and chord. Parametric equations of a circle, the intersection of a circle with a straight line or a circle, the equation of a circle through the points of intersection of two circles and those of a circle and a straight line.
• Equations of a parabola, ellipse and hyperbola in standard form, their foci, directrices and eccentricity, parametric equations, equations of tangent and normal. Locus Problems.
• Three dimensions - Direction cosines and direction ratios, the equation of a straight line in space, the equation of a plane, and the distance of a point from a plane.

Differential calculus

• Real-valued functions of a real variable, into, onto and one-to-one functions, sum, difference, product and quotient of two functions, composite functions, absolute value, polynomial, rational, trigonometric, exponential and logarithmic functions.
• Limit and continuity of a function, limit and continuity of the sum, difference, product and quotient of two functions, L’Hospital rule for evaluation of limits of functions.
• Even and odd functions, the inverse of a function, continuity of composite functions, and the intermediate value property of continuous functions. The derivative of a function, the derivative of the sum, difference, product and quotient of two functions, chain rule, derivatives of polynomial, rational, trigonometric, inverse trigonometric, exponential and logarithmic functions.
• Derivatives of implicit functions, derivatives up to order two, geometrical interpretation of the derivative, tangents and normals, increasing and decreasing functions, maximum and minimum values of a function, Rolle’s Theorem and Lagrange’s Mean Value Theorem.

Integral calculus

• Integration as the inverse process of differentiation, indefinite integrals of standard functions, definite integrals and their properties, Fundamental Theorem of Integral Calculus.
• Integration by parts, integration by the methods of substitution and partial fractions, and application of definite integrals to the determination of areas involving simple curves.
• Formation of ordinary differential equations, the solution of homogeneous differential equations, separation of variables method, linear first-order differential equations.

Vectors

• Addition of vectors, scalar multiplication, dot and cross products, scalar triple products and their geometrical interpretations.

General

• Units and dimensions, dimensional analysis.
  • The Least count significant figures.
  • Methods of measurement (Direct, Indirect, Null) and measurement of length, time, mass, temperature, potential difference, current and resistance.
• Design of some simple experiments.
  • Identification of independent, dependent and control variables.
  • Identification of sample size, range and interval. Identification of appropriate measurement techniques and instruments.
• Graphical representation, interpretation and analysis of data.
  • Errors in the measurements and error analysis.

Mechanics

• Kinematics in one and two dimensions (Cartesian coordinates only), projectiles. Uniform circular motion.

Relative velocity

• Physics Newton’s laws of motion.
  • Inertial and uniformly accelerated frames of reference.
  • Static and dynamic friction.
• Kinetic and potential energy.
  • Work and power.
  • Conservation of linear momentum and mechanical energy.
• Systems of particles.
  • Centre of mass and its motion.
  • Impulse.
  • Elastic and inelastic collisions.
• Law of gravitation.
  • Gravitational potential and field.
  • Acceleration due to gravity.
  • The motion of planets and satellites in circular orbits. Escape velocity.
  • Rigid body, the moment of inertia, parallel and perpendicular axes theorems, the moment of inertia of uniform bodies with simple geometrical shapes.
  • Angular momentum, Torque.
  • Conservation of angular momentum.
  • Dynamics of rigid bodies with a fixed axis of rotation. Rolling without slipping rings, cylinders and spheres.
  • Equilibrium of rigid bodies.
  • The collision of point masses with rigid bodies.
  • Linear and angular simple harmonic motions.

Hooke’s law, Young’s modulus.

• The pressure in a fluid. Pascal’s law.
• Buoyancy.
• Surface energy and surface tension, capillary rise.
• Viscosity - Stoke’s and Poiseuille’s law, Terminal velocity.
• Streamline flow, the equation of continuity.
• Bernoulli’s theorem.
• Plane-wave motion, longitudinal and transverse waves, superposition of waves.
• Progressive and stationary waves.
• The vibration of strings and air columns.
• Resonance.
• Beats.
• The speed of sound in gases.
• Doppler effect (in sound).

Thermal physics

• Thermal expansion of solids, liquids and gases. Calorimetry, latent heat. Heat conduction in one dimension.
• Elementary concepts of convection and radiation.
  • Newton’s law of cooling.
  • Ideal gas laws.
  • Specific heats (CV and CP for monoatomic and diatomic gases).
  • Isothermal and adiabatic processes, the bulk modulus of gases.
  • Equivalence of heat and work.
  • The first and second law of thermodynamics and its applications (only for ideal gases).
  • Entropy.
• Blackbody radiation - absorptive and emissive powers. Kirchhoff’s law. Wien’s displacement law, Stefan’s law.

Electricity and magnetism

• Coulomb’s law.
• Electric field and potential.
• The electrical potential energy of a system of point charges and of electrical dipoles in a uniform electrostatic field; Electric field lines.
• The flux of the electric field.
• Gauss’s law and its application in simple cases, such as to find a field due to an infinitely long straight wire.
• Uniformly charged infinite plane sheet and uniformly charged thin spherical shell.

Capacitance

• Calculation of capacitance with and without dielectrics. Capacitors in series and parallel. Energy is stored in a capacitor.
• Electric current. Ohm’s law. Series and parallel arrangements of resistances and cells. Kirchhoff’s laws and simple applications; Heating effect of current.  Biot-Savart’s law and Ampere’s law. Magnetic field near a current-carrying straight wire, along with the axis of a circular coil and inside a long straight solenoid. Force on a moving charge and on a current-carrying wire in a uniform magnetic field.
• The magnetic moment of a current loop. Effect of a uniform magnetic field on a current loop. Moving coil galvanometer, voltmeter, ammeter and their conversions. Electromagnetic induction - Faraday’s law, Lenz’s law. Self and mutual inductance. RC, LR and LC circuits with and A.C. Sources.

Optics

• Rectilinear propagation of light. Reflection and refraction at plane and spherical surfaces, Deviation and dispersion of light by a prism. Thin lenses. Combination of mirrors and thin lenses. Magnification.
• Wave nature of light - Huygen’s principle, interference limited to Young’s double-slit experiment. Elementary idea of diffraction – Rayleigh criterion. Elementary idea of polarization – Brewster’s law and the law of Malus.

Modern physics

• Atomic nucleus. Alpha, beta and gamma radiations. Law of radioactive decay. Decay constant. Half-life and mean life. Binding energy and its calculation. Fission and fusion processes. Energy calculation in these processes.
• Photoelectric effect. Bohr’s theory of hydrogen-like atoms. Characteristic and continuous X-rays, Moseley’s law.de Broglie wavelength of matter waves. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.

How to apply for the NEST Exam 2023?

Aspiring candidates can Apply Online by visiting the official website of NEST i.e., "nest exam.in" and following the instructions given there.

NEST 2023 Exam Dates

NEST is usually held in the month of June.

NEST 2023 Application Fee

The application fee will be:

NEST 2023 Contact Details

The request for the paper application form, completed paper application form, Demand Draft and any NEST-related queries by postal mail must be sent to:

The Chief Coordinator, NEST-2022
NISER, Institute of Physics Campus
Sachivalaya Marg, P.O. Sainik School
Bhubaneswar – 751005, Odisha.

For any queries requiring a quicker response, contact at:

Ph: (0674) 230 4036
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.nestexam.in/