CSIR UGC NET December 2026: application form, last date, exam date, fee and eligibility

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has opened the CSIR UGC NET December 2026 application form on csirnet.nta.nic.in. You can apply from 7 October 2026 to 5 November 2026 (up to 11:50 PM). The Computer Based Test will be held on 19, 22 and 27 December 2026. The fee is ₹1,150 for General, ₹600 for General-EWS/OBC (NCL) and ₹325 for SC/ST/PwD/PwBD/Third Gender. You need at least 55% marks (50% for reserved categories) in a Master’s degree or equivalent.

Important dates

• Online registration and application: 7 October 2026 to 5 November 2026 (up to 11:50 PM)
• Last date to apply at the normal fee: 5 November 2026 (11:50 PM)
• Late submission with late fee ₹500: 6 to 9 November 2026 (up to 11:50 PM); last date of successful fee payment with late fee is 9 November 2026 (11:50 PM)
• Correction in the submitted application (online only): 10 to 12 November 2026 (up to 11:50 PM)
• Examination: 19, 22 and 27 December 2026; Shift 1 is 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and Shift 2 is 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Advance city intimation slip, admit card, answer key and result: to be announced later

The bulletin says the dates are tentative and candidates will be informed if anything changes.

Application fee

Category	Application fee
General	₹1,150
General-EWS / OBC (NCL)	₹600
SC / ST / PwD / PwBD / Third Gender	₹325

A late fee of ₹500 is listed for applications submitted from 6 to 9 November 2026. Pay by net banking, debit card, credit card or UPI. Bank or payment gateway service charges and GST are charged extra. Your application is confirmed only after the fee is successfully received. Fee already paid is not refunded, except duplicate or multiple payments for the same application. If you challenge an answer key later, the fee is ₹200 per question (non-refundable).

Eligibility and age limit

Qualification

• General/Unreserved/General-EWS: at least 55% marks in a Master’s degree or equivalent.
• OBC-NCL, SC, ST, PwD/PwBD and Third Gender: at least 50% marks.
• Students in the final year of Master’s or awaiting results can apply, but are provisional. They must pass with the required marks within two years of the NET result (one year if qualifying for Ph.D. admission only).
• With a 4-year/8-semester bachelor’s degree: at least 75% marks (5% relaxation for reserved categories). Such candidates are eligible for JRF and Ph.D. admission, not for Assistant Professor.

Age limit

• JRF: not more than 30 years as on 1 December 2026. Up to 5 years relaxation for OBC-NCL/SC/ST/PwD/PwBD/Third Gender and women, and also for research experience or armed forces service (total relaxation not more than 5 years).
• Assistant Professor and Ph.D. admission only: no upper age limit.

Only Indian citizens are eligible. NTA does not verify your eligibility at the time of applying, so check it yourself; candidature is cancelled if you are found ineligible at any stage.

Exam pattern and subjects

The test is a Computer Based Test (CBT) of 180 minutes with objective multiple choice questions in three parts and no break between parts. The paper is bilingual (Hindi and English); if the two versions differ, the English version is final. Part A is general aptitude (common to all subjects), Part B is subject-related and Part C has higher-order analytical questions. Maximum marks are 200 in every subject.

Subject (code)	Questions in Part A / B / C	Questions to attempt	Marks per correct answer (A / B / C)	Negative marking
Chemical Sciences (701)	20 / 40 / 60	15 / 35 / 25	2 / 2 / 4	25% in all parts
Earth, Atmospheric, Ocean and Planetary Sciences (702)	20 / 50 / 80	15 / 35 / 25	2 / 2 / 4	25% in A and B, 33% in C
Life Sciences and Bio-Technology (703)	20 / 50 / 75	15 / 35 / 25	2 / 2 / 4	25% in all parts
Mathematical Sciences (704)	20 / 40 / 60	15 / 25 / 20	2 / 3 / 4.75	25% in A and B, none in C
Physical Sciences (705)	20 / 25 / 30	15 / 20 / 20	2 / 3.5 / 5	25% in all parts

How to apply online

Apply only on the official website csirnet.nta.nic.in. Applications in any other mode are not accepted, and you can fill only one application.

1. Register with your own email ID and mobile number; all communication is sent only to these.
2. Log in with your application number and password and fill in personal details, subject, exam cities and educational qualification.
3. Upload your live photograph, scanned photograph (JPG/JPEG, 10 kb to 200 kb), signature (JPG/JPEG, 10 kb to 50 kb) and, if applicable, category or disability certificate (PDF, 50 kb to 300 kb).
4. Pay the fee online and download the Confirmation Page.
5. If you need to change something, use the one-time correction window (10 to 12 November 2026). Only the fields enabled for correction can be edited, and no corrections sent by post, fax, WhatsApp, email or by hand are accepted.

You do not need to send any document or printout to NTA.

What qualifying gives you, and the JRF stipend

The result places qualified candidates in one of three categories:

• JRF and Assistant Professor (also eligible for Ph.D. admission)
• Assistant Professor and Ph.D. admission (not JRF)
• Ph.D. admission only

The number qualifying in each category is decided by the results committee. A JRF selected through CSIR-UGC NET gets ₹37,000 per month for the first two years plus an annual contingent grant of ₹20,000. After two years, an SRF (NET) upgrade, subject to assessment and Ph.D. registration, raises the stipend to ₹42,000 per month. The number of fellowships per subject is limited and varies from cycle to cycle.