Guidelines


Eligibility

Applications are invited from students who expect to complete their M.Sc., Integrated M.Sc., B.Sc., or B.E./B.Tech./M.E./M.Tech. degrees by July 2019 with 55% marks or more. Students in any branch of the B.E., B.Tech., M.E. or M.Tech. degrees, or in the Physics, Electronics, Astronomy or Applied Mathematics branches of the B.Sc. or M.Sc. degrees, are eligible to apply for INAT-2018. Students who have already completed any of the above degrees are also eligible. In addition, talented final-year B.Sc., 1st year M.Sc., 3rd/4th year Integrated M.Sc. and 2nd/3rd year B.E./B.Tech. students may also apply to be pre-selected for the Ph.D. programme at IUCAA.

Students who complete their M.Sc./Integrated M.Sc./M.E./M.Tech. degrees by July 2019 will be eligible for selection to the Ph.D. programme of both IUCAA and NCRA-TIFR. Students who complete their B.E./B.Tech. degrees by July 2019 are eligible for selection to the Ph.D. programme at IUCAA and to the Integrated Ph.D. programme at NCRA-TIFR. Students who complete their B.Sc. degrees by July 2019 will be eligible for selection to the Integrated Ph.D. programme at NCRA-TIFR and for pre-selection to the Ph.D. programme at IUCAA.


Selection Procedure:

We are looking for highly motivated students with a consistently good academic record. While we strongly encourage students from engineering backgrounds to apply for INAT-2018, we emphasize that we are looking for students who are interested in carrying out doctoral research in Physics, or Astronomy and Astrophysics. We hence expect prospective candidates to have a good understanding of basic Physics.

Based on the applications and referee assessments, a subset of the candidates will be short-listed and invited to take the written test, to be held in Pune on Thursday, December 13, 2018. Candidates with 55% or more marks in the qualifying examination may walk-in for the written test by producing a valid photo identification and a copy of their most recent marksheet. All candidates should report at the Chandrasekhar Auditorium, IUCAA, together with the necessary documents for verification (the ones mentioned above, for all walk-in candidates, and the Admit letter, for all invited candidates). Registration for the test will begin at 8:00 a.m. and end at 9:00 a.m. A seat in the test is not guaranteed unless registration is completed by the candidate during this period. The final selection to the research scholarship will be based on the results of the written test (on Thursday, December 13, 2018) and two interviews (on Thursday, December 13, and/or Friday, December 14, 2018), both to be held in Pune. Note that, for both IUCAA and NCRA-TIFR, the selection through INAT is in addition to the selection through the Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST).

Nature of the Written Test:

The test will be of TWO hours duration. The question paper will have THREE parts: A, B, and C. Part A will contain seventeen objective-type questions on basic Mathematics, Physics and Electronics. Part B will contain another seventeen objective-type questions from advanced Physics, Mathematics and Electronics/Engineering. For each question, candidates will have to identify and mark the correct answer from the given four answers. For a correct answer, there will be +3 (plus three) marks, and for a wrong answer, there will be -1 (minus one) mark. Part C will contain six questions, from both basic and advanced areas, whose answers are all integers of 3 (three) digits. Candidates must answer these questions by filling in the appropriate squares in the Answer Sheet. Each correct answer in Part C gets +3 (plus three) marks; there are no negative marks for incorrect answers to the questions of Part C. Based on their performance in the written test, a limited number of candidates will be invited for two interviews, which will be conducted on December 13 and/or 14, 2018. The final selection will be based on the scores in the written test and interviews. Candidates selected by either IUCAA or NCRA-TIFR are expected to join in August 2019 (except for pre-selected candidates), after satisfactory completion of their qualifying examination.


Travel and Stay:

Outstation candidates will be paid one and one-third times the train/bus fare by second-class sleeper (NOT air-conditioned) from their place of residence (as given in the INAT-2018 Application Form) to Pune and back by the shortest route, as well as a halting allowance (as per the prevailing rules) for each day of stay for the interviews. Outstation walk-in candidates who are shortlisted for the interviews will also be paid travel support as above.

Limited accommodation, restricted to candidates who will appear for the written Admission Test, may be available on the IUCAA and NCRA-TIFR campuses at a nominal charge. Those who wish to avail of this accommodation should send an e-mail request to the Co-ordinator, INAT-2018, at the e-mail address inat@iucaa.in , before November 15, 2018.

Accompanying persons will have to find accommodation elsewhere; a list of lodges and hotels located close to IUCAA and NCRA-TIFR is given here, with approximate charges. Candidates (and accompanying persons) may have meals on payment in the IUCAA or NCRA-TIFR canteens on the days of the written test and interviews.

The best mode of transport between IUCAA or NCRA-TIFR and the Pune railway station or bus stand is autorickshaw. The fare is as per the tariff card with the driver. During the day, the autorickshaw fare from Pune railway station to IUCAA or NCRA-TIFR will be about Rs. 100/-.


What to bring (and what NOT to bring) :

All the candidates who are invited to take the IUCAA-NCRA Admission Test should bring the Admit Letter with them. For the written test, the candidates should bring a pen, a pencil (HB), an eraser, and a simple mathematical calculator. At the time of interviews, the candidates are requested to bring all original mark sheets (starting from Class X) and any other relevant certificates. Mobile phones, digital diaries, laptops, etc. are NOT allowed in the test and interview halls.