National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) is a compulsory test for students seeking admission to National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar and University of Mumbai - Department of Atomic Energy Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UM-DAE CBS), Mumbai. Both NISER and UM-DAE CBS have been started by Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India in 2007. Their mandate is to train scientific manpower for carrying out cutting edge scientific research and for providing input to scientific programs of Department of Atomic Energy and other applied science institutions in the country. The test is conducted in 37 centers across India.

Eligibility:
Students securing at least 60% marks in aggregate (or equivalent grade) in Class XII (or equivalent) examination from any recognized Board in India are eligible to apply. For Scheduled Cast (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates and for Persons with Disability (PD), the minimum requirement is 55%. Students who have passed the Class XII qualifying examination in 2009 or 2010 or are appearing in 2011 are eligible to apply.

Age Limit: General category candidates and Candidates belonging to Other Backward Castes (OBC) born on or after 01 Oct. 1986 are eligible to apply. For SC/ST/PD candidates the age limit is relaxed by 5 years.

Number of Seats: This year (2011), the number of seats is 60 at NISER and 35 at UM-DAE CBS.

Last Date: March 7, 2011.
Test Schedule: The test will be conducted on May 29, 2011 from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

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