NET JRF Scholarship 2024: Eligibility, Rewards, Application Process

The National Eligibility Test (NET) for research fellowships is conducted by the University Grants Commission (UGC). Students of Social Sciences and Humanities, including the Languages and Sciences stream, are eligible to participate in the doctoral-level scholarship program. Moreover, as per the JRF scholarship eligibility, candidates who have scored 55% (50% for SC/ST/PwD and Transgender) in their master's degree can also apply.

The NET JRF scholarship amount of INR 37,000 is provided to students who are pursuing an M.Phil / Ph.D. degree. The NET JRF scholarship 2023-24 last date is September 5, 2024 (tentatively).

Table of Contents

• Eligibility Criteria
• Rewards and Benefits
• Application Process
• Selection Criteria
• Mode of Exam
• Important Dates
• Terms and Conditions
• Contact Details

NET JRF Eligibility Criteria 2023-24

Students must clear the required eligibility criteria to apply for the scholarship. The general conditions of eligibility for the National Eligibility Test- Junior Research fellowship are as follows.

• Candidate must have passed post-graduation from a government-recognized university or institute.
• General (E.W.S.) category applicants must have secured a minimum of 55 percent marks or equivalent grade in a master’s degree.
• O.B.C., ST/SC, P.W.D., or Transgender category students must have obtained 50 percent marks in the master’s program.
• Degree holders who have completed their master’s examination by 19th September 1991 are eligible for appearing N.E.T. with 5 percent relaxation in the marks percentile.
• Applicants waiting for P.G. results and those pursuing master’s degrees are eligible to apply for the UGC NET exam.
• In such a case, the candidate will only be considered for the admission of J.R.F. and Assistant professor once they pass the master’s degree with the required percentile within 2 years from the N.E.T. result date.
• General category applicants should not be more than 30 years old.
• There is no age limit criteria for the Assistant Professor program.
• Age relaxation of 5 years will be given to candidates of O.B.C., ST/ SC, P.W.D., Women, and Transgender.
• 5-year age relaxation is also given to applicants with 5 years of research experience and candidates from the Armed Forces.
• Applicants with an L.L.M. degree can avail of the age relaxation of three years.

NET JRF Rewards and Benefits 2023-24

The fellowship amount and duration can be extended if the research work has been observed as satisfactory by the concerned department of the college or university. The UGC revised rates of fellowship amount are as follows.

• INR 37,000 per month will be given to each Junior Fellow for the first 2 years.
• INR 42,000 per month will be given for remaining tenure (SRF).

Contingency A - Humanities and Social Sciences

• INR 10,000 per year for the first two years (JRF).
• INR 20,500 per year for the remaining tenure (SRF).

Contingency B - Science

• INR 12,000 per year will be given for two years (JRF).
• INR 25,000 per annum for the remaining tenure (SRF).

Reader Assistance/ Escorts

• For blind candidates and physically handicapped, INR 2,000 per month shall be granted as a special allowance.

HRA

• In case the accommodation is provided by the host institution, rent paid by the candidate shall be reimbursed as per the government of India norms.
• The fellow may be entitled to draw HRA on the basis of the categorization of cities if they make their arrangement of accommodation.
• HRA is not permissible for hostellers. However, candidates are only eligible to draw hostel fees, excluding electricity, water, mess charges, etc.
• No separate medical assistance is provided.
• In addition to public holidays, 30 days of leave per year will be granted to each fellow.
• Maternity/ Paternity leaves will be given as per government rules.
• Intermittent Break of one year will be given to eligible women candidates; this can be availed 3 times during the fellowship.
• One year of academic leave without fellowship is permissible throughout the tenure.

Note: Expenditure on any foreign visit in connection with research work will not be reimbursed from UGC.

Tenure of Fellowship

The tenure of NET JRF fellowship for M.Phil and Ph.D. is 5 years. Students can refer to the table below for more information.

NET JRF Application Process 2023-24

Detailed steps on how to apply for UGC NET-JRF are given below.

1. Visit the official National Testing Academy (NTA).
2. Click on UGC NET in the Quick Links section.
3. Fill up the online application form.
4. Enroll in all the required information.
5. Get the application number for future reference.
6. Upload the scanned image of the applicant’s photograph (It should not exceed 200 kb)
7. Upload the signature in a scanned image (The signature size should be between 4 kb – 30 kb)

Note: All the scanned images must be in JPEG/ JPG format.

• Pay the fee through SBI/ HDFC/ ICICI/ Syndicate or Paytm payment gateway through net banking/ UPI/ debit card or credit card.
• Print 4 copies of the confirmation page after the successful fee payment.

Application Fee Details

Students can find the application fee details for various categories below.

• For General category - INR 1000
• For General (EWS) and OBC (NCL) category - INR 500
• For SC/ST/PwDs and Transgender category - INR 250

Note: Applicants are advised to check their SMS/ e-mails and NTA website regularly for latest updates. Also any change in NET subject, examination center, date, etc. will not be permitted under any circumstances.

Selection Criteria for National Talent Hunt Examination for Junior Research Fellowship

NET JRF candidate selection process is based on the following criteria.

• Applicant should qualify for the UGC NET Exam with minimum marks of eligibility percentile.
• It is mandatory to secure minimum marks in both papers 1 and 2.
• A merit list shall be generated for qualified candidates.
• The top 6 percent of fellows will be entitled to the Assistant Professor post.
• The remaining candidates are eligible to avail of the NET Junior Research Fellowship.
• In each UGC-NET exam around 3200 fellowships are being provided by the commission.
• NET JRF slots are categorized and allocated among different subjects.

UGC NET-JRF Mode of Exam

The exam will consist of two papers, paper 1 and paper 2, consisting of 100 and 200 marks, respectively. Students can refer to the details below for more information regarding the questions and mark allocation.

Paper - I

• Paper 1 is of 100 marks with a duration of one hour.
• There will be 50 objective type questions with 2 marks each.
• The paper will cover the research and teaching aptitude of the candidate.
• It will test the general awareness, comprehension, reasoning ability and divergent thinking of the candidate.

Paper - II

• There will be a total of 200 marks in paper 2 with a test duration of 2 hours.
• There will be 100 objective type questions with 2 marks each.
• Paper 2 is a subject-oriented test, it is based on the particular subject selected by the applicant.

Exam Timing

1. Paper-I: 09.30 AM to 10.30 AM
2. Paper-II: 11.00 AM to 01.00 PM

(09.30 am to 01.00 pm first shift and 02.00 pm to 05.30 pm second shift)

Note: The total duration of examination is 3 hours (180 minutes). No break time will be given between paper 1 and paper 2 examination.

NET-JRF Important Dates

The following key dates are tentative and can be changed by the providers.

• Application opening date: To be announced
• Application closing date: To be announced
• Last date to pay the application fee: To be announced

Fellowship Terms and Conditions 2023-24

The terms and conditions listed below have to be adhered to during the tenure of the fellowship.

• Selected candidates must join the fellowship program within 6 months from the date of the award letter.
• Applicants are requested not to send any documents or completed application forms to NTA.
• More than one application from a candidate is not entertained.
• Admit cards for the UGC NET examination should be downloaded from the NTA website.
• A minimum of 40 percent marks in both the papers of the NET examination is required to be eligible for the research fellowship.

Contact Details

The candidates can refer to the contact given below in case there are any difficulties regarding the scholarship.

• Phone Number: 011-23604446, 011-23604200, 011-40759000 
• Email ID: ugcnet@nta.ac.in
• Address: University Grants Commission (UGC), Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi- 110 002, India.

For more details, visit our Scholarships 2024 Directory.