NEST 2026 Application Fees for Unreserved, Reserved and Female Candidates

Yes, aspirants who wish to apply for NISER UG programme i.e. Integrated BSc + MSc can join after Class 12. Aspirants must complete Class 12 or equivalent examination with at least 60% aggregate (55% aggregate for SC/ ST/ PD Category) to apply for Integrated MSc programme. Besides, aspirants must pass NEST exam for admission to Integrated BSc + MSc course.

Candidates must first register for NISER Bhubaneshar admission. Aspirants must apply with an application fee for NEST. There is no application fee for PhD programme. The institute selects candidates for Integrated BSc + MSc course based on NEST score. National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) is conducted jointly by the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar and Mumbai University - Department of Atomic Energy Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UM-DAE CEBS). For PhD programme, admission is based on GATE, JEST, GPAT, CSIR NET,  ICMR JRF score.

Applicants who want to appear for the NEST exam need to download the admit card to appear in the examination. Applicants are required to first check whether they are using the recommended browser or not for downloading the NEST 2026 admit card. After that they also need to have an active internet connection at their place before downloading the admit card.  

Students need to enter their user ID & password, followed by entering the Captcha if mentioned on the login portal. After entering these details, the admit card will be opened in a new window. Now save the copy for future reference. 

National Institute of Science Education and Research has specified certain percentage in eligibility that students must secure to apply for any of the programme. Below is NISER eligibility criteria:

Yes, you can get admissions in the Department of Atomic Energy Centre of Excellence in Basic Sciences for B.Sc with 60% in class 12th. 

The minimum marks considered by the institute is 60% in the 12th stream. If you belong to the SC, ST, OBC category, the minimum marks drops down by 5%. If you are completing your class 12th in the CBSE board, you will need a 6.0 and 5.5 CGPA respectively. 

Applicants who have forgotten the login details of the NEST exam admit card should first check their mobile/email ID as after registration, a message comes from the authorities. 

Candidates can also recover the password of their NEST account by clicking on the 'Forgot Password' button at the bottom of the login window. This password will be sent to the NEST-registered email of the candidate. By clicking on the link, applicants can recover their password, and after tha,t they can download their admit card

The NEST 2026 application form was released on January 5, and continued till April 8. The application process is completely online. The application correction facility was available from April 18 to April 19, 2026.

The exam conducting authorities will release the admit card at least two weeks before the commencement of the exam. The NEST hall ticket will mentionthe  following details of the applicants

• Application Number
• Roll Number
• Candidate's Name
• Candidate's Address
• Date
• Time
• Shift
• Reporting time
• Venue and Emergency contact number 

In case of any discrepancy in the details mentioned in the admit card, applicants need to immediately connect to the exam conducting authorities by the Emergency number mentioned in the admit card. 

A good score in NEST is considered to be 150+ marks. However, NEST safe score varies for each categories. To secure admission to the top programs offered at NISER and UM-DAE CEBS candidates belonging to GEN category must obtain 150+ marks, while SC/ST need to obatin 90+ marks. 

NISER Bhubaneswar's fee refund policy may vary depending on the specific circumstances and the timing of withdrawal or cancellation of admission. It is a good university.

However, if the withdrawal occurs after a certain point in the academic calendar or after classes have commenced, the refund amount may be reduced or it is no refund may be provided.

Candidates need to pass Class 12 with at least 60% aggregate (55% aggregate for SC/ ST/ PD) to apply for Department of Atomic Energy Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences Integrated BSc + MSc programme. Candidates should not be more than 20 years old (relaxable for SC/ ST/ PD) to apply for admission. Aspirants must hold the documents proving their eligibility for verification at the time of admission.

For each section, "20% of the average of the best 100 scores in that section" will be considered as the section–wise Minimum Admissible Score (SMAS).
For example, if the average of the best 100 scores in the Chemistry section is 43 out of 50, then SMAS for the Chemistry section would be 43*0.20 = 8.6 marks. It will be same for other section too. 

SMAS for the two sessions, for any particular section, can be of different numerical values. The value of SMAS will be different for different category students i.e if it 100 for General candidates then it will be 90 for OBC and 50 for SC/ST and Divyangjan applicants.