JEST

All those students are eligible to apply for JEST 2026 Exam who wish to pursue a PhD or integrated PhD in Theoretical Computer Science, Computational Biology, Physics, or Neuroscience. 

The end date for students to complete the JEST 2025 Application Process is May 30, 2025, until 11:55 pm IST. The JEST Exam is conducted once a year and this year it is goig to be held on June 22, 2025. 

JEST (Joint Entrance Screening Test) is a national-level exam which is conducted once a year for those candidates who wish to get admissions to MSc, PhD, and Integrated PhD programs in Physics, Theoretical Computer Science, Neuroscience, and Computational Biology at various participating institutes.

Candidates with an MSc or an advanced BSc degree in Physics or Computer Science are eligible, based on the programme and the institute's eligibility criteria they want to apply for. So, the best suggestion is to check out the eligiblity criteria of all the institutes a candidates wish to get admission to avoid any sort of confusion. 

Here are the list of courses offered by JEST. Candidates who wish to appear for the exam must be aware of the following courses to prepare for the JEST Exam accordingly. 

• MSc, PhD, and Integrated PhD in Physics
• PhD and Integrated PhD in Theoretical Computer Science
• PhD in Neuroscience and Computational Biology

The exam is conducted annually at various JEST Exam centres across India. It is conducted at the level of an MSc or advanced BSc in Physics or Computer Science. Although, it is not as difficult as the other big competitive exams still it demands a decent amount of time, consistency and dedication to crack this exam to get admission to the preferred institute. 

There are various premier research institutes and universities in India that accept JEST scores for admissions purposes. Each institute has its own eligibility and selection criteria for the exam takers. So, it is advisable for all the applicants to go through the eligibility criteria of the institute if they wish to get admission so that they exactly know whether they are eligible to appear for the exam or not. 

No, apart from Physics, JEST is also for those candidates who are interested in pursuing Theoretical Computer Science, Neuroscience, and Computational Biology at the PhD level. Therefore, candidates who wish to appear for the JEST Exam must go through the eligibility criteria in detail before filling out the JEST Application Form. 

JEST exam is at an MSc or advanced BSc level and therefore candidates need to focus on the fundamental concepts in Physics and Computer Science, practice past question papers, and refer to standard textbooks, make their own preparation strategy along with mock tests and JEST Previous year question papers.