UGC NET Vs CSIR NET: UGC NET and CSIR NET are popular National Eligibility Tests conducted by the National Testing Agency to check the eligibility of candidates for the JRF (Junior Research Fellow) and Assistant Professor & Lecturer. Both of these exams are administered twice a year mainly in June and December cycle. However, there are a lot of factors that make both of them different from each other.
For instance, the subjects asked in the UGC NET exam are mostly from the Arts and Commerce background. However, CSIR NET has only five subjects from the Science and Technology background. Here in this article, we have discussed the key UGC NET and CSIR NET differences along with the major similarities between the two exams.
Difference Between UGC NET and CSIR NET
Let's look at the major factors that differentiate the UGC NET and the CSIR NET exams:
UGC NET Vs CSIR NET: Eligibility Criteria
| Factors | UGC NET Eligibility Criteria | CSIR NET Eligibility Criteria |
| Age limit | JRF: Upper age limit is 30 years Assistant Professor: No Age limit | JRF: Upper age limit is 28 years Assistant Professor: No Age limit |
| Educational qualification | Candidates should have completed their Post-graduation in the chosen subject with at least 55 percent aggregate marks. | Candidate should have qualified for the B.Tech/BE/ B.Pharma/MBBS/BS (4 years)/Integrated BS-MS/MSc with minimum 55 percent aggregate marks. |
Download the Govt Exam Calendar for June 2023
UGC NET Vs CSIR NET: Number of Subjects
The number of subjects asked in the UGC NET and CSIR NET exams is way different from each other. For instance, around 84 subjects are asked in the UGC NET examination whereas only five subjects are asked in the CSIR NET exam. Check out the subject list for both exams below.
| Subject | Syllabus |
| Adult Education/ Continuing Education/ Andragogy/ Non Formal Education | |
| Anthropology | |
| Arab Culture and Islamic Studies | |
| Arabic | |
| Archaeology | |
| Assamese | |
| Bengali | |
| Bodo | |
| Buddhist, Jaina, Gandhian, and Peace Studies | |
| Chinese | |
| Comparative Literature | |
| Comparative Study of Religions | |
| Criminology | |
| Defence and Strategic Studies | |
| Dogri | |
| English | |
| Folk Literature | |
| Forensic Science | |
| French (French Version) | |
| German | |
| Gujarati | |
| Hindi | |
| Human Rights and Duties | |
| Indian Culture | |
| Japanese | |
| Kannada | |
| Kashmiri | |
| Konkani | |
| Labour Welfare/Personnel Management/Industrial Relations/ Labour and Social Welfare/Human Resource Management | |
| Linguistics | |
| Maithili | |
| Malayalam | |
| Manipuri | |
| Marathi | |
| Mass Communication and Journalism | |
| Museology & Conservation | |
| Music | |
| Nepali | |
| Oriya | |
| Pali | |
| Performing Art - Dance/Drama/Theatre | |
| Persian | |
| Philosophy | |
| Physical Education | |
| Politics including International Relations/International Studies including Defence/Strategic Studies, West Asian Studies, South East Asian Studies, African Studies, South Asian Studies, Soviet Studies, American Studies | |
| Population Studies Note: The candidates with Master’s Degree in Geography (with specialization in Population Studies) or Mathematics/ Statistics are also eligible to appear in the subject “Population Studies” | |
| Prakrit | |
| Psychology | |
| Public Administration | |
| Punjabi | |
| Rajasthani | |
| Russian | |
| Sanskrit | |
| Sanskrit traditional subjects (including Jyotisha/Sidhanta Jyotish/ Navya Vyakarna/ Vyakarna/ Mimansa/ Navya Nyaya/ Sankhya Yoga/ Tulanatmaka Darsan/ Shukla Yajurveda/ Madhav Vedant/ Dharmasasta/ Sahitya/ Puranotihasa /Agama). | |
| Santali | |
| Sindhi | |
| Social Medicine & Community Health | |
| Social Work | |
| Spanish | |
| Tamil | |
| Telugu | |
| Tourism Administration and Management. | |
| Tribal and Regional Language/Literature | |
| Urdu | |
| Visual Art (including Drawing & Painting/Sculpture Graphics/Applied Art/History of Art) | |
| Women Studies Note: The candidates with a Master’s Degree in Humanities (including languages) and Social Sciences are eligible to appear in the subject “Women Studies” | |
| Yoga | |
| Sindhi | |
| Hindu studies | |
| Indian Knowledge system |
| CSIR NET Subject List |
| Chemical Science Earth, Atmospheric, Ocean, and Planetary Science Life Science Mathematical Science Physical Science |
UGC NET Vs CSIR NET: Exam Pattern
The exam pattern is one of the crucial factors that distinguish the UGC NET from the CSIR NET. Here in the section below, we have listed the detailed exam pattern for both exams.
UGC NET Exam Pattern
| Paper | Subjects | Total Questions | Total Marks | Exam Duration |
| I | Paper I will have questions from the Teaching/ Research aptitude, Reasoning Ability, Reading Comprehension, Divergent thinking, and General Awareness | 50 | 100 | 03 hours without any break. |
| II | Question in paper 2 is to be chosen by the candidate and judges the overall knowledge based on that subject. | 100 | 200 | |
| Total |
| 150 | 300 | 3 hours |
Note:
- The UGC NET examination is a computer-based test with questions from two papers, papers 1 and 2
- The questions in the UGC NET June 2023 exam shall be objective type. Candidates have to choose the correct answer from the option available
- The UGC NET June 2023 exam is going to be held in English and Hindi
- There is no negative marking for the incorrect answer marked. However, 2 marks will be awarded for the correct answer.
CSIR NET Exam Pattern
A total of five subjects are asked in the CSIR NET examination. The exam pattern and marking scheme are the same for each of the subjects. However, the number of questions asked from each section varies.
| CSIR UGC NET Exam Pattern | ||||
| CHEMICAL SCIENCES | PART A | PART B | PART C | TOTAL |
| Total questions | 20 | 40 | 60 | 120 |
| Max No of Questions to attempt | 15 | 35 | 25 | 75 |
| Marks for each correct answer | 2 | 2 | 4 | 200 |
| Marks for each incorrect answer (Negative marking) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 | - |
| The candidate is required to answer a maximum of 15, 35 and 25 questions from Part-A, Part-B and Part-C respectively. If more than required number of questions are answered, only first 15, 35 and 25 questions in Part A, Part B and Part C respectively will be taken up for evaluation. | ||||
| EARTH, ATMOSPHERIC, OCEAN AND PLANETARY SCIENCES | PART A | PART B | PART C | TOTAL |
| Total questions | 20 | 50 | 80 | 150 |
| Max No of Questions to attempt | 15 | 35 | 25 | 75 |
| Marks for each correct answer | 2 | 2 | 4 | 200 |
| Marks for each incorrect answer (Negative marking) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.32 | - |
| The candidate is required to answer a maximum of 15, 35 and 25 questions from Part-A, Part-B and Part-C respectively. If more than required number of questions are answered, only first 15, 35 and 25 questions in Part A, Part B and Part C respectively will be taken up for evaluation. | ||||
| LIFE SCIENCES | PART A | PART B | PART C | TOTAL |
| Total questions | 20 | 50 | 75 | 145 |
| Max No of Questions to attempt | 15 | 35 | 25 | 75 |
| Marks for each correct answer | 2 | 2 | 4 | 200 |
| Marks for each incorrect answer (Negative marking) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 | - |
| The candidate is required to answer a maximum of 15, 35 and 25 questions from Part-A, Part-B and Part-C respectively. If more than required number of questions are answered, only first 15, 35 and 25 questions in Part A, Part B and Part C respectively will be taken up for evaluation. | ||||
| MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES | PART A | PART B | PART C | TOTAL |
| Total questions | 20 | 40 | 60 | 120 |
| Max No of Questions to attempt | 15 | 25 | 20 | 60 |
| Marks for each correct answer | 2 | 3 | 4.75 | 200 |
| Marks for each incorrect answer (Negative marking in Part A & B; no negative marking in Part C) | 0.5 | 0.75 | 0 | - |
| The candidate is required to answer a maximum of 15, 25 and 20 questions from Part-A, Part-B and Part-C respectively. If more than required number of questions are answered, only first 15, 25 and 20 questions in Part A, Part B and Part C respectively will be taken up for evaluation. | ||||
| PHYSICAL SCIENCES | PART A | PART B | PART C | TOTAL |
| Total questions | 20 | 25 | 30 | 75 |
| Max No of Questions to attempt | 15 | 20 | 20 | 55 |
| Marks for each correct answer | 2 | 3.5 | 5 | 200 |
| Marks for each incorrect answer (Negative marking) | 0.5 | 0.875 | 1.25 | - |
| The candidate is required to answer a maximum of 15, 20 and 20 questions from Part-A, Part-B and Part-C respectively. If more than required number of questions are answered, only first 15, 20 and 20 questions in Part A, Part B and Part C respectively will be taken up for evaluation. | ||||
Download CSIR UGC NET Previous Year Papers
UGC NET Vs CSIR NET: Career Scope
Career scope is one of the important factors in UGC NET vs CSIR NET. Candidates who qualify for the UGC NET exam become eligible to work with institutes that are coordinated by UGC. Whereas, those who pass the CSIR NET exam can only work with institutes controlled by CSIR.
UGC NET Vs CSIR NET: Minimum Qualifying Marks
The cut-off marks prescribed for both UGC NET and CSIR NET have to be secured by the candidates to get a name in the final merit list. The minimum qualifying marks are prescribed for paper 1 of UGC NET. However, for paper 2 the authorities release the category-wise cutoff list for all the subjects. The authorities have announced the minimum qualifying marks for the CSIR NET exam but the final selection is based on the subject-wise cutoff marks list for all the subjects.
UGC NET Minimum Qualifying Marks
The category-wise minimum qualifying marks for UGC NET exam are:
| UGC NET Minimum Qualifying Marks | |
| Category | Paper-I & II |
| General/EWS | 40% |
| ST/SC/PWD/OBC/Third Gender | 35% |
CSIR NET Minimum Qualifying Marks
The category-wise minimum qualifying marks for CSIR UGC NET exam are:
| CSIR NET Minimum Qualifying Marks | |
| Category | Part A, B and C |
| General/ EWS/OBC | 33% |
| ST/SC/PWD | 25% |
UGC NET Vs CSIR NET: Popularity of Exams
CSIR NET is held for merely five subjects whereas, UGC NET is administered for 84 subjects. This is why the popularity and number of applicants are more for the latter. At least more than five times the total number of CSIR NET applicants apply for the UGC NET exam annually.
| Category | UGC NET | CSIR NET | ||
| 2022 | 2021 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| Total Number of Applicants | 10, 45,664 | 12,66,509 | 2,03,256 | 2,07,306 |
| Actual Attendance | 5,44,485 | 6,71,288 | 1,62,084 | 1,59,824 |
Similarities Between CSIR NET and UGC NET
The CSIR NET and UGC NET exams are both held for appointing JRF (Junior Research Fellow) and Assistant Professor in central or state universities. Even though there are a plethora of factors that make both of them different from each other. Here are certain similarities associated with both exams.
| Factors | UGC NET and CSIR NET |
| Exam Frequency | Twice December and June Cycle |
| Evaluation | Evaluation are done on the basis of performance in the General Aptitude and subject-specific knowledge |
| Exam Level | National |
| Convenor | National Testing Agency |
| Certification | E-Certificate is offered to candidates qualifying for UGC NET and CSIR NET examination. The validity is three years for the JRF and a lifetime for an Assistant Professor |
| Future Scope | The candidates can apply for the position of a JRF or Assistant Professor/Lecturer in any of the public or private universities. |
So basically, the decision of which exam to take depends on your interests and qualifications. Both the national-level eligibility tests can help you in getting Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and lectureship positions in Indian colleges and universities.
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