Top Life Sciences and Biotechnology Entrance Exams after B.Sc. and M.Sc In India

For students pursuing a career in Life Sciences, Biotechnology, and related fields, entrance exams are critical milestones that determine your path to higher education and research opportunities. This guide provides an in-depth look at 42 essential entrance exams that can help you secure admission to top institutions and prestigious fellowships in India.

Importance of Life Sciences and Biotechnology Entrance Exams

Entrance exams are vital for students aiming to excel in their academic and research careers. A good score in these exams can lead to admissions in premier institutes like IITs, IISc, and central universities, where cutting-edge research and quality education are provided. Additionally, many of these exams offer fellowships that financially support your studies and research.

Detailed List of Key Life Sciences and Biotechnology Entrance Exams

1. CSIR-UGC NET JRF Exam

• Notification Period: February and September
• Exam Dates: June and December
• Focus: Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and Lectureship in Life Sciences

2. GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering)

• Notification Period: September
• Exam Date: February
• Focus: M.Tech/Ph.D. admissions and JRF

3. DBT JRF Biotechnology Eligibility Test

• Notification Period: February
• Exam Date: March
• Focus: Junior Research Fellowship in Biotechnology

4. ICMR JRF (Indian Council of Medical Research)

• Notification Period: April-May
• Exam Date: July
• Focus: Junior Research Fellowship in Life Sciences and Social Sciences

5. BINC (Bioinformatics National Certification)

• Notification Period: April-May
• Exam Date: June-July
• Focus: Certification in Bioinformatics

6. BITP (Biotech Industrial Training Programme)

• Notification Period: April-May
• Exam Date: June-July
• Focus: Industrial training in biotechnology

7. ARS-NET (Agricultural Research Service – National Eligibility Test)

• Notification Period: February
• Exam Date: April
• Focus: Junior Research Fellowship in Agricultural Sciences

8. JGEEBILS (Joint Graduate Entrance Examination for Biology and Interdisciplinary Life Sciences)

• Notification Period: September
• Exam Date: December
• Focus: MS, Ph.D., and JRF

9. IISc Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: February
• Exam Date: May
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

10. IITs Entrance Exams

• Notification Period: February-April
• Exam Dates: March-June
• Focus: MS, Ph.D. admissions

11. IISERs Entrance Exams

• Notification Period: February-April
• Exam Dates: March-June
• Focus: MS, Ph.D. admissions

12. TIFR GS (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Graduate School Admissions)

• Notification Period: September
• Exam Date: December
• Focus: MS, Ph.D. admissions

13. NCBS (National Centre for Biological Sciences) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: September
• Exam Date: December
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

14. BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: February
• Exam Date: March-April
• Focus: Job and Ph.D. admissions

15. AIIMS Ph.D. Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: January and July
• Exam Dates: January and July
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

16. CSIR Labs Entrance Exams

• Notification Period: March-May and September-October
• Exam Dates: June and October
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

17. InStem (Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: September
• Exam Date: December
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

18. ILS (Institute of Life Sciences) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: May
• Exam Dates: June-July
• Focus: Integrated Ph.D. and Ph.D. admissions

19. NIPGR (National Institute of Plant Genome Research) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: April
• Exam Dates: June-July
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

20. CDFD (Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: March and September
• Exam Dates: April and October
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

21. NBRC (National Brain Research Centre) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: October
• Exam Dates: May-June
• Focus: M.Sc. and Ph.D. admissions

22. NII (National Institute of Immunology) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: November
• Exam Date: March
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

23. THSTI (Translational Health Science and Technology Institute) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: April
• Exam Dates: June
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

24. NIAB (National Institute of Animal Biotechnology) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: February
• Exam Date: March
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

25. NDRI (National Dairy Research Institute) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: April
• Exam Date: May
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

26. NCCS (National Centre for Cell Science) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: March and September
• Exam Dates: June-July and October-November
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

27. NIBMG (National Institute of Biomedical Genomics) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: April
• Exam Dates: May-June
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

28. RGCB (Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: February
• Exam Date: March
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

29. RCB (Regional Centre for Biotechnology) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: May
• Exam Date: June
• Focus: Integrated Ph.D. and Ph.D. admissions

30. NABI (National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: May-June
• Exam Dates: June-July
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

31. CIAB (Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: May-June
• Exam Date: July
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

32. ICGEB (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: April-May
• Exam Date: June
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

33. IVRI (Indian Veterinary Research Institute) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: March
• Exam Date: May
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

34. NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: January
• Exam Date: March
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

35. IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: March
• Exam Date: June
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

36. NIPER (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: April
• Exam Date: June
• Focus: MS, MTech, and Ph.D. admissions

37. JNUCEEB (Jawaharlal Nehru University Combined Entrance Examination for Biotechnology)

• Notification Period: September
• Exam Date: December
• Focus: M.Sc. admissions

38. JNU Ph.D. Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: February
• Exam Dates: May-June
• Focus: Ph.D. admissions

39. BHU (Banaras Hindu University) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: April
• Exam Dates: June-July
• Focus: M.Sc. and Ph.D. admissions

40. UoD (University of Delhi) Entrance Exam

• Notification Period: May
• Exam Date: June
• Focus: M.Sc. and Ph.D. admissions

41. Central University Entrance Exams (CUs)

• Notification Period: May-June
• Exam Dates: July-August
• Focus: M.Sc. and Ph.D. admissions

42. ICAR AIEEA (Indian Council of Agricultural Research All India Entrance Examination for Admission)

• Notification Period: April-May
• Exam Date: June
• Focus: UG, PG, and Ph.D. admissions in Agriculture and Allied Sciences

No.	Exam Name/Institute	Notification Period	Exam/Interview Dates	Website Link	Focus
1	CSIR-UGC NET JRF Exam	February and September	June and December	csirhrdg.res.in	JRF, Lectureship
2	GATE	September	February	gate.iitg.ac.in	JRF, M.Tech/Ph.D.
3	DBT JRF	February	March	bcil.nic.in	JRF
4	ICMR JRF	April-May	July	icmr.nic.in	JRF
5	BINC	April-May	June-July	bcil.nic.in/binc.html	Bioinformatics Certification
6	BITP	April-May	June-July	bcil.nic.in/biotech_industrial-training.htm	Industrial Training
7	ARS-NET	February	April	asrb.org.in	JRF in Agricultural Sciences
8	JGEEBILS	September	December	ncbs.res.in/academic/admissions-JGEEBILS	MS, Ph.D., JRF
9	IISc Entrance Exam	February	May	iisc.ac.in/admissions	Ph.D.
10	IITs Entrance Exams	February-April	March-June	iitb.ac.in	MS, Ph.D.
11	IISERs Entrance Exams	February-April	March-June	iisermohali.ac.in	MS, Ph.D.
12	TIFR GS	September	December	univ.tifr.res.in/gs2018	MS, Ph.D.
13	NCBS Entrance Exam	September	December	ncbs.res.in/academic/phd	Ph.D.
14	BARC Entrance Exam	February	March-April	hbni.ac.in	Job, Ph.D.
15	AIIMS Ph.D. Exam	January and July	January and July	aiimsexams.org	Ph.D.
16	CSIR Labs Entrance Exams	Mar-May and Sep-Oct	June and October	acsir.res.in, ccmb.res.in, igib.res.in	Ph.D.
17	InStem Entrance Exam	September	December	instem.res.in/academic/phd	Ph.D.
18	ILS Entrance Exam	May	June-July	ils.res.in	Integrated Ph.D., Ph.D.
19	NIPGR Entrance Exam	April	June-July	nipgr.res.in/home/home.php	Ph.D.
20	CDFD Entrance Exam	March, September	April, October	cdfd.org.in	Ph.D.
21	NBRC Entrance Exam	October	May-June	nbrc.ac.in	M.Sc., Ph.D.
22	NII Entrance Exam	November	March	nii.res.in	Ph.D.
23	THSTI Entrance Exam	April	June	thsti.res.in	Ph.D.
24	NIAB Entrance Exam	February	March	niab.org.in	Ph.D.
25	NDRI Entrance Exam	April	May	ndri.res.in/ndri/Design/Index.html	Ph.D.
26	NCCS Entrance Exams	March, September	June-July, Oct-Nov	nccs.res.in	Ph.D.
27	NIBMG Entrance Exam	April	May-June	nibmg.ac.in	Ph.D.
28	RGCB Entrance Exam	February	March	rgcb.res.in	Ph.D.
29	RCB Entrance Exam	May	June	rcb.res.in	Integrated Ph.D., Ph.D.
30	NABI Entrance Exam	May-June	June-July	nabi.res.in	Ph.D.
31	CIAB Entrance Exam	May-June	July	ciab.res.in	Ph.D.
32	ICGEB Entrance Exam	April-May	June	icgeb.org/home-nd.html	Ph.D.
33	IVRI Entrance Exam	March	May	ivri.nic.in	Ph.D.
34	NIMHANS Ph.D. Exam	January	March	nimhans.ac.in	Ph.D.
35	IARI Entrance Exam	March	June	iari.res.in/index.php	Ph.D.
36	NIPER Entrance Exam	April	June	niperahm.ac.in	MS, MTech, Ph.D.
37	JNUCEEB	September	December	admissions.jnu.ac.in	M.Sc.
38	JNU Ph.D. Entrance Exam	February	May-June	admissions.jnu.ac.in	Ph.D.
39	BHU Entrance Exam	April	June-July	bhuonline.in	M.Sc., Ph.D.
40	UoD Entrance Exam	May	June	du.ac.in	M.Sc., Ph.D.
41	Central University Entrance Exams (CUs)	May-June	July-August	cucetexam.in	M.Sc., Ph.D.
42	ICAR AIEEA	April-May	June	icar.org.in	UG, PG, Ph.D. Admissions

Conclusion

Each of these 42 exams plays a crucial role in shaping your academic journey and career in Life Sciences and Biotechnology. Identifying which exams align best with your goals and preparing strategically will significantly boost your chances of success. Start your preparation early, stay informed about the notification periods, and approach each exam with confidence. Good luck on your journey to excellence in Life Sciences and Biotechnology!