Science postgraduates who want a Junior Research Fellowship, a shot at assistant professor posts or a PhD seat can now apply for the December round of Joint CSIR-UGC NET. The National Testing Agency (NTA) opened the application window on 7 October, and it closes at 11:50 pm on Thursday, 5 November.
The details are in an NTA public notice dated 7 October 2026. The exam will be a computer based test on 19, 22 and 27 December 2026.
The test decides eligibility in three categories: award of JRF along with appointment as assistant professor, appointment as assistant professor along with PhD admission, and PhD admission only. The category you qualify in depends on your result and the rules in the information bulletin.
NTA describes the test as one that determines the eligibility of Indian nationals for these roles in Indian universities and colleges. Age limits, minimum marks in the master's degree and relaxations for reserved categories sit in the bulletin, not in the notice.
The dates that matter
Online application: 7 October to 5 November 2026, up to 11:50 pm, on the CSIR NET portal.
Fee payment by credit card, debit card, net banking or UPI: also by 11:50 pm on 5 November.
Late window: 6 to 9 November, with a late fee of Rs 500. The last successful payment with the late fee must go through by 11:50 pm on Monday, 9 November.
Corrections to the form: 10 to 12 November, on the website only, up to 11:50 pm on the last day.
Exam city slips and admit cards will be announced later. So will the recorded responses, provisional answer keys and the result.
Subjects, shifts and medium
The December exam covers five subjects: Chemical Sciences; Earth, Atmospheric, Ocean and Planetary Sciences; Life Sciences and Bio-Technology; Mathematical Sciences; and Physical Sciences.
Each paper lasts 180 minutes. The first shift runs from 9 am to 12 noon and the second from 3 pm to 6 pm. Candidates can take the paper in English or Hindi.
The three exam days fall on a Saturday (19 December), a Tuesday (22 December) and a Sunday (27 December). Subject-wise allotment of days has not been announced, so candidates should keep all three dates free until NTA publishes it.
Before you fill the form
NTA points candidates to the information bulletin on the CSIR NET website for eligibility, the pattern of the paper, subject codes, fees and the step by step procedure. Read that first. The notice does not repeat those details, and a wrong subject or category choice is harder to fix later.
A few habits help. Use an email address and mobile number you will keep for months, because results and certificates follow the same login. Save the confirmation page once the fee goes through. Use the correction window only for genuine mistakes, since it is short.
The June 2026 cycle has only just wrapped up, with NTA issuing e-certificates last month, as we reported in our story on CSIR-UGC NET June 2026 certificates. Candidates weighing an engineering or science entrance at the same time can also check our note on GATE 2027 registration.
If you sat the June 2026 exam
December is the second chance in the year, and it is open to anyone who meets the eligibility rules in the bulletin, whether or not they appeared in June. Candidates who qualified only for PhD admission in June, or who missed the JRF line, often try again to move up a category. Check whether your earlier e-certificate already covers what you need before paying a second fee.
The window is about four weeks long. Payment gateways tend to slow down in the last two or three days before any NTA deadline, so filing in the first fortnight leaves room to fix a failed transaction without paying the Rs 500 late fee.
For queries, NTA lists helpline numbers 011-40759000 and 011-69227700 and the email address csirnet@nta.ac.in. Updates will appear on nta.ac.in and csirnet.nta.nic.in.
