CSIR-UGC-NET ENTRANCE EXAM---USEFUL FOR UPSC SCIENCE OPTIONAL.

CHEMICAL SCIENCES

EXAM SCHEME

 

TIME: 3 HOURS                                                                                                             MAXIMUM MARKS: 200

 

CSIR-UGC (NET) Exam for Award of Junior Research Fellowship and Eligibility for Lecturership shall be a Single Paper Test having Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). The question paper is divided in three parts

Part 'A' 

                This part shall carry 20 questions pertaining to General Science, Quantitative Reasoning& Analysis and Research Aptitude. The candidates shall be required to answer any 15 questions. Each question shall be of two marks. The total marks allocated to this section shall be 30 out of 200.

 

Part 'B'

                This part shall contain 50 Multiple Choice Questions(MCQs) generally covering the topics given in the syllabus. A candidate shall be required to answer any 35 questions. Each question shall be of two marks. The total marks allocated to this section shall be 70 out of 200.

 

Part 'C'

                This part shall contain 75 questions that are designed to test a candidate's knowledge of scientific concepts and/or application of the scientific concepts. The questions shall be of analytical nature where a candidate is expected to apply the scientific knowledge to arrive at the solution to the given scientific problem. A candidate shall be required to answer any 25 questions. Each question shall be of four marks. The total marks allocated to this section shall be 100 out of 200.

 

·             There will be negative marking @25% for each wrong answer.

 

·             To enable the candidates to go through the questions, the question paper booklet shall be distributed 15 minutes before the scheduled time of the exam. The Answer sheet shall be distributed at the scheduled time of the exam.

 

·             On completion of the exam i.e. at the scheduled closing time of the exam, the candidates shall be allowed to carry the Question Paper Booklet. No candidate is allowed to carry the Question Paper Booklet in case he/she chooses to leave the test before the scheduled closing time.

 

·             Model Question Paper is available on HRDG website www.csirhrdg.res.in

 

 

 

SYLLABUS:

CHEMICAL SCIENCES
Inorganic Chemistry: 1. Chemical periodicity
2. Structure and bonding in homo- and heteronuclear molecules, including shapes of molecules (VSEPR Theory).
3. Concepts of acids and bases, Hard-Soft acid base concept, Non-aqueous solvents.
4. Main group elements and their compounds: Allotropy, synthesis, structure and bonding, industrial importance of the compounds.
5. Transition elements and coordination compounds: structure, bonding theories, spectral and magnetic properties, reaction mechanisms.
6. Inner transition elements: spectral and magnetic properties, redox chemistry, analytical applications.
7. Organometallic compounds: synthesis, bonding and structure, and reactivity.  Organometallics in homogeneous catalysis.
8. Cages and metal clusters.
9. Analytical chemistry- separation, spectroscopic, electro- and thermoanalytical methods. 10. Bioinorganic chemistry: photosystems, porphyrins, metalloenzymes, oxygen transport, electron- transfer reactions; nitrogen fixation, metal complexes in medicine.  11. Characterisation of inorganic compounds by IR, Raman, NMR, EPR, Mössbauer, UV-vis, NQR, MS, electron spectroscopy and microscopic techniques.
12. Nuclear chemistry: nuclear reactions, fission and fusion, radio-analytical techniques and activation analysis.
 
Physical Chemistry;
 
1. Basic principles of quantum mechanics: Postulates; operator algebra; exactly-solvable systems: particle-in-a-box, harmonic oscillator and the hydrogen atom,including shapes of atomic orbitals; orbital and spin angular momenta; tunneling.
2. Approximate methods of quantum mechanics: Variational principle; perturbation theory up to second order in energy; applications. 
3. Atomic structure and spectroscopy; term symbols; many-electron systems and antisymmetry principle. 
4. Chemical bonding in diatomics; elementary concepts of MO and VB theories;Huckel theory for conjugated p-electron systems. 
5. Chemical applications of group theory; symmetry elements; point groups;character tables; selection rules. 
6. Molecular spectroscopy: Rotational and vibrational spectra of diatomicmolecules; electronic spectra; IR and Raman activities – selection rules; basic principles of magnetic resonance. 
7. Chemical thermodynamics: Laws, state and path functions and their applications;thermodynamic description of various types of processes; Maxwell’s relations;spontaneity and equilibria; temperature and pressure dependence ofthermodynamic quantities; Le Chatelier principle; elementary description ofphase transitions; phase equilibria and phase rule; thermodynamics of ideal andnon-ideal gases, and solutions. 
8. Statistical thermodynamics: Boltzmann distribution; kinetic theory of gases;partition functions and their relation to thermodynamic quantities – calculations for model systems. 
9. Electrochemistry: Nernst equation, redox systems, electrochemical cells; DebyeHuckel theory; electrolytic conductance–Kohlrausch’s law and its applications; ionic equilibria; conductometric and potentiometric titrations.
10. Chemical kinetics: Empirical rate laws and temperature dependence; complex reactions; steady state approximation; determination of reaction mechanisms; collision and transition state theories of rate constants; unimolecular reactions; enzyme kinetics; salt effects; homogeneous catalysis; photochemical reactions.
11. Colloids and surfaces: Stability and properties of colloids; isotherms and surface area; heterogeneous catalysis.
12. Solid state: Crystal structures; Bragg’s law and applications; band structure of solids. 13. Polymer chemistry: Molar masses; kinetics of polymerization.
14. Data analysis: Mean and standard deviation; absolute and relative errors; linear regression; covariance and correlation coefficient.
 

Organic Chemistry :
 
1. IUPAC nomenclature of organic molecules including regio- and stereoisomers.
2. Principles of stereochemistry: Configurational and conformational isomerism in acyclic and cyclic compounds; stereogenicity, stereoselectivity, enantioselectivity,
diastereoselectivity and asymmetric induction.
3. Aromaticity: Benzenoid and non-benzenoid compounds – generation and reactions.
4. Organic reactive intermediates: Generation, stability and reactivity of carbocations, carbanions, free radicals, carbenes, benzynes and nitrenes.
5. Organic reaction mechanisms involving addition, elimination and substitution
reactions with electrophilic, nucleophilic or radical species. Determination of
reaction pathways.
6. Common named reactions and rearrangements – applications in organic synthesis.
7. Organic transformations and reagents: Functional group interconversion including
oxidations and reductions; common catalysts and reagents (organic, inorganic,
organometallic and enzymatic). Chemo, regio and stereoselective transformations. 
8. Concepts in organic synthesis: Retrosynthesis, disconnection, synthons, linear and
convergent synthesis, umpolung of reactivity and protecting groups.
9. Asymmetric synthesis: Chiral auxiliaries, methods of asymmetric induction – substrate, reagent and catalyst controlled reactions; determination of enantiomeric
and diastereomeric excess; enantio-discrimination. Resolution – optical and
kinetic.
10. Pericyclic reactions – electrocyclisation, cycloaddition, sigmatropic rearrangements and other related concerted reactions. Principles and applications
of photochemical reactions in organic chemistry.
11. Synthesis and reactivity of common heterocyclic compounds containing one or two heteroatoms (O, N, S).
12. Chemistry of natural products: Carbohydrates, proteins and peptides, fatty acids, nucleic acids, terpenes, steroids and alkaloids. Biogenesis of terpenoids and
alkaloids. 
13. Structure determination of organic compounds by IR, UV-Vis, 1C NMR and Mass spectroscopic techniques.
 
Interdisciplinary topics:
 
1. Chemistry in nanoscience and technology. 
2. Catalysis and green chemistry.
3. Medicinal chemistry.
4. Supramolecular chemistry.
5. Environmental chemistry.
 

INORGANIC CHEMISTRY BOOKS;

1) Inorganic chemistry by Shriver & Atkins (Suggested by most of Indian Institutues of Technology. Solve the exercises given inside and at the end of each chapter to master this subject.)
2) Inorganic chemistry by Catherine E. Housecroft (Another favorite of IIT professors. The NCERT chemistry textbooks have the material referenced from this book.)
3) Inorganic chemistry by Miessler (I like this book for its simple and straight forward explanation.)
4) Inorganic chemistry: Principles of structure and reactivity by James E. Huheey (You will start appreciating inorganic chemistry after reading this book. I enjoyed and learned a lot from this fantastic text book.)
5) Advanced inorganic chemistry by F. Albert Cotton & Geoffrey Wilkinson (Must for an inorganic chemist. But you need lots of patience to feel like a Jargon.)
6) The organometallic chemistry of the transition metals by Robert H. Crabtree
7) NMR, NQR, EPR & MOSSBAUER Spectroscopy in inorganic chemistry by R.V.Parish
8) Biological inorganic chemistry: An introduction by Robert R.Chrichton
9) Bioinorganic chemistry: A short course by Rosette M. Roat-Malone
 

ORGANIC CHEMISTRY BOOKS;

1) Organic chemistry by Clayden, Greeves, Warren & Wothers (I think already you know about this famous book. Not only written in a lucid manner and is very important for those who dare to attempt organic questions from part C of CSIR NET exam. Most of the previous organic questions are straightly from this book. Just enjoy reading this book and earn easy points.)
2) Modern methods of organic synthesis by William Carruthers & Iain Coldham (Refer this book for advanced organic synthesis. Another book from which most of the organic questions are dumped into the exam.)
3) Organic chemistry by John McMurry (Must read for basics. Very famous undergraduate book.)
4) Organic chemistry by L.G.Wade, JR (Another book for basics)
5) Advanced organic chemistry by J March (A must reference book)
6) Pericyclic reactions by Ian Fleming
7) Modern organic synthesis: An introduction by Michael H. Nantz (Another good book with straight forward explanations)
8) Spectrometric identification of organic compounds by Robert M. Silverstein
9) Introduction to organic photochemistry by John D. Coyle
10) Advanced organic chemistry (Part A & B) by Francis A. Carey & Richard J. Sundberg (Another reference book for organic synthesis)
11) Named organic reactions by Thomas laue & Andreas Plagens
 

PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY BOOKS:

1) Physical chemistry by P.W. Atkins & Julio De Paula (Read the book. Solve the exercises & problems given. That is sufficient.)
2) Physical chemistry by Ira N. Levine
3) Physical chemistry by Robert G. Mortimer

 

 

PHYSICAL SCIENCES

EXAM SCHEME

 

          TIME: 3 HOURS                                                MAXIMUM MARKS: 200

 

 

CSIR-UGC (NET) Exam for Award of Junior Research Fellowship and Eligibility for Lectureship shall be a Single Paper Test having Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). The question paper shall be divided in three parts.

 

Part 'A' 

                This part shall carry 20 questions pertaining to General Science, Quantitative Reasoning & Analysis and Research Aptitude. The candidates shall be required to answer any 15 questions. Each question shall be of two marks. The total marks allocated to this section shall be 30 out of 200.

 

Part 'B'

                This part shall contain 25 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) generally covering the topics given in the Part ‘A’ (CORE) of syllabus. Each question shall be of 3.5 Marks. The total marks allocated to this section shall be 70 out of 200.Candidates are required to answer any 20 questions.

 

Part 'C'

                This part shall contain 30 questions from Part ‘B’ (Advanced) and Part ‘A’ that are designed to test a candidate's knowledge of scientific concepts and/or application of the scientific concepts. The questions shall be of analytical nature where a candidate is expected to apply the scientific knowledge to arrive at the solution to the given scientific problem. A candidate shall be required to answer any 20. Each question shall be of 5 Marks. The total marks allocated to this section shall be 100 out of 200.

 

v     There will be negative marking @25% for each wrong answer.

 

v     To enable the candidates to go through the questions, the question paper booklet shall be distributed 15 minutes before the scheduled time of the exam. The Answer sheet shall be distributed at the scheduled time of the exam.

 

v     On completion of the exam i.e. at the scheduled closing time of the exam, the candidates shall be allowed to carry the Question Paper Booklet. No candidate is allowed to carry the Question Paper Booklet in case he/she chooses to leave the test before the scheduled closing time.

 

v     Model Question Paper is available on HRDG website www.csirhrdg.res.in 

PHYSICAL SCIENCES
PART ‘A’ CORE
I. Mathematical Methods of Physics Dimensional analysis. Vector algebra and vector calculus. Linear algebra, matrices, Cayley -Hamilton,Theorem. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Linear ordinary differential equations of first & second order,Special functions (Hermite, Bessel, Laguerre and Legendre functions). Fourier series, Fourier and Laplace transforms. Elements of complex analysis, analytic functions; Taylor & Laurent series; poles, residues and evaluation of integrals. Elementary probability theory, random variables, binomial, Poisson and normal distributions. Central limit theorem.

II. Classical Mechanics,Newton’s laws. Dynamical systems, Phase space dynamics, stability analysis. Central force motions. Two body Collisions - scattering in laboratory and Centre of mass frames. Rigid body dynamics-moment of inertia tensor. Non-inertial frames and pseudoforces. Variational principle. Generalized coordinates. Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalism and equations of motion. Conservation laws and cyclic coordinates. Periodic motion: small oscillations, normal modes. Special theory of relativity-Lorentz transformations, relativistic kinematics and mass–energy equivalence.

III. Electromagnetic Theory  Electrostatics: Gauss’s law and its applications, Laplace and Poisson equations, boundary value problems. Magnetostatics: Biot-Savart law, Ampere's theorem. Electromagnetic induction. Maxwell's equations in free space and linear isotropic media; boundary conditions on the fields at interfaces. Scalar and vector potentials, gauge invariance. Electromagnetic waves in free space. Dielectrics and conductors. Reflection and refraction, polarization, Fresnel’s law, interference, coherence, and diffraction. Dynamics of charged particles in static and uniform electromagnetic fields.

IV. Quantum Mechanics   Wave-particle duality. Schrödinger equation (time-dependent and time-independent). Eigenvalue problems (particle in a box, harmonic oscillator, etc.). Tunneling through a barrier. Wave-function in coordinate and momentum representations. Commutators and Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Dirac notation for state vectors. Motion in a central potential: orbital angular momentum, angular momentum algebra, spin, addition of angular momenta; Hydrogen atom. Stern-Gerlach experiment. Time independent perturbation theory and applications. Variational method. Time dependent perturbation theory and Fermi's golden rule, selection rules. Identical particles, Pauli exclusion principle, spin-statistics connection.

V. Thermodynamic and Statistical Physics Laws of thermodynamics and their consequences. Thermodynamic potentials, Maxwell relations,chemical potential, phase equilibria. Phase space, micro- and macro-states. Micro-canonical, canonical and grand-canonical ensembles and partition functions. Free energy and its connection with thermodynamic quantities. Classical and quantum statistics. Ideal Bose and Fermi gases. Principle of detailed balance. Blackbody radiation and Planck's distribution law.
VI. Electronics and Experimental Methods Semiconductor devices (diodes, junctions, transistors, field effect devices, homo- and hetero-junction devices), device structure, device characteristics, frequency dependence and applications. Opto-electronic devices (solar cells, photo-detectors, LEDs). Operational amplifiers and their applications. Digital techniques and applications (registers, counters, comparators and similar circuits). A/D and D/A converters. Microprocessor and microcontroller basics. Data interpretation and analysis. Precision and accuracy. Error analysis, propagation of errors. Least squares fitting,

PART ‘B’ ADVANCED

 

  

 

I. Mathematical Methods of Physics:Green’s function. Partial differential equations (Laplace, wave and heat equations in two and threedimensions). Elements of computational techniques: root of functions, interpolation, extrapolation,integration by trapezoid and Simpson’s rule, Solution of first order differential equation using RungeKutta method.Finite difference methods.Tensors. Introductory group theory:SU(2),O(3).

II. Classical Mechanics Dynamical systems, Phase space dynamics, stability analysis. Poisson brackets and canonical transformations. Symmetry, invariance and Noether’s theorem. Hamilton-Jacobi theory.

III. Electromagnetic Theory  Dispersion relations in plasma. Lorentz invariance of Maxwell’s equation. Transmission lines and wave guides. Radiation- from moving charges and dipoles and retarded potentials.

IV. Quantum Mechanics   Spin-orbit coupling, fine structure. WKB approximation. Elementary theory of scattering: phase shifts, partial waves, Born approximation. Relativistic quantum mechanics: Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations. Semi-classical theory of radiation.

V. Thermodynamic and Statistical Physics First- and second-order phase transitions. Diamagnetism, paramagnetism, and ferromagnetism. Ising model. Bose-Einstein condensation. Diffusion equation. Random walk and Brownian motion.Introduction to nonequilibrium processes.

VI. Electronics and Experimental Methods Linear and nonlinear curve fitting, chi-square test. Transducers (temperature, pressure/vacuum, magnetic fields, vibration, optical, and particle detectors). Measurement and control. Signal conditioning and recovery. Impedance matching, amplification (Op-amp based, instrumentation amp, feedback), filtering and noise reduction, shielding and grounding. Fourier transforms, lock-in detector, box-car integrator,modulation techniques. High frequency devices (including generators and detectors).

VII. Atomic & Molecular Physics :Quantum states of an electron in an atom. Electron spin. Spectrum of helium and alkali atom. Relativistic corrections for energy levels of hydrogen atom, hyperfine structure and isotopic shift, width of spectrum lines, LS & JJ couplings. Zeeman, Paschen-Bach & Stark effects. Electron spin resonance. Nuclear magnetic resonance, chemical shift. Frank-Condon principle. Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Electronic, rotational, vibrational and Raman spectra of diatomic molecules, selection rules. Lasers:spontaneous and stimulated emission, Einstein A & B coefficients. Optical pumping, population inversion, rate equation. Modes of resonators and coherence length.

VIII. Condensed Matter Physics ;Bravais lattices. Reciprocal lattice. Diffraction and the structure factor. Bonding of solids. Elastic properties, phonons, lattice specific heat. Free electron theory and electronic specific heat. Response and relaxation phenomena. Drude model of electrical and thermal conductivity. Hall effect and thermoelectric power. Electron motion in a periodic potential, band theory of solids: metals, insulators and semiconductors. Superconductivity: type-I and type-II superconductors. Josephson junctions. Superfluidity. Defects and dislocations. Ordered phases of matter: translational and orientational order, kinds of liquid crystalline order. Quasi crystals.

IX. Nuclear and Particle Physics :Basic nuclear properties: size, shape and charge distribution, spin and parity. Binding energy, semiempirical mass formula, liquid drop model. Nature of the nuclear force, form of nucleon-nucleon potential, charge-independence and charge-symmetry of nuclear forces. Deuteron problem. Evidence of shell structure, single-particle shell model, its validity and limitations. Rotational spectra. Elementary ideas of alpha, beta and gamma decays and their selection rules. Fission and fusion. Nuclear reactions, reaction mechanism, compound nuclei and direct reactions. Classification of fundamental forces. Elementary particles and their quantum numbers (charge, spin, parity, isospin, strangeness, etc.). Gellmann-Nishijima formula. Quark model, baryons and mesons. C, P, and T invariance. Application of symmetry arguments to particle reactions. Parity non-conservation in weak interaction. Relativistic kinematics.