UGC NET JRF 2024 Eligibility Criteria, Job Profile & Salary
Topics Covered: UGC NET JRF 2024 Eligibility Criteria, Educational Qualifications, Age limit & Relaxations, Subject Eligibility, Number of Attempts, Job Profile, Job Opportunities, Job Portal, Working Hours & Salary Expectations
The exam for UGC NET is hugely popular among aspirants who desire to teach in colleges or pursue research in their field of interest.
Like other exams, to appear for UGC NET, you need to make sure that you fit the eligibility criteria that are set for the same. So, if you also intend to appear for the exam do check the eligibility criteria section on this page.
If you fulfill the UGC NET eligibility criteria you should go ahead and apply for the exam.
On the page, you would find all the vital information related to the UGC NET eligibility criteria, age limit and relaxations related to it, number of attempts, job profile and salary.
It is important to note, by qualifying for the UGC NET exam, a candidate becomes eligible to teach in colleges, universities, or educational institutions, as a professor or an academician.
Moreover, if they are able to qualify with exceptionally good scores, they also qualify for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF).
A JRF candidate becomes eligible to receive handsome monthly stipends to conduct research and complete their Ph.D. while also teach at the same time.
Hence, knowing at the right time, the details regarding UGC NET exam eligibility criteria can be very crucial and beneficial for a lot of research aspirants in this country.
Table of Content – UGC NET JRF Eligibility Criteria, Job Profile & Salary
1. Eligibility Criteria
1.1 Education Qualification
1.2 Age Limit & Relaxations
1.3 Exemptions for AP
1.4 Subject Eligibility
2. Job Profile
2.1 Types of Job Opportunities
2.2 Job Portal
2.3 Working Hours
2.4 Salary Expectations
UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2024
Latest Update: – The details related to the eligibility criteria for UGC NET June 2024 have been provided in the official notification, which released on 20th April 2024.
The candidates targeting for UGC NET 2024 exam must go through the latest eligibility criteria for the exam.
The candidates targeting for UGC NET 2024 exam must go through the latest eligibility criteria for the exam. Since the notification for the exam has not released at the present, you can look at the UGC NET eligibility criteria.
The UGC NET Eligibility Criteria for the post of ‘Assistant Professor’ and ‘Junior Research Fellowship comprises of the following:
- Educational Qualification
- Age Limit & Relaxations
- Nationality – Must be an Indian National
It is important to note that if you fail to abide by the UGC NET eligibility criteria, you can be disqualified later from the examination.
| UGC NET Eligiblity Criteria | |
|---|---|
| Educational Qualifications | Masters Degree or equavalent with minimum 55% marks (50% for SC/ST/PwD/Transgender candidates) |
| Age Limit | 30 years for JRF No age limit for AP |
| Number of Attempts | No limit on attempts for JRF & AP |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Subject Eligibility | Subject of your Post-Graduation |
UGC NET 2024 Educational Qualification Criteria
If you are planning to appear for UGC NET 2024, then you can go through the educational qualifications required for the exam.
With the latest notification for the exam out, you can check the eligibility criteria which also include educational requirements given by the NTA.
According to the UGC NET Eligibility Criteria, the educational requirements for the applicants are as follows:
| Category | Educational Qualifications |
|---|---|
| General/EWS | The candidates need minimum of 55% marks (without rounding off) in their Master’s Degree OR Equivalent examination from universities/institutions recognized by UGC in Humanities (including languages) and Social Science, Computer Science & Applications, Electronic Science, etc. |
| SC/ST/PWD/OBC-NCL/Transgender | The candidates belonging to SC/ ST/ OBC (non-creamy layer)/ PWD/ Transgender category need a minimum of 50% marksin their Master’s Degree OR equivalent examination. |
Note: PG diploma/certificate holders from Indian universities or foreign degree/diploma/certificate holders from foreign universities/institutes should ascertain equivalence of their diploma/degree/certificate with a master’s degree of recognised Indian universities from the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).
5% relaxation in aggregate marks is also provided to Ph.D. degree holders whose Master’s level examination has been completed by 19 September 1991 (irrespective of date of declaration of result) for appearing in NET.
As per the UGC NET Educational Qualification, the candidates are eligible only if they pass their master’s exam with the required percentage within 2 years from the date of the NTA UGC NET exam result.
Apart from this, the following candidates are eligible for the exam if they belong to the categories given below:
- If you’re pursuing a master’s degree or equivalent course.
- If you have already appeared for your qualifying master’s degree (final year) examination.
- In case your qualifying examinations have been delayed.
- In case you have a CA/CS/ICWA qualification, in which case your qualification will be considered equivalent to a PG degree, allowing you to appear for the UGC NET exam.
Now, that we have discussed the educational qualifications for UGC NET, let’s move on the next section of UGC NET Age Limit.
UGC NET 2024 Age Limit and Relaxations
You must check the age requirement for the UGC NET 2024 before appearing for the exam.
Since the latest details mentioned regarding UGC NET age limit and relaxations has not been out yet, you can review the age eligibility criteria given in the previous notification as follows:
- As per the notification, students aiming to crack the JRF (Junior Research Fellowship), should not be more than 30 years as on the 01st June 2024 (This age limit only applies to the current cycle of the examination).
- While there is no upper age limit for the candidates applying for the post of Assistant Professor.
- As per the latest amendment, having a Ph.D. degree is now an optional qualification for the recruitment to the post of Assistant Professor.
Hence, there are differences in criteria regarding UGC NET JRF eligibility and the required eligibility for candidates aiming for Assistant professor post while taking the UGC NET examination that aspirants should take note of.
However, there is a certain relaxation in years when we’re talking about UGC NET qualifications for candidates of the following category as per the table below:
| S.No | Category | Relaxation (in years) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Scheduled Tribe/Scheduled Caste (ST/SC) | 5 years |
| 2. | Other Backward Classes – Non-Creamy Layer (OBC NCL) | 5 years |
| 3. | Persons With Disability (PWD) | 5 years (GEN), 5 years (OBC), 5 years (SC/ST) |
| 4. | Transgender | 5 years |
| 5. | Women Applicants | 5 years |
| 6. | Research experience limited to the period spent on research in the relevant/related subject of Post Graduate Degree | By maximum of 5 years |
| 7. | LLM Degree | By 3 years |
| 8. | Armed Forces Services | By maximum of 5 years |
I hope this section has cleared all your concerns regarding the UGC NET JRF Eligibility, especially questions related to UGC NET age limit.
If you are eligible for the exam, you can check out the detailed UGC NET syllabus for Paper 1 & Paper 2 which I have provided.
UGC NET Eligibility Exemptions (for Assistant Professor)
The applicants wishing to appear for the exam can check the following exemptions in the case of UGC NET eligibility criteria for Assistant Professors:
- NET/SET/SLET shall remain the minimum eligibility condition for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professors in Universities/Colleges/ Institutions.
- The candidates who have passed the UGC/CSIR/ JRF examination prior 9 to 1989 are also exempted from appearing in NET.
- For SET Candidates: The candidates who have cleared the States Eligibility Test (SET) accredited by UGC for Assistant Professor held prior to 1st June 2002, are exempted from appearing in NET, and are eligible to apply for Assistant Professor anywhere in India. For SET held from 1st June 2002 onwards, the qualified candidates are eligible to apply for the post of Assistant Professor only in the universities/colleges situated in the State from where they have cleared their SET.
UGC NET Subject Eligibility
Another important issue related to the UGC NET eligibility criteria section is the knowledge about the subject that you should choose to appear for in the UGC NET exam.
- With that said you need to make sure that the subject that you choose for the UGC NET exam matches the subject that you have done your post-graduation in.
- Only in the case that your subject of post-graduation doesn’t match any UGC subject, you may choose a related subject to appear for in the exam.
So, make sure that you choose your UGC NET subject carefully. Here is the List of Net Subjects and their Codes in which an applicant can take the exam.
Now, before moving on to discussing interesting factors like job profile, I hope I have explained to you the details about UGC NET eligibility criteria in simple yet informative manner.
UGC NET JRF Job Profile
The topic of UGC NET job profile is usually one of the most anticipated sections for the UGC NET aspirants who wish to pursue research or follow their passion to teach at a university level.
After discussing heavy details regarding UGC NET eligibility criteria, this section will give you an insight into the various job opportunities and career growth that you would get after clearing the examination.
These are the few things I’ll cover under the UGC NET JRF Job Profile:
- Types of Job Opportunities
- PSUs Recruiting JRF Holders
- Working Hours
- Salary Expectations
Now, before we move on to discuss UGC NET job profile in detail, you can give quick look to UGC NET Cutoff that will help you assess the difficulty level of this exam as well as assist you in analyzing the trends in cutoffs in the exam from the past few years.
UGC NET JRF Job Profile: Types of Job Opportunities
The job profile for UGC NET provides an interesting line of opportunities for candidates who are preparing to clear this exam.
So let’s just say I am going to list the few that are aligned with the UGC NET JRF:
1. Assistant Professor – The most obvious choice of maximum students after clearing the UGC NET exam is to fulfill their dream of becoming a college professor.
After clearing NET, you are eligible to be an assistant professor in any private or government university.
As per the latest changes, it is not important for candidates to have Ph.D. to become an Assistant Professor. The payscale depends on the university you work with.
2. Researcher – Now if you’re one of those who always liked being the boss of your own work, being a researcher is right up your ally.
Choose a topic that you’re absolutely passionate about and that has the scope of developing into a long-term project.
You never know if you attain enough credibility in your project, you can find huge organizations that believe in your research and would provide you with enough resources and techniques to brush your skills.
3. Public Sector Job (PSU) – Most of you are unaware of the fact that many UGC NET JRF holders can go for a Public Sector Job.
The JRF scorecard serves as a gateway to many Public Sector Jobs.
Note: While clearing JRF is an immense subject of pride, qualifying only NET is not a short feat either and does not make much of a difference. The only difference between these two are that in JRF you get monetary scholarship.
To gain a broad picture of the exam’s nature, you can check the comprehensive UGC NET exam pattern to do the same.
UGC NET JRF Job Opportunities: List of PSUs
I am providing the list of all the Public Sector Organizations which recruit UGC NET JRF holders every 6 months:
| S.No. | Name of the PSU |
|---|---|
| 1. | Indian Oil Corporation Limited (OICL) |
| 2. | Bharat Heavy Electronics Limited (BHEL) |
| 3. | National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) |
| 4. | Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) |
| 5. | Naval Material Research Laboratory (NMRL) Ambernath |
| 6. | Oil and Natural gas Corporation (ONGC) |
| 7. | Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) |
| 8. | Hindustan Petroleum Corporation limited (HPCL) |
| 9. | Oil India Limited (OIL) |
UGC Academic Job Portal
To help you with the job search, UGC has come out with the ‘Academic Job Portal’ on the official UGC NET website (link – https://www.ugc.ac.in/jobportal/).
The announcement about the creation of this job portal was made by the UGC through a notification/letter they had released on the 16th of June 2021. The notification states clearly, the function of the aforementioned Job portal.
The portal provides two different interfaces – one for the candidates to register, create their profile & search for jobs, and the other for the employees to register, post jobs & search for candidates.
This announcement has, in general, been welcomed by the majority of the candidates and I sincerely hope that it yields the desired results.
UGC NET JRF Job Profile: Working Hours
Working hours depend on the type of organization. The timings of a college professor depending on the shift.
Morning shifts are from 8 A.M. to 1 P.M. and Evening shifts are from 1 P.M. to 5 P.M. The working time in any public sector company or any other organization would demand 8-12 hours of work.
UGC NET JRF Job Profile: Salary Expectations
Jobs after NET JRF are very liberal in paying Perks and Emoluments for even the smallest of expenses in Government organizations.
The salary of the UGC NET Assistant Professor (NET/JRF Holder) depends upon the job you pursue. I have mentioned below the different kinds of job profiles:
- Private Universities: UGC Norms for Assistant Professor Salary in Private Universities ranges from Rs.30,000-Rs.70,000 per month.
- Government Universities: UGC Norms for Assistant Professor Salary in Government Universities ranges from Rs.55,000 – Rs.1,05,000 per month.
- Public Sector Undertaking (PSU): The salary provided to a UGC NET qualified candidate by Public sector firms also depends upon the organization but the basic pay can vary from Rs.60,000 – Rs.1,80,000.
Talking about the salary of a UGC NET qualified lecturer, you can expect a minimum CTC of approximately 11.88 lakhs.
This was all about the UGC NET Job profile and salary of a professional after clearing the exam.
Before we conclude, you can also check the UGC NET previous year
Before we conclude, you can also check the UGC NET previous year question papers which I have provided to help you familiarize with the type of questions asked in the exam as going through them thoroughly will give you an edge over others during the actual examination.
Conclusion
I hope the information given on this page is beneficial for you. To sum up, I have discussed the UGC NET eligibility criteria, which include educational qualifications, age limit, and number of attempts, to help you check your suitability to apply for the exam.
I have also explained the UGC NET job profile, which will help you understand the career opportunities after qualifying the exam. With this, I wish you all the best for the future.
Stay motivated and keep learning!!
About Anuj Jindal
━━━━━
Anuj Jindal, the founder, is an ex-manager from SBI, with an M.Com from Delhi School of Economics. He also has a JRF in Commerce & Management and NET in HRM, along with more than 5 years of experience in the field of Education.
FAQs: UGC NET JRF 2024 Eligibility Criteria, Job Profile & Salary
- What is the maximum age limit for NET JRF exam?
To be eligible for UGC NET exam, the candidates can check the following criteria regarding the age limit:
- While there is no maximum age limit for NET but to be eligible for Junior Research Fellow (JRF), the candidate should not be more than 31 years.
- However, there is a relaxation of 5 years granted to the candidates who belong to SC/ST/OBC/PwBD/Transgender category and women applicants.
- How many attempts are allowed for the UGC NET Exam?
There is no restriction on the number of attempts when it comes to the UGC NET exam.
However, as covered earlier in the blog, when we talked about the age restrictions for the UGC NET JRF, i.e., Junior Research Fellowship, you should not be over 31 years.
- Can I apply for the UGC NET exam while pursuing my Master's?
Yes, you can apply for the UGC NET exam, while pursuing post- graduation, if you fulfill these following criteria:
- You must complete your master’s degree from the date of the NET result with the required 55% marks if you belong to unreserved category.
- If you are from reserved category (SC/ST/OBC/PwBD/Transgender), then you must score 50% marks in your post- graduation.
- As IGNOU is a UGC approved university, therefore, if you are pursuing a master’s degree from IGNOU, then you are eligible for NET exam
- Can a non-collegiate apply for the UGC NET?
No. If you are a non-collegiate, then you will unfortunately not be allowed to apply for the UGC NET exam. Additionally, finishing college till your bachelor’s degree will also not be enough for you to be eligible for the UGC NET exam.
To appear for the UGC NET exam, you’d have to be a post-graduate degree holder from a UGC approved university. However, there are still other eligibility criteria that you can read here.
- Is a Ph.D. mandatory to become an Assistant Professor?
No, as per the latest amendment made to the draft (2021) of the UGC Regulations, the Ph.D. qualification shall not be a mandatory for the appointment to the post of Associate Professors.
- What is the UGC NET Reservation Policy of the Government of India?
The UGC NET follows the reservation policy of the Government of India. Thus, the reservation of seats in the central universities and institutions which are deemed to be universities is mentioned as follows:
- For the category of SC, there is reservation of 15% provided.
- The candidates from ST category, a total of 7.5% of posts are reserved
- For candidates belonging to OBC – NCL category, there is 27% reservation allotted.
- The applicants who are from General – EWS category, a total 10% reservation is given.
- While the candidates from PwD category, there is 5% reservation on total number of posts.
- Can candidates from other countries eligible for the UGC NET exam?No, in order to eligible for UGC NET examination, the candidate must be an Indian citizen. The applicants who hold citizenship in any other country are, therefore, not eligible to apply for the exam.
- Are candidates who belong to the OBC category in their state, eligible for relaxations provided by UGC NET?The UGC NET examination is conducted on a national level, therefore the candidates who belong to the non – creamy layer of OBC category included in the central list maintained by National Commission for Backward Classes can avail the relaxations granted by the UGC NET for the reserved category.
However, the OBC candidates who come under the state list and are not included in the central list of OBC- NCL candidates are not eligible for the same.