ICAR JRF/SRF (AIEEA-PG) key terms

All India Entrance Examination for Admission to postgraduate programmes in agricultural universities, conducted by NTA for ICAR; it ranks candidates for master's admission and for ICAR postgraduate scholarships across participating institutions.

All India Competitive Examination for admission to doctoral programmes in agriculture and allied sciences, also awarding Junior and Senior Research Fellowships; it is the doctoral-stream counterpart of the postgraduate entrance examination.

National Testing Agency, the autonomous body that designs, conducts and scores the ICAR entrance examinations in computer-based test mode, handling registration, admit cards, answer-key challenges and result declaration.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the apex national body coordinating agricultural education, research and extension; it prescribes the syllabi, eligibility conditions and seat allocation rules for these entrance examinations.

Examination mode in which candidates answer multiple-choice questions on a computer at designated centres; navigation, marking for review and time display are handled through the on-screen interface rather than paper booklets.

Statistical adjustment applied when an examination is held in multiple shifts of differing difficulty, converting raw scores to a common scale so that candidates are ranked fairly regardless of which shift they attempted.

A relative score showing the percentage of candidates who scored at or below a given raw score; it expresses position within the candidate pool and is not the same as the percentage of marks obtained.

The minimum qualifying score, separately fixed for categories and streams, that a candidate must reach to be considered for counselling or fellowship award; it varies with paper difficulty and seat availability.

The ordinal position assigned to a candidate within a stream and category on the basis of the final score, used to determine counselling order and the awarding of fellowships.

A window after the examination during which candidates may contest the officially published correct answers by paying a fee per question; accepted challenges lead to revision of the key and rescoring.

The corrected and binding set of correct responses issued after challenges are examined; scoring, merit ranking and cut-offs are computed only against this version, not the provisional key.

The centralised online process of choice filling, seat allotment and document verification through which qualified candidates are placed in participating agricultural universities and colleges.

The step in counselling where a candidate lists preferred programmes and institutions in priority order; allotment algorithms honour this order subject to rank, category and seat availability.

Assignment of a specific programme and institution to a candidate based on merit rank, filled choices and reservation rules; allotted seats must be accepted within a deadline or they lapse.

The prescribed distribution of seats among categories such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Economically Weaker Sections and persons with disabilities, applied during allotment and fellowship award.

Official documentary proof of belonging to a reserved category, issued by a competent authority in the prescribed format and validity period; failure to produce it at verification forfeits the reserved claim.

Physical or digital scrutiny of certificates, identity proof, photographs and eligibility documents at a reporting centre or online portal; discrepancies can cancel admission even after allotment.

The minimum qualification, subject background, minimum percentage of marks and age conditions that a candidate must satisfy before appearing; eligibility is checked at application and again at admission.

The rule specifying which four-year or equivalent undergraduate programmes in agriculture, horticulture, veterinary science, fisheries, dairy or allied fields qualify a candidate for a given postgraduate or doctoral stream.

The broad discipline grouping under which a candidate applies and is tested, such as agronomy, plant protection, animal science or agricultural engineering; the paper's content is drawn from that group's syllabus.

The proportion of questions allotted to each subject area within a paper, guiding how much study time each topic deserves; it is published in the official information bulletin for each stream.

A scoring rule that deducts a fixed fraction of the question's marks for each incorrect response while leaving unattempted questions unpenalised, encouraging selective and confident answering.

The published rules stating marks per correct answer, the penalty for wrong answers, and whether multiple correct options earn credit, enabling candidates to plan an attempt strategy.

Junior Research Fellowship awarded to selected candidates admitted to doctoral programmes, providing a monthly stipend and contingency grant for a defined initial period, subject to satisfactory progress.

Senior Research Fellowship, a higher stipend stage granted to doctoral fellows after completion of the initial fellowship period and fulfilment of progress requirements prescribed by the council.

The total period for which a research fellowship is payable, counted from the date of admission and capped by council rules; extensions require formal approval and satisfactory academic progress.

The periodic academic report submitted by a fellow, reviewed by the advisory committee, that certifies satisfactory research progress and is a precondition for continued stipend release.

The faculty panel constituted for a postgraduate or doctoral student that approves the research outline, monitors progress and recommends submission of thesis and continuation of fellowship.

A concise written proposal of the intended research, covering background, objectives, hypotheses, methodology and work plan, submitted for approval before data collection begins.

The formal dissertation embodying original research submitted for evaluation and defended in an oral examination; it is the principal requirement for award of the postgraduate or doctoral degree.

An oral examination in which the candidate defends the thesis before examiners, answering questions on methodology, findings and their interpretation; performance may affect final grading.

A university established under state legislation with a mandate for teaching, research and extension in agriculture and allied sciences, and one of the institutions to which candidates are allotted.

An institution dedicated to higher education and research in agriculture and allied disciplines, offering degree programmes and hosting the departments where admitted postgraduate and doctoral students pursue their work.

A monthly scholarship paid to meritorious admitted postgraduate students selected through the entrance examination, disbursed through the institution subject to enrolment and attendance conditions.

Disciplines related to but distinct from core crop and animal production, such as agricultural economics, extension, statistics, biotechnology, food technology and basic sciences applied to agriculture.

The discipline concerned with transferring agricultural knowledge from research to farmers through advisory services, demonstrations and communication methods; it appears as a paper group in both streams.

The branch of agricultural science dealing with field crop production and soil management, including cropping systems, nutrient and water management; a frequently chosen major subject group.

The combined discipline of entomology and plant pathology concerned with insect pests and diseases of crops and their management; commonly offered as a subject group in the entrance papers.

The downloadable hall ticket carrying roll number, examination centre, shift timing and candidate instructions; entry to the test centre is refused without a valid printed copy and matching photo identity.

The official result document showing raw and normalised scores, percentile and category rank for a candidate; institutions and employers may require it as proof of performance.