The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has announced a significant alteration in its PhD admission process, opting to use National Eligibility Test (NET) scores instead of the entrance test conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

This decision, outlined in an official notice released by JNU, stems from the University Grants Commission's (UGC) endeavour to streamline the admission process in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The UGC's directive, articulated in its Public Notice dated March 27, 2024, allows universities and higher educational institutions (HEIs) to consider the scores of the National Eligibility Test (NET) administered by the UGC and CSIR for PhD admissions.

Consequently, JNU has embraced NET scores as the basis for admission to its PhD programmes starting from the academic session 2024-25.

Outlined in the notice are the criteria for admissions, which include various categories based on NET scores and Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) qualifications. Notably, JRF qualified candidates will have the option to apply under both JRF Category and NET Score categories, with admission under JRF Category following existing norms with 100% weightage assigned to viva-voce.

Furthermore, the validity of NET scores obtained by candidates in the UGC and CSIR examinations will be one year for the purpose of PhD admissions, as per UGC regulations, while the validity of JRF will be as stated in the JRF award letter.

It's worth mentioning that the University reserves the right to conduct entrance examinations for PhD programmes not covered by the NET examinations in specified subjects or disciplines.