Bhubaneswar, March 16: A record number of applications have been submitted for the National Entrance Screening Test (NEST), which will be held on May 30 across 52 cities and at 90 centres in the country.

In all 55,088 applications have reached the institute this year. This indicates that there are nearly 500 applicants per seat.

"The increase in the number of application over past two years has been overwhelming. While the total number of applications was 24,000 in 2013, there were 33,500 applications in 2014. We can safely say that there has been an increase in demand for science education and the National Institute of Science Education and Research (Niser) among students," said chief coordinator of Nest-2015 Pranay K. Swain.

Keeping the increased number of applications in mind, the authorities have decided to add eight new centres to the existing list of 50 centres for the entrance test.

These will be located at Balangir and Rourkela, Dharwad (Karnataka), Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), and Thrissur (Kerala).

Sources said that while the entrance test question pattern will more or less remain the same, the exam committee has decided to increase the number of questions this year. "The number of questions per subject section will be 18, while the general section will have 21 questions. Previously, the general section had 18 questions and the subject section had 14 questions," said Swain.

The committee has also decided to increase the duration of the test from three hours to 3 hours and 30 minutes. Earlier, the authorities had sent out printed posters to various schools and colleges across the country in order to sensitise the students about the entrance test.

During the winter break, Niser faculty members had visited colleges and schools in different backward districts of the state to deliver talks on career choice in basic sciences in general. Talks were organised in colleges of Sambalpur, Bargarh, Sonepur, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Koraput, Sundargarh, Dhenkanal, Mayurbhanj and Angul.

"Based on the feedback received from these initiatives, two new centres - Balangir and Rourkela - have been added. In future, we would try to progress further and add few places of north eastern India," Swain said.

"A Nest cell has been constituted to execute the day-to-day activities related to the entire exercise and we look forward to a smooth conduct of the examination," said Swain.

Nest is a compulsory test for admission to the five-year integrated MSc course in basic science subject such as biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics at the Niser in Bhubaneswar.

There are 100 Plus Two seats for the 2015-16 session, including reserved seats for SC/ST/OBC/PD candidates and two seats for candidates from Jammu and Kashmir, according to the government norms.

Admission for the 2015-16 session will take place in July.

Check the dates

* Download/ despatch of admit cards begins on: April 15
* Nest-2015 exam: May 30 from 9.30am to 1pm 
* To check results, visit Nest website on: June 19