Biotechnology is any technique that uses living organisms or substances from those organisms, to make or modify a product, to improve plants or animals, or to develop microorganisms for specific purposes.
Admission to Master's Degree Programmes in Biotechnology:
Being an inter-disciplinary programme, candidates with bachelor's degree under 10+2+3 pattern of education in Physical, Biological, Agricultural, Veterinary, and Fishery Sciences. Pharmacy, Engineering Techno-logy, 4-Years BS (Physician Assistant) Course, Medicine (MBBS) or BDS and allied fields are all eligible to apply for M.Sc. Biotechnology programmes across most universities. Each university has its own typical eligibility criteria, but the admission process is usually a written entrance test with questions in English.
Popular Entrance Tests :
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (www.jnu.ac.in) conducts the Combined Biotech-nology Entrance Examination in May every year on behalf of the participating Universities, for admission to M.Sc. (Biotech-nology)/ M.Sc. Agri/M.V.Sc. (Biotechnology)/M.Tech (Biotech-nology) programmes being offered by various participating Universities.
The question paper is divided into two parts :
Part A (60 marks) - 60 multiple choice type questions of the 10+2 standard, sub-divided into Section-I, II and III.
Section I with 40 questions from Physics and Chemistry must be answered by all the candidates.
Section II has 20 questions from Mathematics and
Section III usually has 20 questions from Biology.
Candidates have option to answer questions from either Section-II or III.
There will be negative marking, for each wrong answer, ½ (half) mark will be deducted.
Part B also has multiple choice questions. About 40 questions are asked from Physics and Mathematics and another 40 questions are from Biology (including Botany, Zoology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Genetics and Molecular Biology) in addition to 20 questions from Chemistry. Candidates have to attempt 60 questions. Total marks for Part B will be 60 questions x 3 marks each = 180 marks. There will be negative marking and one mark for each wrong answer will be deducted.
The IITs have started conducting a Joint Admission Test to M.Sc. (JAM) for admission to its post-graduate programmes, including M.Sc. Biotechnology programmes offered at IIT Roorkee (www.iitr.ernet.in) and IIT Bombay (www.iitb.ac.in). These are open to candidates with a Bachelor's degree in any branch of Science/Agriculture/Pharmacy/Veterinary/Engineering/Medicine (MBBS). The Biotechnology test paper will be of three hours duration, fully Objective Type with multiple choice questions only. There will be negative marking for wrong answers with negative weightage of 1/3 (one third) of the marks assigned to correct answer.
Questions from topics in Biology of the 10+2+3 level would carry 44% weightage, while Chemistry topics of the same level would account for 20% weightage. Mathematics questions of 10+2 level would have 18% weightage as would Physics of the same level. The syllabus for each of the subject areas is clearly outlined in the brochure.
The Thapar Institute of Technology & Engineering at Patiala (www.tiet.ac.in) admits a certain number of students through Combined Biotechnology Entrance Examination conducted by JNU while the remaining are admitted on the basis of the M.Sc. Biotechnology entrance examination conducted by TIET.
This exam consists of two papers of two hours duration carrying 100 marks each, in the following pattern.
Paper-I (40 marks) consists of 60 multiple choice questions of the level of 10+2 (CBSE) subdivided into Sections I, II, III.
Section I-20 questions from Physics and Chemistry to be answered by all the candidates;
Section II-20 questions from Mathematics and
Section III-20 questions from Biology.
Candidates have the option to answer questions from either Section II or Section III.
Paper-II (60 marks) will have 90 multiple choice questions of the B.Sc. level subdivided into Section I, II and III.
Section I-30 questions from Chemistry to be answered by all candidates.
Section II-30 questions from Mathematics and Physics and
Section III-30 questions from Biology and other branches of the life sciences.
Candidates have the option to answer questions from either Section II or III.
There will be negative marking for wrong answers; for each wrong answer 1/4 mark will be deducted.
The question paper for the Entrance Examination conducted by Alagappa University (www.aluniv.org or www.alagappabiotech.org) for its M.Sc. Biotechnology programme will be of two hours duration divided into two main parts :-
Part A (50 marks) will have questions of objective type of the 10+2 and Degree level from Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Computer Sciences.
Part B (30 marks) will have descriptive questions from the areas of Physical Sciences, Biology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Genetics, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Immunology and other related disciplines upto to Degree level.
Sample Questions/Previous Years' Question Papers
JNU provides a set of question papers pertaining to the last 7-8 years. These are available separately in the period between February and May, by sending a request and payment as mentioned in the information brochure. The prospectus/information brochure of almost all the universities conducting the M.Sc. Biotechnology entrance test contains a set of sample questions to help candidates get an overview of what to expect. However, candidates are advised not to expect similar questions and must be prepared for the actual questions to be more diverse.
The best approach for tackling these entrance tests would be to acquire clear concepts of the subject matter involved taking a broader view rather than that defined by any particular university curriculum.
Time Frame
Expect notifications announcing the dates of the examinations, eligibility criteria, etc from November to April-May.
Tests are usually held between March and June.
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