JUNIOR SCIENCE OLYMPIAD

Stage I: NSEJS - National Standard Examination in Junior Science

Every student aspiring to go through successive stages of the Olympiad programme must enroll for NSE. NSEs are held at a large number of centres in the country usually in the last week of November. All students of Class XII or below (science stream) are eligible to appear for NSEs. A student may appear for more than one Olympiad as per the examination schedule. Students who have passed Class XII are not eligible.

Astronomy: For the Junior level, students should be in Class IX. For the Senior level, students should be in Class X or Class XI. NSE emphasizes comprehension of the subject, not rote memory.

Importance:

• The top 300 students or so, with statewise quota, from this examination are selected to sit for the Indian National Junior Science Olympiad. The examination, with both an theory and an objective paper is held in the last week of January. The top 35 or so students are then called for an Orientation cum Selection Camp (OCSC), and the top 6 among all students are selected for the International Junior Science Olympiad.

Format:

• Before 2014-15, The NSEJS comprised both multiple choice questions and subjective questions. Due to the large volume of participating students, all questions were not checked for all candidates; subjective questions were checked for only those candidates scoring above a certain minimum in the multiple choice questions. Multiple choice questions carried about 60% of the total weightage and were the crucial determinant for selection to the next stage. The present format (from 2014-15 onwards) is composed entirely of 80 multiple-choice questions.

Qualifying for the Second Stage & cutoff:

• The basic objective of conducting this test is not focusing on merit but to involve as many students from the country to participate in the exam and try to show and expose their talent. Hence the selection to the stage II examinations i.e. Indian Junior Science Olympiad Examinations (IJSO) is based on the following scheme.
• To be eligible to get to the next level, i.e. the second stage, it is necessary that a student scores at-least a Minimum Admissible Score (MAS)which is 50% of the maximum score.

Stage II: INJSO-Indian National Junior Science Olympiad

Indian National Junior Science Olympiad is organized every year by HBCSE at about 15 centres in the country. Indian National Junior Science Olympiad is the second step that offers an opportunity for Indian students to represent India in world-wide championships. It is organized jointly by the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) and Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE).

Eligibility:

• In order to appear for INJSO, students need to qualify the (NSEJS) examination. In addition to this, those students who have been exempted as described in the Enrollment page are also eligible to appear for INJSO.

Syllabus:

• The syllabus for INJSO will be broadly similar to NSEJS with emphasis on conceptual understanding and quantitative reasoning. Questions and problems in National Olympiads are usually non-conventional and of high difficulty level, comparable to International Olympiads.
• Science Skills and Safety, Pushes and Pulls, Survival in the Environment, Solids, Liquids and Gases, Responding, Energy, How Life Begins, Solving Problems in Science, Acids and Bases, Interdisciplinary “Space” Studying the Universe, Materials from the Earth, Science and technology, Keeping Healthy, Batteries and Bulbs, Atoms and Molecules, Cycles in nature, What are Things made of, Diseases, Global Consumer Science, Science and the Road, Interdisciplinary “The Body” Life Goes On, Light and Colour, Forensic Science, Mathematics Ability.

Stage III: Orientation cum Selection Camp (OCSC) in junior science

• The selected group of students from INJSO will be invited to the Orientation Cum Selection Camp at HBCSE. The camp is of two to three weeks duration. The camp includes several theoretical and experimental tests. Orientation is provided to students especially for the experimental tests. The camp concludes with a valedictory function where distinguished scientists are invited to speak to the students. On the basis of their performance in OCSC the top 6 students will be declared to be special merit awardees. These special merit awardees will be given a prize each in the form of books and cash. The 6 special merit awardees will constitute the 6-member student team to represent India at the International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO).

Stage IV: Pre-departure Training Camp (PDT) for IJSO

• The selected Indian teams undergo a rigorous training program at HBCSE in theory and experiment.

Stage V: Participation in International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO)

• The 6-member student team, 3 teacher leaders and one scientific observer constitute the delegation to represent India at the International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO).