National Institute of Science Education and Research
Placement Cell
Director's message
The National Institute of Science Education and Research, (NISER) Bhubaneswar is a pre-eminent Institution of science education and research under the Department of Atomic Energy of India. NISER has the mandate to impart undergraduate science education on a research driven foundation, building resources for our nation’s future of burgeoning research and development requirements. The Institute has an Integrated M. Sc. programme to which students are admitted through a rigorous national level screening test. The students of the programme get a preliminary grounding training in all major scientific disciplines for one year, following which they choose a major discipline for their programme. The students also get exposure to basic humanities subjects as a part of their programme. The academic training involves faculty of exceptional track records, research oriented pedagogy, exposure to advanced scientific laboratories and techniques, and significant amount of research projects. We also have very dynamic PhD programmes in various disciplines, and an Integrated M.Sc–PhD programme. The institute boasts laboratories with cutting edge technologies in all major scientific disciplines. All our academic programmes are under the auspices of and degrees are awarded by the Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), one of the topmost education institutions of the country; ranked 14 according to the National Institutional Ranking Framework-2020. Besides, NISER has been recognized by Clarivate Analytics as the most influential research Institution for its outstanding and pioneering research contribution to the country under the category of Institutions established within 15 years.
In the last one and half decades of its existence, NISER has received national and international acclaim for the research achievements of our faculty and academic excellence of our students. The accomplishments of our young alumni underpins the relentless pursuit of excellence by the institute. The maturity, scientific temper and academic rigour that our students achieve by the time of graduation render them ideally suited for handling tomorrow’s research and development challenges of respective scientific disciplines. Through this message I cordially welcome all organisations and recruiters to our institute.
Prof. Sudhakar Panda, Director
About NISER
National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, established in 2007, envisioned to be a unique institution of its kind in India under the aegis of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). It has been established with the aim of embedding scientific rigor within larger pedagogic practices in our country. The Institute is affiliated with Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai, a deemed research university that oversees academic programs at Institutions that are part of the DAE structure.
NISER cultivates some of the best young scientific minds in the country. The current science education and cutting edge research experience of our students allows them to think in terms of qualitative difference in their learning outcomes, rather than merely attending classes.
NISER offers world class facilities-fully equipped library, state of the art laboratories and computational facilities and amazing infrastructure to its students along with training from supremely qualified faculty members with splendid research based achievements.
Students participate in institute talks, seminars, colloquia that are held regularly, encouraging students to think and question current narratives. NISER promotes both theoretical and experimental research in frontier areas in all branches of science, putting equal emphasis on both research and teaching.
Selection procedure and Scholarship
NISER offers namely 3 degrees, Integrated MSc, Integrated MSc-PhD, and PhD degree.
NISER offers 5-year integrated M.Sc. Programme in Biological Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Mathematical Sciences and Physical Sciences. The curriculum for the first two semesters (first year) is common to all students and specialization begins from the second year. After specialization in second year, students are required to go through a certain number of courses in other disciplines. Apart from these, students are required to go through some compulsory courses in humanities, social sciences, technical communication, history of science, environmental and energy sciences. In the fifth year every student undertakes a guided research project, the outcome of which is reported in the form of a thesis. Throughout the five-year programme, students are encouraged to take up summer projects and visit reputed national, international laboratories and universities.
Selection into NISER
Students seeking admission in NISER in 5 year Integrated M.Sc. programme will have to appear for National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) conducted every year at 90 centers in India where approximately 80,000 students take the test to fill 200 seats in NISER. (0.25% acceptance rate)
All undergraduate students of NISER are recipients of either the INSPIRE, DISHA or KVPY fellowship with a minimum monthly stipend of Rs 5000 and contingency of Rs 20,000.
Training offered
NISER offers its students multiple opportunities and platforms to develop and hone their skills of problem solving, critical thinking and eloquent communication and leadership and management skills. Specialised training is also offered in the form of workshops like RAD@Astronomy by Dr Anand Hota and the Clinical research in cancer workshop. Summer schools are regularly held by all departments, and multiple conferences and meetings with international delegates expose students to various fields of the subject, like in National Conference cum Workshop on Stress and Metabolic Syndrome, Indo-European sym. on Frontiers of Chemistry, National Conference On Science, Technology and Society, International Conference on Plant Developmental Biology & 3rd National Arabidopsis Meeting, Introductory School on Galaxy Formation,Workshop on Cyber Security 2018,Advance Instructional School on Stochastic Processes 2018,Workshop on Number Theory, ACM Summer School, International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics. Apart from institute organised training, students take initiative in conducting training sessions where hands on skill is imparted, and organising interdisciplinary talks, inviting speakers from industry, academia and all walks alike, to interact with and learn from.
Skills of students
Besides mandatory requirements, students are actively encouraged to participate in professional skill development and networking activities such as workshops, colloquium, and conferences, making them well equipped to handle any challenge and perform optimally even outside their comfort zones.
Logical and Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is fundamentally a process of questioning information and data; as a part of a research group, every student has to logically and critically analyze the topic or given unsolved problems to proceed further. Many such critical thinking assignments are part of students' theory and lab courses.
Reading and Study Strategies
Due to the rigorous semester coursework and schedules and lab work that NISER boasts of, students have developed the ability to proficiently manage time so as to read and prepare for exams as well as read and analyse research papers to cope up with ongoing assigned research projects.
Co curricular development
Our student body is less in number as compared to other colleges and universities, but we participate and organise almost all of the activities at par with other universities. This leads to the active involvement of students in more than one dedicated club of extracurricular activity and managing their activities all year long.
Research and presentation Skills
Not only are our students proficient in their research skills, they are adept at presenting their data in a coherent fashion, an important skill to excel in their daily coursework and projects. While some people take this in their stride, others find it much more challenging initially, which they ultimately overcome by the time they graduate with their thesis.
Writing and Communication Skills
In the course of the program, everyone has to do research and write a thesis at the end of last semester. This process not only hones their research acumen but also leads to better communication skills, written or otherwise-working as a team, continually communicating with their lab members, PI and thesis committee. Even as part of our coursework and exams, which do not merely test our memory, but also our understanding and how well we can convey the solution efficiently, is a testament to students’ communication skills.
NISER is well equipped with state-of-the-art research facilities at par with global standards, such as the NMR spectrometer, multiple types of mass spectrometers, single crystal, powder, and protein X-Ray diffractometers, field emission scanning microscopes, ultrafast laser systems, EPR facility, and many more.
Placement cell invites companies to the campus.
Companies/Organizations will have to fill a Job Notification Form(JNF) containing the details of the job.
Details of students are made available to the companies for prior short listing, if required
Placement cell allots dates to companies for campus interviews.
Companies visit the campus, take tests/GDs/Interviews and furnish a final list of selected and withheld candidates to the placement cell.
Selected students are registered for jobs.
Clubs and Extracurriculars
NISER has a wide array of student-run extra and co curricular clubs, which remain active all year round. The common structure of any club is that it functions with a core committee to coordinate all volunteer activities. We have, currently active, 18 clubs- in the cultural council under the general secretary of cultural affairs. They are the art club, ArC, Chess club, Dance club, Drama and Music club, Film club, Literary club LitC, Quizone quiz club, Photography club, Yoga club, and Zaariya- the social service club. We also have the NISER astronomy club, Brain Matters- a neuroscience enthusiasts’ hub, Coding club, Science Activities club, RoboTech club with a funded lab, Mathematix club, nature club-Oorna, which expose the students to co curricular education and provide hands on training sessions in respective fields. The sports club boasts of talented players who demonstrate dedication and discipline in regularly organised interbatch tournaments.