Physical Sciences is the smallest paper in CSIR NET and the one that gives you the least room to choose. It prints 75 questions where Earth Sciences prints 150, and it asks you to attempt 55 of them — nearly three-quarters of the paper. Every other subject lets you leave half of it alone.
It also carries the most valuable questions in the exam: 5 marks for a Part C question, against 4 in Chemical, Life and Earth Sciences. And it has the most unstable qualifying bar of the five — the three largest session-to-session swings on record all belong to this subject.
This article is about the Physical Sciences paper specifically: how it is built, what nine areas of syllabus really ask of you, and what eight sessions of official cutoffs — both the June and the December cycles — actually say.
If you have not sat CSIR NET before, the general guide to the exam covers what applies to all five subjects — the three result categories, eligibility and what each grade of result gives you. This page assumes them.
Which year is this data from? The exam pattern, marking scheme, eligibility, fee and stipend are from the Joint CSIR-UGC NET June 2025 Information Bulletin published by the NTA. The cutoff series runs from June 2021 to December 2025, taken from the official cut-off notices on the CSIR-HRDG website.
December 2025 is the most recent session whose result has been declared — it came out on 23 February 2026. This page is updated after each session rather than replaced, so the older figures stay here beside the new ones.
1. How the paper is built
Three hours, 200 marks, three parts — and only 75 questions on the whole paper.
| Part | Asked | You attempt | Per question | Wrong answer | Marks |
| A — General Aptitude | 20 | 15 | +2 | −0.5 | 30 |
| B — Subject MCQs | 25 | 20 | +3.5 | −0.875 | 70 |
| C — Analytical | 30 | 20 | +5 | −1.25 | 100 |
| Total | 75 | 55 | 200 |
Every question in all three parts is a four-option multiple choice with exactly one correct answer, and every part carries negative marking at 25% of the question’s value. There is no multiple-select section and no numerical entry.
A wrong Part C answer swings 6.25 marks against you. You lose the 5 you did not gain and 1.25 more on top — more than 3% of the paper on one question. In a subject where the qualifying bar has sat between 78 and 108 marks, two careless Part C guesses are not a rounding error.
The other rule to read carefully: only your first 15, 20 and 20 answers are evaluated. The bulletin is explicit that if you answer more than the limit in a part, only the first ones are taken up for marking. The extra answers are not wrong — they are simply not looked at.
2. The paper that gives you the least choice
This is the structural fact that separates Physical Sciences from the other four, and almost nobody states it.
In Earth Sciences and Mathematical Sciences you attempt half of what is printed. A weak area can simply be skipped, because there are always more questions available than you are allowed to answer. In Physical Sciences you must attempt 73% of the paper — and in Part B, 20 of 25, which leaves you five questions of slack across the entire subject section.
You cannot skip an area in this paper. With only 25 Part B and 30 Part C questions covering nine areas of physics, each area gets roughly three questions in each part. Leaving out Nuclear Physics does not cost you one topic — it costs you a share of the questions you are then forced to attempt anyway, at −1.25 each.
The compensation is that the questions are worth more. At 3.5 and 5 marks, a Physical Sciences candidate needs fewer correct answers than anyone else to reach the same total — 20 correct Part C answers alone is 100 marks, half the paper.
3. Nine areas, at two levels
The official syllabus is published in two halves, and the naming trips people up: they are called Part ‘A’ Core and Part ‘B’ Advanced, which has nothing to do with Part A, B and C of the question paper. They are two levels of depth over the same subject, not two sections of the exam.
Six areas appear in both lists — the Core entry gives the standard treatment and the Advanced entry adds harder material to the same area. Three areas appear only in the Advanced list:
- Atomic and Molecular Physics — atomic spectra, LS and jj coupling, Zeeman, Paschen-Back and Stark effects, molecular spectra, lasers
- Condensed Matter Physics — crystal lattices, phonons, band theory, superconductivity, defects, liquid crystals
- Nuclear and Particle Physics — nuclear models, decays and reactions, elementary particles, the quark model, symmetry arguments
Those three are the back of every physics degree, they are where most candidates run out of time, and there is no gentle version of them in this syllabus. They start at the advanced level.
Two areas repay attention out of proportion to their size. Mathematical Methods of Physics is not a topic you finish and move past — it is the language the other eight are solved in, so a gap there costs a fraction of every question rather than one area’s worth. And Electronics and Experimental Methods is the most self-contained area in the syllabus, which makes it the cheapest marks available to a candidate short of time.
4. Eight sessions of cutoffs
| Session | JRF (General) | Out of 200 | Asst. Professor (General) | PhD only (General) |
| June 2021 | 38.813% | 77.6 | 34.932% | — |
| June 2022 | 50.25% | 100.5 | 45.225% | — |
| Dec 2022 / June 2023 | 39.75% | 79.5 | 35.775% | — |
| December 2023 | 43.938% | 87.9 | 39.5442% | — |
| June 2024 | 43.813% | 87.6 | 39.4317% | not published |
| December 2024 | 54.188% | 108.4 | 48.7692% | 37.563% |
| June 2025 | 51.188% | 102.4 | 46.069% | 36.50% |
| December 2025 | 46.125% | 92.3 | 41.5125% | 33.000% |
Because the cutoff is a percentage of the same 200 marks every session, it converts straight into marks. The bar has ranged from 77.6 to 108.4 marks out of 200 — a swing of 31 marks, or six Part C questions.
Look at how it got there. Physical Sciences owns the three biggest single-session moves any subject has recorded: +11.4 points from June 2021 to June 2022, −10.5 the session after that, and +10.4 from June 2024 to December 2024. No other subject has a jump above 8.7.
A higher cutoff means an easier paper, not a harder one. The bar is set after the exam, from how the cohort actually scored. December 2024’s 54.188% does not mean that session was brutal — it means enough candidates scored well that the bar landed high. June 2021’s 38.813% means the opposite. This is why last session’s figure is a poor target: it describes a paper you will not sit, and in this subject it describes it worse than in any other.
One session is worth singling out. In June 2021 the Assistant Professor cutoffs for EWS and OBC candidates were published as exactly 33.000%, and for SC, ST and PwD candidates as exactly 25.000%. Those are not calculated figures — they are the statutory minimum benchmark. The paper had gone hard enough that the arithmetic fell through the floor and the floor was published instead.
The three results, and the arithmetic that links them
You do not pass or fail CSIR NET. Your marks put you in one of three bands, each with its own published cutoff. Here are the two most recent sessions in full.
| December 2025 | UR | EWS | OBC | SC | ST | PwD |
| Category 1 — JRF | 46.125 | 39.063 | 37.938 | 28.688 | 25.250 | 25.000 |
| Category 2 — Asst. Professor | 41.5125 | 35.1567 | 34.1442 | 25.8192 | 25.000 | 25.000 |
| Category 3 — PhD only | 33.000 | 33.000 | 33.000 | 25.000 | 26.125 | 25.000 |
| June 2025 | UR | EWS | OBC | SC | ST | PwD |
| Category 1 — JRF | 51.188 | 42.375 | 43.375 | 31.625 | 29.188 | 25.125 |
| Category 2 — Asst. Professor | 46.069 | 38.1375 | 39.038 | 28.463 | 26.269 | 25.000 |
| Category 3 — PhD only | 36.50 | 33.00 | 33.00 | 25.00 | 25.00 | 25.00 |
There is a rule hiding in those two rows that CSIR does not state anywhere: the Assistant Professor cutoff is exactly 90% of the JRF cutoff, in every category and every session. 46.125 × 0.9 = 41.5125. 51.188 × 0.9 = 46.069. It holds across all five subjects and all eight sessions above.
The one qualification is the floor. A minimum benchmark of 33% applies to General, EWS and OBC candidates and 25% to SC, ST and PwD candidates in all three categories. Where 90% of the JRF figure would fall below the floor, the floor is published instead — which is exactly what happened to the ST column in December 2025, where 90% of 25.250 is 22.725 and the published figure is 25.000.
The practical value is that you never need to wait for your category’s number. Take the General JRF figure, multiply by 0.9, and apply the floor.
What each result actually gives you
| Category 1 — JRF | A funded fellowship of ₹37,000 a month for the first two years, plus a ₹20,000 annual contingency grant. On registering for a PhD and clearing a review it rises to ₹42,000 from the third year. Also carries Assistant Professor eligibility and PhD admission. |
| Category 2 | Assistant Professor eligibility and PhD admission. No fellowship. |
| Category 3 | PhD admission only. |
Category 3 is much the largest. In the December 2025 session — across all five subjects — 8,035 candidates qualified for PhD admission only, 2,941 for Category 2, and about 3,370 for a fellowship. In June 2025 the same figures were 9,232, 2,886 and roughly 2,890.
5. Shifts, and why they do not change your cutoff
Physical Sciences has generally been examined in a single shift — one paper, one day. In June 2025 it was sat on 28 July 2025 alongside Chemical and Mathematical Sciences; in December 2024 it was sat on 2 March 2025; in December 2025 on 18 December 2025. Where a subject has been split across two shifts, as Mathematical, Earth and Life Sciences were in December 2024, the rule matters.
The bulletin sets it out: when a subject runs in multiple shifts, raw marks are converted to percentile scores, the shifts are merged, and if the percentiles come out unequal then “the lowest will be the eligibility cut-off for that category for all candidates”. The rule is deliberately generous — it protects whichever shift got the harder paper rather than averaging the two.
So there is nothing to plan for. You cannot choose your shift, a harder shift is not a disadvantage you have to make up, and there is no separate “shift 1 cutoff” to look for — only one number per subject, per category, per session.
One more rule from every cut-off notice CSIR publishes: there is no separate cutoff for Part A, B or C. Only the cumulative total decides the merit list. You do not have to clear a bar in each part.
6. Who may sit it
| Rule | What it says |
| Qualifying degree | A Master’s degree with at least 55% marks — 50% for OBC-NCL, SC, ST, PwD and third-gender candidates. Final-year students may apply and are admitted provisionally. |
| Four-year bachelor’s degree | Eligible with 75% in aggregate (relaxed by 5% for reserved categories). Such candidates can qualify for JRF and PhD admission, but not for Assistant Professor. |
| Age — for JRF | Not more than 30 years as on the first day of the month in which the exam concludes, with up to 5 years’ relaxation for OBC-NCL, SC, ST, PwD, third-gender and women candidates, and for research or armed-forces experience. |
| Age — for Assistant Professor and PhD | No upper age limit at all. |
| Attempts | No limit. Held twice a year. |
| Application fee | ₹1,150 General · ₹600 EWS and OBC-NCL · ₹325 SC, ST, PwD and third gender. |
The age rule is the one most often reported wrong. The limit exists for the fellowship, not for the exam. A candidate past 30 can sit the paper, qualify, and be certified for Assistant Professor and for PhD admission — they simply cannot be awarded the JRF.
7. What this paper is actually asking for
- Breadth is not optional here. Seventy-five questions across nine areas means roughly three per area per part. There is no area you can afford to leave out, because you have to attempt 73% of the paper regardless.
- Mathematical methods before physics. It is the first area in the syllabus because it is the language the other eight are written in. A gap there costs a slice of every question.
- Finish the back of the course. Atomic and Molecular, Condensed Matter, and Nuclear and Particle Physics exist only at the Advanced level and are routinely under-prepared — which is exactly what makes them worth the hours.
- Guess carefully, or not at all. Every part is penalised at 25%, and a wrong Part C answer swings 6.25 marks. This is the one CSIR NET paper where a disciplined blank is genuinely worth more than a hopeful tick.
- Do not prepare against last session’s cutoff. This subject’s bar has moved by more than 10 points in a single session three separate times.
- Do not ignore Part A. Thirty marks of general aptitude, no physics in it at all, identical for every subject — and the cheapest marks in the paper for anyone willing to practise them.
The syllabus is public and every candidate has the same one. In a paper this short, what separates results is not how much you have covered but how few of the 55 questions you are forced to attempt you get wrong.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many questions are there in CSIR NET Physical Sciences?
Seventy-five in total — 20 in Part A, 25 in Part B and 30 in Part C — and you attempt 55 of them: 15, 20 and 20. It is the smallest paper of the five subjects; Earth Sciences prints twice as many.
Is there negative marking in CSIR NET Physical Sciences?
Yes, in all three parts, at 25% of the question's value. A wrong Part A answer costs 0.5, a wrong Part B answer 0.875 and a wrong Part C answer 1.25. Because a Part C question is worth 5 marks, getting one wrong instead of right swings 6.25 marks against you.
What was the CSIR NET Physical Sciences cutoff in December 2025?
For the General category, 46.125% for JRF (Category 1), 41.5125% for Assistant Professor (Category 2) and 33.000% for PhD admission only (Category 3). Since the cutoff is a percentage of 200 marks, the JRF figure works out at 92.25 marks.
Which CSIR NET subject has the lowest cutoff?
Physical Sciences has had the lowest JRF cutoff of the five subjects in four of the last eight sessions, but it is also the most volatile — it has ranged from 38.813% in June 2021 to 54.188% in December 2024. A low cutoff means the paper was hard that session, not that the subject is easy.
How are the category cutoffs for CSIR NET decided?
The Assistant Professor cutoff is exactly 90% of the JRF cutoff in the same category, subject to a floor: a minimum benchmark of 33% for General, EWS and OBC candidates and 25% for SC, ST and PwD candidates. Where 90% would fall below the floor, the floor is published instead.
What is the CSIR NET Physical Sciences syllabus?
Nine areas: Mathematical Methods of Physics, Classical Mechanics, Electromagnetic Theory, Quantum Mechanics, Thermodynamic and Statistical Physics, Electronics and Experimental Methods, Atomic and Molecular Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, and Nuclear and Particle Physics. The syllabus is published at two levels, Core and Advanced; the last three areas appear only in the Advanced list.
Do I need to clear a separate cutoff in Part A, B and C?
No. Every CSIR cut-off notice states it explicitly: there is no separate cutoff for Part A, B or C. Only the cumulative total across all three parts is used to draw the merit list.
Can I skip a topic in CSIR NET Physical Sciences?
Not really. You have to attempt 55 of the 75 printed questions — 73% of the paper, the highest share of any CSIR NET subject — and nine areas share only 25 Part B and 30 Part C questions between them. Unlike Mathematical or Earth Sciences, there is no spare capacity to leave a whole area alone.
How much is the CSIR NET JRF stipend?
₹37,000 a month for the first two years, plus a contingency grant of ₹20,000 a year. On registering for a PhD and clearing an assessment it rises to ₹42,000 a month from the third year.
Is there an age limit for CSIR NET Physical Sciences?
Only for the fellowship. JRF has an upper age limit of 30 years as on the first day of the month in which the exam concludes, relaxed by up to five years for OBC-NCL, SC, ST, PwD and third-gender candidates, for women, and for research or armed-forces experience. There is no upper age limit at all for Assistant Professor eligibility or for PhD admission.
Keep reading