BARC DAE Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility

OCES and DGFS: the online screening examination

A computer based test, and a pure subject paper. The brochure says so in as many words: General English, General Knowledge, Aptitude etc. are not assessed. Every question comes from the discipline the candidate registered in.

The paper is built so that "a good candidate will be able to answer 100 questions in 120 minutes", which is 72 seconds a question with nothing left over. With the −1 penalty on top, this is not a paper to guess your way through and not one to leave half-finished either.

The alternative door: GATE

GATE-2024, GATE-2025 and GATE-2026 are all valid, and the highest of the three is used. The GATE paper must match the qualifying degree's discipline. Neither score decides anything, though: final selection rests solely on the interview, subject to a pre-employment medical test. Interviews are at Mumbai for every discipline except Geology and Geophysics, which go to Hyderabad, and outstation candidates get two-way AC three-tier train fare. Nothing is paid for the online examination.

Category-II Stipendiary Trainees: a three-stage pattern

The technician route uses a different and fully published scheme. Stages 1 and 2 run on the same day, the preliminary in the morning and the advanced in the afternoon, on OMR sheets so the morning paper can be marked in time.

The merit list is prepared on stage 2 alone. Stage 1 screens and then drops out of the reckoning except as a tie-breaker, and the skills test is pass or fail.

Ties break in a published five-step sequence: lower negative marks in stage 2; higher marks in stage 1; lower negative marks in stage 1; higher positive marks in mathematics in stage 1; higher positive marks in science in stage 1. Two candidates on identical totals are separated by who guessed less, which is a real reason to be disciplined about attempting.

The same methodology covers other technical posts up to Group B non-gazetted, including medical and fire posts, with the physical standard and driving tests continuing alongside it for fire service personnel. Auxiliary posts are selected on a written test only.

OCES and DGFS

There is no published topic list, and the brochure explains why one is not needed: the syllabus is the candidate's own degree. For the eight engineering disciplines the paper is set at B.E., B.Tech. or B.Sc. (Engineering) level; for the science disciplines, at M.Sc. level. The questions are "intended to assess the basic understanding of subjects", with "emphasis on the knowledge and problem-solving ability rather than on the memory of the candidate".

So a GATE syllabus is the closest published equivalent, and not by coincidence. BARC maps each screening discipline to a specific GATE paper and accepts that paper's score as an alternative screening channel. If DAE thinks a GATE score in that subject measures the right thing, the GATE syllabus in that subject is the right thing to study.

Thirteen disciplines, eight engineering and five science, and a candidate may register in only one even when more than one degree route would qualify. The brochure gives its own example: an electrical engineering graduate is eligible for both code 24 and code 25 and must choose. Radiological Safety and Environmental Science is a training scheme rather than a screening discipline, allotted after selection, so it is not something to apply for.

Category-II Stipendiary Trainees

Here the composition is published exactly, and it is the only part of DAE recruitment with a stated question count by subject. The preliminary paper is Mathematics 20, Science 20, General Awareness 10; the advanced paper is 50 questions on the candidate's own trade.

The preliminary is common to every discipline, which is what makes its composition publishable. The advanced paper is not: DAE states that "the syllabus for question paper for Stage II tests will be based on the trade/qualification" and that the Standing Selection Committee decides it, so it follows the ITI trade syllabus or the HSC science course and is settled advertisement by advertisement. Since candidates enter on HSC science or SSC with a two-year ITI, the preliminary mathematics and science are school level, and the ten general awareness questions are worth 30 of the 150 marks.

The other routes

Category-I candidates are selected by screening followed by interview rather than the three-stage technician scheme, and DAE publishes no paper composition for them. The same holds for administrative posts, where the route is screening then a written test or an interview, and for auxiliary posts, which are selected on a written test alone.

OCES and DGFS: the degree

Every discipline demands 60 per cent aggregate marks, or a CGPA of 6.0 on a scale of 10, in the qualifying degree. For science postgraduates the 60 per cent must also be there in the bachelor's degree, unless the candidate holds a five-year integrated M.Sc.

• Engineering (codes 21 to 28): B.E., B.Tech., B.Sc. (Engineering) or a five-year integrated M.Tech. in the named discipline.
• Physics (41): M.Sc. or integrated M.Sc. in Physics, with Physics and Mathematics at bachelor's or subsidiary level; or B.E., B.Tech. or B.Sc. (Engg.) in Engineering Physics.
• Chemistry (42): M.Sc. or integrated M.Sc. in Chemistry, with Physics up to B.Sc. and Mathematics at least at class 12.
• Biosciences (43): a wide list of M.Sc. subjects from Biochemistry and Microbiology to Food Technology and Bioinformatics, with Physics, Chemistry, Biochemistry or Agriculture Chemistry at bachelor's level; or B.E. or B.Tech. in Food Technology.
• Geology (45) and Geophysics (46): M.Sc. or equivalent in Geology, Applied Geology, or Geophysics.

The list of degrees that are not eligible

Read this part of the brochure before anything else: it is long, specific and counter-intuitive. BARC names dozens of degrees that do not qualify even though they sound adjacent to a listed discipline. Aerospace, Aeronautical, Automobile and Automotive Engineering; Mechatronics; Industrial Production, Manufacturing and Mining Engineering; Ceramics; Marine Engineering; Information Technology and Information Science; Master of Computer Applications; B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Computer Science or Electronics; Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering; Environmental Science Engineering; Structural Engineering; Power and Power Plant Engineering; Software Engineering; Textiles; Plastics; Paper; Sugar Technology. On the science side: M.Sc. in Nanoscience and Technology, Medical Physics, Chemical Physics, Astronomy or Geophysics under Physics; and Industrial, Applied, Environmental, Petroleum or Pharmaceutical Chemistry under Chemistry. Hybrid degrees of major disciplines are excluded too.

One entry runs the other way. Electrochemical Engineering is ineligible everywhere except Chemical Engineering, where it is expressly accepted.

Age

Reckoned on 1 August 2026 for the 2026 cycle, and notably tighter than most central recruitment. The minimum is 18 for everybody.

The physically challenged column is a flat ten years on top in every category, the widest relaxation in the table.

Candidates still studying

Candidates awaiting results in the 2025-26 academic year may apply and, if selected, may begin the course. Retention is conditional: the degree's academic requirements must be complete before 31 July 2026, the final mark sheet must reach BARC by 31 December 2026, and the stipend is not paid until the final certificate is submitted.

The other routes

For direct recruitment rather than through a training scheme, BARC sets the age at 30 for Scientific Assistant B and 25 for Technician B. Administrative posts run from Assistants up through Section Officer, Assistant Personnel Officer, Assistant Accounts Officer and Security Officer, with departmental examinations held for those cadre posts as well as direct recruitment. Auxiliary posts, including Security Staff, Light and Heavy Vehicle Drivers, Attendants and Hospital Attendants, ask for matriculation as the minimum, with an age band of 18 to 27 for the Attendant grades. KSKRA needs a Ph.D., or a master's in engineering with two years of R&D experience after it, 60 per cent at both bachelor's and master's level, a publication list, and not more than 32 years on 1 January of the application year.

Common conditions

• Serving employees of any central or state government, PSU, corporation or local government must produce a No Objection Certificate at the interview.
• SC, ST and OBC certificates must be in the Government of India format, with creamy layer status clearly indicated for OBC.
• Original certificates are verified at the final stage. A call letter is not an admission that eligibility has been accepted, and BARC may reject an application at any stage.

OCES and DGFS: two steps, and only the second one counts

1. Screening, to shortlist candidates for interview.
2. Selection interview, which alone decides selection.

Screening runs on two alternative channels and a candidate may use either or both: the BARC online examination, held in March in more than fifty cities, or a valid GATE score in the prescribed paper, with GATE-2024, GATE-2025 and GATE-2026 all accepted and the highest used. No travel allowance is paid for the online examination.

The brochure tells candidates to use both, because the GATE cut-off is fixed only after the online examination concludes. It is not published in advance and is not derivable, so a candidate relying on GATE alone is relying on a threshold that will be set later in the light of how the online examination went. And choosing GATE only forfeits the online examination: such a candidate is not allotted a slot.

An unusual step sits between application and admit card. Confirmation of participation is mandatory. A link goes to valid registered candidates, and centre allotment among the three cities they chose is first come, first served among those who confirm. The admit card follows the confirmation.

The interview

• Mumbai for every discipline except Geology and Geophysics, which are interviewed at Hyderabad.
• Outstation candidates are reimbursed two-way AC three-tier train fare by the shortest route, or the actual fare, whichever is less.
• Shortlisted candidates choose their own slot from those available, in the window BARC announces.
• Selection is provisional pending a pre-employment medical test at the hospital of the concerned DAE unit, and the stipend is released only after a DAE doctor certifies fitness.

From OCES into DGFS

DGFS is not applied for separately. A candidate who has done well in the OCES interviews and has independently secured M.Tech. admission at a DGFS institute in the same academic year may be considered, and must furnish the admission details in the first week of July. DGFS fellows are paid stipend and tuition to complete the M.Tech. while holding their DAE employment, then join a four-month Orientation Course for DGFS Fellows at the BARC Training School, Mumbai.

Passing the training

Selection is not the end of the gate. A Trainee Scientific Officer must score at least 35 per cent in each individual subject and 50 per cent in aggregate to pass the orientation course. Only then is the appointment as Scientific Officer C made, and the increments granted at appointment depend on how the course went: two or three for OCES, three or four for DGFS, and zero below a specified threshold.

Category-II Stipendiary Trainees

Preliminary test, advanced test the same day, then a practical skills test on a Go / No-Go basis, with candidates called in merit order and capped at four to five times the vacancies in each trade. Those who clear it are empanelled on their stage 2 marks. Two rules govern what comes out: the select list may not exceed the number of vacancies advertised, and a wait list of equal size is kept ready, operated only if a selected candidate does not report. Reservation applies at every stage.

All recruitment is finally made by a Standing Selection Committee constituted by the competent authority. The brochure adds a clause candidates should read: in all matters concerning OCES/DGFS the decision of the competent authority at BARC, Mumbai is final and binding, applicants are asked to wait for that decision rather than approach the courts directly, and any dispute falls to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Mumbai.

During training

Boarding and lodging in the DAE hostel is mandatory for OCES trainees during training, and in the institute hostel for DGFS fellows during the M.Tech.

After absorption

Beyond pay: Leave Travel Concession by air, every year for the first eight years subject to conditions and once in two years after that, which is uncommon in central service; Children's Education Allowance; Professional Update Allowance; the Performance Related Incentive Scheme; and the Contributory Health Service Scheme covering the employee and dependent family members at every DAE unit.

The bond

Selected candidates execute an agreement and a Personal Indemnity Bond to serve DAE for at least three years after training. For OCES the bond covers the stipend and the book allowance actually paid. For DGFS it also covers the tuition fees, the contingency grant and the BRNS project funding of up to ₹4,00,000, which makes it substantially the larger of the two. No third-party surety is required for either.

BARC publishes qualification and age norms for its assistant, technician, administrative and auxiliary cadres but not their pay, which is notified in each advertisement. The grades are the standard central pattern: Scientific Assistant B and Technician B and C on the technical side, Assistants and Stenographers rising to Section Officer on the administrative side, and Attendant and Hospital Attendant at matriculation level in pay band 1 with grade pay of ₹1,800.

OCES and DGFS applications are made only online, at barcocesexam.in. Nothing goes by post: BARC states that no proof of age, category, fee payment or fee exemption, and no hard copy of the application, should be sent.

Fee

Payment goes through the SBI gateway by net banking, debit card or credit card, and the fee is never refunded, including when it is paid twice. If a payment does not show up, wait 24 hours and raise a complaint before paying again. Candidates who claimed an exemption bring proof of the ground for it to the examination centre.

The nine steps

1. Preliminary registration. Name, salutation, mobile number, email address, the OCES screening discipline and the qualifying degree. These cannot be changed later, so the discipline is chosen before anything else.
2. Verification. An OTP to the mobile and an activation link to the email, which becomes the default user ID.
3. Basic and personal information, including any certificates relied on for a fee exemption.
4. Academic information. Marks in SSC, HSC or diploma, the bachelor's degree and the qualifying degree. An application without these marks is disqualified.
5. Screening information. One or both channels. Candidates opting for the online examination name three cities in order of preference. GATE-2024 or GATE-2025 score cards are uploaded here; GATE-2026 candidates register first and upload later.
6. Documents. Photograph 4.5 × 3.5 cm, JPG or JPEG, 20 to 50 KB. Signature 2 × 4.5 cm, 10 to 20 KB. GATE score card 200 to 300 KB. Certificates as PDF or JPG.
7. Preview and correct. Every earlier stage can still be edited here.
8. Payment, where applicable.
9. Final submission, which generates the registration number.

Nothing can be altered after final submission, and only applications finally submitted before the last date are valid. A formal correction window follows the closing date; in the 2026 cycle it ran from 7 to 14 February.

Two rules catch people out. One discipline only: a candidate eligible for two must pick one, and there is no second application. And the GATE score must be entered out of 1000; a score entered wrongly simply means not being shortlisted through that channel, with no correction after the fact.

The registered email address must stay live until results are declared, because BARC sends the interview call letter there and sends nothing by post or courier. It will not correspond about why a candidate was not called or about the outcome of an interview, and records of applicants, including all announced results, are not preserved beyond four months from the final selection result. Download and keep anything you may need.

The technical, administrative and auxiliary cadres are advertised separately, in Employment News and in the press as well as on BARC's own vacancies page, and for Scientific Assistant, Technician and equivalent posts through local employment exchanges. Each advertisement carries its own application method and closing date.

Where the training happens

The OCES/DGFS-2026 brochure places the orientation course at one of two BARC Training Schools, at Mumbai and at Hyderabad. BARC's careers page still lists five locations, which is the longer-standing arrangement:

Where the two disagree, the brochure for the cycle you are applying to governs.

Where you end up

A successful trainee is posted as Scientific Officer C to one of twelve DAE units, and the choice is DAE's rather than the candidate's: allocation is made at the end of the course on the needs of DAE's programmes and the trainee's performance. The twelve are BARC Mumbai; IGCAR Kalpakkam; RRCAT Indore; VECC Kolkata; Heavy Water Board, Mumbai; Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad; BRIT Mumbai; NPCIL Mumbai; BHAVINI Kalpakkam; UCIL Jaduguda; AMD Hyderabad; and DCSEM Mumbai. DAE also reserves the right to post trainees to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and its regional offices.

Two things follow. For nine of the twelve the location named is only the head office, so a posting can be anywhere in India where that unit has facilities. And NPCIL, BHAVINI and UCIL are corporations, so an officer posted there is governed by that corporation's service rules rather than as a Group A gazetted officer of the Government of India.

DGFS institutes and the degree

BARC's careers page names eight IITs (Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, Roorkee and BHU Varanasi) with NIT Rourkela and ICT Mumbai; the 2026 brochure lists IIT Bombay and IIT Madras for that cycle, with placement at BARC for IIT Bombay fellows and at IGCAR for IIT Madras fellows. Which institutes and specialisations open depends on DAE's requirement in the year.

The OCES programme is recognised for a Post-Graduate Diploma and as course work towards an M.Tech., M.Phil. or Ph.D. of the Homi Bhabha National Institute, a deemed university aided by DAE. More than 10,000 officers have graduated from the BARC Training Schools since they began.

The OCES/DGFS online examination is held in 52 cities across India. A candidate names three in order of preference at application and is then allotted one of them.

Two grouping rules apply. Of the three Delhi options, only one may be chosen as a preference, and the same holds for the two Mumbai options. They are listed separately for logistics, not as extra choices.

How a centre is allotted

After registration closes, a link is issued for candidates to confirm their participation, and allotment among the three chosen cities is first come, first served among those who confirm. Confirmation is mandatory before an admit card is issued, so a candidate who leaves it late is likelier to be sent to the second or third choice.

At the centre

• A printed admit card is submitted for verification, with at least one original and valid photo identity document: voter card, Aadhaar or e-Aadhaar printout, driving licence, PAN card, passport, a school or university identity card, or an SSLC or HSC mark sheet bearing a photograph. Photocopies are not accepted.
• Candidates who claimed a fee exemption bring proof of the category they claimed it under.
• Bring a pen. Blank sheets for rough work are supplied.
• Calculators and logarithmic tables are barred; an on-screen calculator is enabled instead.
• Mobiles, cameras, laptops, notebooks, text books and digital watches are not allowed.

No travel allowance is paid for the online examination. It is paid for the interview, which is held at Mumbai for all disciplines other than Geology and Geophysics, and at Hyderabad for those two.

OCES and DGFS run on a fixed annual cycle, and it is a long one: the advertisement appears in December and the course begins the following July. The 2026 cycle is the template.

BARC marks every one of those dates tentative and asks candidates to watch the application portal. The table as printed also carries an obvious slip, giving the start of the application process as 22 December 2026; the surrounding dates and the advertisement date make 2025 the intended year.

Three deadlines that are not the closing date

• Confirmation of participation in the online examination, mandatory for an admit card and the thing that governs centre allotment.
• The GATE-2026 upload window in late March, for candidates who registered before the GATE results were out. Registration itself must have happened by 21 January.
• The second-semester mark sheet upload in the second week of April, for candidates still completing their qualifying degree. Their degree must be complete before 31 July 2026, the final mark sheet must reach BARC by 31 December 2026, and the stipend is not released until it does.

Recruitment to the technical, administrative and auxiliary cadres has no calendar. It is advertised when vacancies arise, through Employment News, the press and BARC's vacancies page, with each advertisement carrying its own dates.

The OCES/DGFS admit card, which BARC also calls the hall ticket, is generated once the examination venue has been allotted and is downloaded from the application portal. Nothing comes by post.

In the 2026 cycle registration closed on 21 January, a link then went out for candidates to confirm their participation, which BARC says is mandatory for issuing the admit card; venues were allotted and hall tickets generated between 15 and 20 February, first come first served among those who had confirmed; and downloads opened on 25 February, two to three weeks before the examination. Alerts go to the registered email and mobile, but BARC asks candidates to visit the portal regularly rather than wait for one.

Take to the centre: a printed copy of the admit card, which is surrendered for verification; at least one original, valid, unexpired photo identity document, which may be a voter card, Aadhaar card or e-Aadhaar printout, driving licence, PAN card, passport, a school, college or university identity card, or an SSLC or HSC mark sheet carrying a photograph; proof of the category under which any fee exemption was claimed; and a pen. A photocopy or a scan is not accepted and without an accepted document a candidate is not admitted.

The interview call letter goes to the registered email address, or the candidate is asked to download it. Nothing is sent by post or courier, which makes the registered email the single point of failure in this process. Shortlisted candidates also choose their own interview slot in a booking window announced on the portal, so a candidate who does not check that week loses the choice.

Everything for OCES and DGFS appears on barcocesexam.in, with email and SMS alerts. In the 2026 cycle the interview shortlist went up in the second week of April, the provisional OCES selection list in the last week of June, and the DGFS list in the second week of July. Selection is provisional until the pre-employment medical test is cleared at the hospital of the concerned DAE unit, and the stipend is not released until a DAE doctor certifies fitness.

BARC publishes no cut-off marks, no category-wise closing scores and no candidate-wise marks for OCES, and no GATE cut-off in advance. It also closes the question: "No correspondence whatsoever form will be entertained from candidates regarding reason for not being called for interview / outcome of interview." Since the final list rests on the interview alone, a published screening cut-off would say who got through the door, not who was selected.

The record of applicants, including all announced results, is not preserved beyond four months from the date the final selection result is published. The brochure says it twice. Keep your own copy of the application printout, the admit card and the result page.

Results on the other routes

They appear on BARC's Results, Interview and Test calls page, indexed by advertisement number. On 12 September 2026 it carried selection lists for research associateships and the Diploma in Radiological Physics course, walk-in interview results for hospital posts, apprenticeship selections and minutes of the Compassionate Appointments Committee.

It also carried three recruitment processes marked cancelled rather than concluded: BARC/MYS/01/2021 for Work Assistant A; 02/2022(NRB) for Stenographer Grade III, Driver (Ordinary Grade) and Work Assistant A; and 01/2022(NRB) for Stipendiary Trainee Category-I and Category-II, Scientific Assistant B (Safety) and Technician B. A cancelled process is not a rejection and produces no merit list, and the notice appears among the results rather than the vacancies.

BARC publishes no cut-off marks for OCES or DGFS. No category-wise closing score, no candidate-wise mark sheet, no advance GATE threshold, and no correspondence about why a candidate was not called. Since selection rests solely on the interview, a screening cut-off would only say who got an interview.

The one sentence in the brochure worth planning around: "the cutoff GATE scores for screening in to selection interviews will be finalized only after the conclusion of the online examination". It does not exist when applications close and nobody can quote it in advance, which is why the brochure tells candidates to use both channels.

Real numbers are published for the technician route instead, as screening floors: 40 per cent at the Category-II preliminary test and 30 per cent at the advanced test for general candidates, with reserved floors never set below 30 and 20 per cent.

Settle the route before anything else

OCES, Category-I, Category-II and the administrative cadres are separate recruitments with separate qualifications, ages and papers. Nothing you prepare for one carries over to another.

For OCES and DGFS

Check the ineligible degree list first. It is the commonest way an application is wasted here. Aerospace, Automobile, Mechatronics, Information Technology, MCA, B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Computer Science or Electronics, Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, Power Engineering, Environmental Science Engineering, Structural Engineering and many more are named as not eligible, however close they read to a listed discipline. Find your exact degree name in the brochure before you spend a rupee or an evening.

Take both screening channels. The GATE cut-off is set after the online examination is over, so relying on GATE alone means relying on a number that does not yet exist, and opting for GATE only forfeits the online examination slot.

Study the GATE syllabus of your discipline. BARC publishes no topic list and accepts a GATE score in a named paper as equivalent screening, so that syllabus is the best published proxy there is.

Practise on GATE papers in the matching subject, which GATE publishes with keys every year, but score yourself at a flat +3 and −1, work at 100 questions in 120 minutes rather than 65 in three hours, and skip GATE's General Aptitude section.

Drop the general studies. General English, General Knowledge and Aptitude are not assessed. All 100 questions are subject, so time spent on current affairs for this paper is time thrown away.

Practise at 72 seconds a question, with an on-screen calculator. Physical calculators and log tables are barred and an on-screen one is provided, so practise with a computer calculator rather than a scientific one. And attempt with discipline: three wrong answers cancel a right one.

Prepare for the interview from the start. This is the part candidates leave too late, and it is the only part that selects. The panel is examining a subject specialist for a research and engineering organisation, so depth in your own discipline, the ability to reason aloud through a problem, and clarity about your project and final-year work matter more than breadth.

For Category-II Stipendiary Trainees

• Both papers are on the same day, preliminary in the morning and advanced in the afternoon. Practise the endurance of two papers back to back.
• The preliminary is school level and only screens: Mathematics 20, Science 20, General Awareness 10.
• The advanced paper is the whole merit list, set on your trade or qualification. That is where preparation should go.
• Both are marked +3 and −1. On a tie, the candidate with fewer negative marks in stage 2 wins, then the one with a higher stage 1 score, then again the one with fewer negatives. Guessing costs twice.
• The skills test is Go / No-Go and carries no marks, but it is a real gate.
• Practise the preliminary on Class 10 and 12 mathematics and science papers, and the advanced paper from the NCVT or ITI trade syllabus for your own trade. DAE's own Revised Selection Procedure carries every number that governs this route.

Watch the right page, and keep your own records

OCES has a fixed annual cycle, advertised in December and examined in March. Everything else is advertised when it arises, on the vacancies page, in Employment News and in the press, and sometimes through employment exchanges. And BARC destroys the applicant record, results included, four months after the final result, so save the application printout, the admit card, the score and the result page as they appear.

No previous question papers, answer keys or sample papers are available for the BARC OCES/DGFS online examination or the Stipendiary Trainee tests. BARC does not release them.

The closest official guide is the OCES/DGFS brochure, published each December with the advertisement.

Official

• BARC vacancies, the live advertisement list
• BARC results, interviews and test calls
• OCES/DGFS online application portal, where applications, admit cards, shortlists and results all live
• Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
• Homi Bhabha National Institute, which awards the degrees the OCES course counts towards

The documents that govern each route

• OCES/DGFS information brochure, 42 pages: screening, eligibility, the ineligible degree list, stipend, pay, bond, fee, age, dates and the 52 examination cities
• Revised Selection Procedure for Category-II Trainees and other technical and auxiliary posts up to Group B (non-gazetted), two pages with the full three-stage scheme and the tie-break sequence
• Career Digest: recruitment and promotion guidelines in DAE for scientific and technical personnel

Career routes described by BARC

• Officers, covering OCES, DGFS and KSKRA
• Officers by direct recruitment, for the specialised Technical Officer C posts
• Assistants and Technicians, the Category-I and Category-II stipendiary schemes
• Administrative staff
• Auxiliary and supporting staff

Is there a single BARC entrance examination?

No. DAE recruits by several separate routes: OCES and DGFS for Scientific Officers, the KSKRA associateship for doctorates, Category-I and Category-II Stipendiary Training Schemes for Scientific Assistants and Technicians, and separate advertisements for administrative and auxiliary posts.

Does the BARC online examination decide selection?

No, and this is the most commonly misunderstood point. Final selection is based solely on performance in the selection interview, subject to medical fitness. The online examination and the GATE score decide who is called.

Can I apply through GATE instead of the BARC examination?

Yes. A valid score in the prescribed GATE paper is a complete alternative channel, and GATE-2024, GATE-2025 and GATE-2026 scores are all accepted for the 2026 cycle, with the highest used. You may also opt for both, which BARC recommends, because the GATE cut-off is fixed only after the online examination has been held. A candidate who opts for GATE only is not allotted an online examination slot at all.

What is the pattern of the online examination?

100 objective questions in 120 minutes, +3 for a correct answer and −1 for a wrong one, nothing for an unattempted question. All in English. An on-screen calculator is provided; physical calculators and log tables are barred.

Is there General Knowledge or English in the paper?

No. BARC states that General English, General Knowledge and Aptitude are not assessed. Every question comes from the discipline you registered in.

What is the syllabus?

There is no published topic list. The paper is set at B.E. or B.Tech. level for the eight engineering disciplines and M.Sc. level for the science ones, on the registered discipline alone. Since BARC accepts a GATE score in a named paper as equivalent screening, that GATE syllabus is the closest published proxy.

Can I apply in more than one discipline?

No, only one, even when eligible for several. The brochure's own example is an electrical engineering graduate, who qualifies for both the Electrical and the Electronics disciplines and must choose.

What is the age limit for OCES?

On 1 August of the cycle year: 26 for General, 29 for OBC (Non-Creamy Layer), 31 for SC and ST, with a further ten years in every category for physically challenged candidates. Minimum 18. Tighter than most central recruitment, where the General limit is usually 30.

My degree sounds like one of the listed disciplines. Is it eligible?

Check the brochure's list of ineligible degrees before assuming so. Aerospace, Aeronautical, Automobile, Mechatronics, Information Technology, MCA, B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Computer Science or Electronics, Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, Power Engineering, Environmental Science Engineering, Structural Engineering and many others are named as not eligible. Electrochemical Engineering is a special case: ineligible everywhere except Chemical Engineering.

What is the application fee?

₹500 plus bank charges for male General and OBC applicants and two other named categories. Female and transgender applicants of every category pay nothing, and so do SC and ST candidates, dependants of defence personnel killed in action, and physically challenged candidates with 40 per cent disability or more. Never refunded, even on a duplicate payment.

What is the stipend and the pay?

OCES trainees get ₹74,000 a month for the training year plus a one-time book allowance of ₹30,000; DGFS fellows the same stipend for two years plus tuition, a contingency grant and project funding. On absorption, Scientific Officer C at Level 10, entry pay ₹56,100, with monthly emoluments of roughly ₹1,34,000 at the Mumbai rate after three increments.

Is there a bond?

Yes, a Personal Indemnity Bond to serve DAE for at least three years after training. For OCES it covers the stipend and book allowance actually paid; for DGFS it also covers tuition, the contingency grant and the project funding, which makes it considerably larger. No third-party surety is required.

Where will I be posted?

To one of twelve DAE units, allotted by DAE on its programme requirements and your course performance, and possibly to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. For most of those units the address given is only a head office, so the posting can be anywhere in India. At NPCIL, BHAVINI and UCIL you are governed by the corporation's service rules rather than as a Group A gazetted officer.

How does the Technician recruitment work?

Three stages. A preliminary test of 50 questions in an hour, 20 mathematics, 20 science and 10 general awareness. An advanced test of 50 questions in two hours on your own trade, the same day. Then a practical skills test on a Go / No-Go basis. Both written papers are marked +3 and −1.

Which stage decides the technician merit list?

The advanced test alone. The preliminary only screens and the skills test is pass or fail. Candidates clearing the skills test are empanelled in order of their advanced test marks.

How are ties broken for Technician?

Five steps: lower negative marks in stage 2, then higher marks in stage 1, then lower negative marks in stage 1, then higher positive marks in mathematics in stage 1, then in science. The first two both favour the candidate who guessed less.

Does BARC publish cut-off marks, and how long are results kept?

Not for OCES or DGFS. It does publish screening floors for the Category-II technician route: 40 per cent at stage 1 and 30 per cent at stage 2 for general candidates, with relaxed reserved floors that may not go below 30 and 20 per cent. Results and the applicant record are kept four months from the final selection result, then destroyed.