ugc net, university grants commission (UGC) national eligibility test is an entrance test conducted in order to select the eligible candidates for the post of Assistant Professor for Colleges/Universities level lectureship and for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF). JRF awardees will be eligible to pursue research in their postgraduate subject from IIT's or other national organisations. Such candidates are also eligible for the post of Assistant Professor in Colleges/Universities of India. The award of ‘Junior Research Fellowship and Eligibility for Assistant Professor both’ or ‘Eligibility for Assistant Professor only’ depends on the performance of the candidate in both the papers of UGC-NET in aggregate.

The UGC NET exam was initiated by UGC and later, the CBSE conducted the NET in 84 subjects at 91 centres across the country. From December 2018 onwards, the responsibility of UGC NET has been transferred to the National Testing Agency (NTA), which has been established as a premier and autonomous testing organization for admission/fellowship in higher educational institutions.

The UGC NET comprises two papers – Paper 1 and Paper 2 which will be held consecutively without any break. The total duration of the exam is 3 hours. Candidates are free to devote any amount of time to any paper. Paper 1 and Paper 2 will have 50 and 100 multiple choice questions