The Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) is an on-going National Program of Fellowship in Basic Sciences, initiated and funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, to attract exceptionally highly motivated students for pursuing basic science courses and research career in science.
The objective of the program is to identify students with talent and aptitude for research; help them realize their academic potential; encourage them to take up research careers in Science, and ensure the growth of the best scientific minds for research and development in the country.
The advertisement for the KVPY Fellowship appears in all the national dailies normally on the Technology Day (May 11) and the Second Sunday of July every year.
Selection of the students is made from those studying in XI standard to 1st year of any undergraduate Program in Basic Sciences namely B.Sc./B.S./B.Stat./B.Math./Int. M.Sc./M.S. in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology having aptitude for scientific research. Special groups / Committees are set up at IISc to screen the applications and conduct an aptitude test at various centres in the country. Based on the performance in the aptitude test, short-listed students are called for an interview which is the final stage of the selection procedure. For receiving a fellowship, both aptitude test and interview marks are considered.
The merit list is based on 75% weight-age for Aptitude Test marks and 25% weight-age for the interview marks in the streams SA, SB and SX.
KVPY is a multiple choice questions based exam of total 100 marks. It constitutes of 2 parts – I & II, each containing 4 sections – Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Paper I contains 20 questions whereas Paper II contains 10 questions in each section. In the Stream-SA, all questions are compulsory (Science and Mathematics). In respect of the streams SB and SX, there will be four sections in Part I (Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics) and four sections in Part II (Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics). Candidates are allowed to answer any THREE of the four subjects in Part I and any TWO of the four subjects in Part II.
| S. No | Subject | Part I | Part II |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mathematics | 20 questions – 1 mark each | 10 questions – 2 marks each |
| 2 | Physics | 20 questions – 1 mark each | 10 questions – 2 marks each |
| 3 | Chemistry | 20 questions – 1 mark each | 10 questions – 2 marks each |
| 4 | Biology | 20 questions – 1 mark each | 10 questions – 2 marks each |