[vijeta]

Hi Sunil Sir,

First of all, my heartiest thanks to you for providing such accurate guidance in this forum. It fills us with positivity in terms of our future carrier. I completed my B.Sc (hons.)in Microbiology in Scottish Church College under Calcutta University. I am planning to pursue an M.Sc in either microbiology or biotechnology .I gave JAM this year but couldn't rank well due to lack of preparation (AIR 663). I also sat for JNU CEEB and hoping for better result. I have other exams lined up  for admission in Pondicherry Univ, BHU, VIT, Pune University and few others in Calcutta (Jadavpur, Calcutta university, Bose institute, St.Xaviers). For future, I want to work in a Biotech Company but my larger goal is teaching which i want to continue after working for few years. Now ,my first doubt is what should be my first preference for preparation-NET or GATE? If I opt for GATE, then how many more years will it take to complete Ph.D after M.Tech? And another doubt which I have is whether studying in Calcutta will affect my future result (as outside, I heard, there are better scope)?. I would prefer studying here because I can pay better attention to the competitive exams as well. What would you suggest?

[SunilNagpal]

Hi Sunil Sir,

First of all, my heartiest thanks to you for providing such accurate guidance in this forum. It fills us with positivity in terms of our future carrier. I completed my B.Sc (hons.)in Microbiology in Scottish Church College under Calcutta University. I am planning to pursue an M.Sc in either microbiology or biotechnology .I gave JAM this year but couldn't rank well due to lack of preparation (AIR 663). I also sat for JNU CEEB and hoping for better result. I have other exams lined up  for admission in Pondicherry Univ, BHU, VIT, Pune University and few others in Calcutta (Jadavpur, Calcutta university, Bose institute, St.Xaviers). For future, I want to work in a Biotech Company but my larger goal is teaching which i want to continue after working for few years. Now ,my first doubt is what should be my first preference for preparation-NET or GATE? If I opt for GATE, then how many more years will it take to complete Ph.D after M.Tech? And another doubt which I have is whether studying in Calcutta will affect my future result (as outside, I heard, there are better scope)?. I would prefer studying here because I can pay better attention to the competitive exams as well. What would you suggest?

Hello Vijeta,
Considering your long term goal of becoming a teacher, your aim should be on NET (it is required as a minimal eligibility criterion for getting a teaching offer in a University in India). Having said that, you shouldn't ignore  GATE or any other exam which can fetch you a PhD. Reason being the fact that you can appear for NET even after getting a PhD admission. As of now your main goal should be getting a good PhD offer.

Number of years required to complete the PhD is not dependent on qualifying exam used for getting admission, it will depend upon the 1. Your proactiveness 2. Activity of your guide 3. reputation of the institute. I have seen people spending 6-7 years for their PhD in IITD ; and have also seen people completing their PhD in 2.5 years in IITD.

After MTech it takes around 3-4 years on average to complete your PhD.

You should target IIT Kgp if you wish to stay around calcutta. Even though doing PhD from an average institute will also fetch you a teaching job, but trying your best for getting admission in an IIT or IISc or NIT will reap its benefits in future (both Psychological and Monetary).

Hope it helps
Best wishes

[vijeta]

Thank you so much Sir. Sir, can you please brief me upon preparing for NET?