CSIR-NEERI TA and TO 2026 Syllabus: Trade Test, Paper-I Qualifying, Merit on Paper-II and III
CSIR-NEERI/1/2026 is a qualifying trade test, then 200 MCQs in 3 hours. Paper-I mental ability is +2 with no negative marking and is not in merit. Paper-II and III are +3 / −1 and are marked only if Paper-I is cleared.
Advertisement CSIR-NEERI/1/2026 for 1 Technical Assistant and 12 Technical Officers prints a trade test and a three-paper written examination. Posts, fee and the 15 October 2026 close are on the recruitment page.
Order of stages
A Screening Committee shortlists the online applications. Shortlisted candidates sit a trade test in the relevant area. It is qualifying. Date and venue are notified separately, at Nagpur and/or a Regional Centre city.
Those who qualify the trade test sit the written examination, OMR or computer-based, 200 questions, 3 hours, bilingual except English Language.
Three papers
| Paper | Time | Questions | Marks per correct | Wrong answer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I Mental ability | 1 hour | 50 | +2 (total 100) | No penalty |
| II General Awareness | 30 minutes shared with English | 25 | +3 (total 75) | −1 |
| II English Language | (same 30 minutes) | 25 | +3 (total 75) | −1 |
| III Concerned subject | 90 minutes | 100 | +3 (total 300) | −1 |
Mental ability is written as general intelligence, quantitative aptitude, reasoning, problem solving and situational judgement.
Paper-I is qualifying. The Selection Committee sets the threshold and notifies it on the NEERI website before the written exam. Fail that threshold and Paper-II and Paper-III are not evaluated. Pass it and merit is Paper-II + Paper-III only, maximum 450.
That split changes how you sit the three hours. Paper-I has no penalty: unanswered and wrong are the same, so you attempt all 50. Paper-II is 50 questions in 30 minutes with −1: 36 seconds a question, and a four-option blind guess has expected value 0. Paper-III is 100 questions in 90 minutes, also −1, and it is 300 of the 450 merit marks. A candidate who treats Paper-I as the main paper is practising the wrong 100 marks.
Paper-III by code
The advertisement does not print a chapter list for Paper-III. The subject is the essential qualification of the post you applied for.
| Code | Paper-III ground |
|---|---|
| TA-01 | Science communication: audience, a press note versus a technical report, CSIR's public mandate, basics of project reporting. Graduation level. |
| TO-01 | Civil: strength of materials, RCC and steel in outline, surveying, water supply and sewerage, soil, environmental engineering of water and wastewater. |
| TO-02 | Biochemistry: amino acids, enzymes, metabolism, nucleic acids, common assays. |
| TO-03 | Microbiology: staining, sterilisation, water and wastewater microbes, coliforms, pathogens. |
| TO-04 | Chemical: material and energy balance, heat and mass transfer, unit operations, reaction engineering in outline. |
| TO-05 | Chemistry: physical (thermo, kinetics, electrochemistry), inorganic (coordination, p-block), organic (named reactions in outline), analytical (spectroscopy, chromatography). |
| TO-06 | Geoinformatics: GIS layers, projections, remote sensing bands, GPS, DEM. |
| TO-07 | Geology: minerals, rocks, stratigraphy, groundwater, environmental geology. |
| TO-08 | MBA: marketing, business development, IPR in outline, a balance sheet versus a P&L, basic analytics. |
NEERI's work is environmental engineering. Civil, chemical, microbiology and chemistry candidates should expect water, wastewater, air and solid waste to leak into Paper-III even when the degree name is wider.
Tie-break
After CSIR circular 5-1(211)/2014-PD dated 30 May 2023, equal merit scores are broken by: higher marks in the concerned subject, then fewer negatives in that subject, then fewer negatives in the merit papers, then older date of birth, then earlier essential degree, then first name alphabetically. Blind guessing on Paper-III can tie you on raw marks and still lose on negatives.
A practice set that uses +2 with no penalty on mental-ability items and +3 / −1 on the rest is on the practice page.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Paper-I is qualifying. Paper-II and Paper-III are evaluated only after you clear the Paper-I cut-off the Selection Committee notifies before the exam. Merit is Paper-II plus Paper-III.
No. Paper-I has none. Paper-II and Paper-III deduct one mark for every wrong answer, against three marks for a correct one.
The scheme is the same 200 questions and 3 hours. The printed standard is graduation for Technical Assistant and post-graduation or B.Tech for Technical Officer, based on the advertised qualification of the post.
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