Two from Odisha in top 20 in NISER entrance test

Bhubaneswar: Bringing glory to the state, Ashutosh Samal and Amartya Prusty from Odisha have secured 19th and 20th rank respectively in the National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) conducted for admission into National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) here.

C Rahul of Andhra Pradeshe emerged the all-India topper in the test conducted on May 29.

More than 54,000 students had appeared in the test conducted at 102 centres across the country including 14 in Odisha. There are 132 seats on offer. The examination was conducted by NISER, Bhubaneswar and Department of Atomic Energy Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences, Mumbai University.

Officials said nearly 900 aspirants, who have cleared the test, will appear for the first phase counseling scheduled to be held on July 12.

Successful students will be enrolled in the five-year integrated M Sc programme of the institute in four disciplines - Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics.

NISER is an autonomous institution, which operates under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). The primary objective of the institute is to train and nurture human resources in the sciences for the knowledge economies of the future.