About IISERs The Government of India has established the IISERs at Berhampur, Bhopal, Kolkata, Mohali, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram, and Tirupati to integrate and promote interdisciplinary science education and research. Over the years, the IISERs have been successfully attracting talented young minds. An overarching goal of the IISERs is to enable students to shape the nation by inventing and implementing sustainable solutions for societal problems through research in science. This is being achieved by our faculty of international repute together with bright students. In a short span of time, the IISERs have generated an incredible amount of intellectual property in the form of publications and patents. About BS and BS-MS Dual Degree Programs Five-year dual degree program for science students Classroom learning integrated with research, providing ample scope for interdisciplinary activities Curriculum with a focus on both breadth and depth in the natural sciences, engineering sciences and economics Opportunity to pursue impactful research Fully residential campuses with well-equipped hostels Access to on-campus medical facilities along with sports and other recreational facilities Key Features Highly competent and motivated faculty with passion for teaching and pursuing research in frontier areas of science Integrated undergraduate teaching and cutting-edge research Exposure and access to world-class research facilities right from the start of the program Research internships and year-long research projects leading to MS thesis with opportunities for interdisciplinary research Overall Eligibility Criteria Applicants must be Indian nationals, OCI/PIO/Foreign Nationals to apply for IAT 2026. The candidates must have passed the Class XII or equivalent level examination in 2024 or 2025 or 2026 from any board recognized by the Council of Boards of School Education in India COBSE. Foreign Nationals need to upload an equivalence certificate issued by the Association of Indian Universities unless they have passed the Class XII or equivalent level examination in 2024 or 2025 or 2026 from any board recognized by the Council of Boards of School Education in India COBSE. The equivalence certificate must be uploaded while submitting the IAT-2026 Application Form under the "Please upload copy of document supporting your claim of Foreign National (You'll need to produce original when necessary)". Candidates must have taken at least three subjects among Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics during their Class XII (or equivalent) examination. Candidates belonging to SC/ST/PwD require to score a minimum of 55% marks in aggregate or equivalent grade in their Class XII (or equivalent) examination. Candidates belonging to other categories require to score a minimum of 60% marks in aggregate or equivalent grade in their Class XII (or equivalent) examination. Performance Criteria in Class XII/Equivalent Examination Candidates whose Class XII (or equivalent) examination results have not yet been declared, can apply for IAT 2026. However, their admission will be subject to fulfilling the minimum eligibility criteria given above. For candidates who had appeared in the Class XII (or equivalent) examination for the first time in 2025 and reappeared in any subject (for whatever reason) in 2026, the better of two performances will be considered. If a board gives aggregate marks considering both Class XI and Class XII, then only Class XII (or equivalent) examination marks will be considered. If a board gives aggregate marks considering the results of all three years of a 3-year diploma or courses of equivalent duration, then only the marks scored in the final year will be considered. Similarly, the marks scored in the final two semesters will be considered for boards that follow a semester system. If a board awards only letter grades without providing an equivalent percentage of marks on the grade-sheet, the candidate should obtain a certificate from the board specifying the equivalent marks and submit it before the deadline of the mark-sheet submission. In case the board does not provide such a certificate, the percentage marks will be assessed as follows: Percentage marks = (CGPA or CPI obtained × 100) / PS where PS is the maximum value of the point scale used by the respective board. Reservation Policy Reservation policies as mandated by the Govt. of India will apply Scheduled Caste (SC) - 15% of seats Scheduled Tribe (ST) - 7.5% of seats Other Backward Classes belonging to the Non-Creamy Layer (OBC-NCL) - 27% of seats Persons with Disability (PwD) with at least 40% impairment - 5% of seats (supernumerary) Kashmiri Migrants - 3 seats per IISER (supernumerary) Economically Weaker Section (EWS) - up to 10% (as per Government of India rules) Note that the EWS/OBC-NCL certificate should be issued on or after April 01, 2026 OCI/PIO OCI/PIO card holders can apply for IAT 2026, provided they satisfy other eligibility criteria. They shall be eligible to compete for the unreserved seats. Foreign Nationals Candidates who are not citizens of India AND do not hold OCI/PIO cards shall be considered as foreign nationals. Such candidates are eligible to appear for IAT 2026, provided they satisfy other eligibility criteria. The applicant needs to upload an equivalence certificate issued by the Association of Indian Universities unless they have passed the Class XII or equivalent level examination from any board recognized by the Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE) in India. The equivalence certificate must be uploaded while submitting the IAT 2026 Application Form under "Please upload copy of document supporting your claim of Foreign National Admission to IISERs Admission to IISERs is exclusively through the IISER Aptitude Test (IAT), which is a computer-based test scheduled on Sunday, June 7, 2026 at 9:00 AM, at various centres across India. IISER Aptitude Test (IAT) IAT 2026 is scheduled on Sunday, June 7, 2026 at 9:00 AM. IAT 2026 will be conducted as a computer-based test in various centres across India. IAT will consist of 60 questions, 15 questions each from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics. Total time for answering the test will be 180 minutes. Questions will be of multiple choice type with only one correct answer. Each correct answer will be awarded 4 marks. Each incorrect answer will lead to the deduction of 1 mark. Unanswered questions will be awarded 0 mark. Therefore, maximum marks in IAT will be 240. The total marks obtained by a candidate out of 240 will be considered for preparing the Rank List. Not every candidate appearing in IAT 2026 will be awarded a rank. The rank cut-off will be announced at an appropriate time. Further, getting a rank does not guarantee offer/admission to an IISER. Note Students must have at least one of the two subjects, Mathematics and Biology in the class XII level. The questions in the IAT will be from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics with equal weightage. There are no subject specific cut-off marks, though. For admissions to the BS degree programs in Engineering Sciences/Economic Sciences at IISER Bhopal, having Mathematics in class XII in mandatory. Mathematics at Class XII level is not mandatory for BS-MS degree programs. However, for admission to BS degree programs in Economic Sciences and Engineering sciences at IISER Bhopal, Mathematics as one of the subjects at class XII level is mandatory. Important Dates Application Portal Opens Thursday, March 5, 2026 Application Portal Closes Monday, April 13, 2026, 11:55 PM IST Corrections in Application Forms Thursday, April 16, 2026, 11:00 AM IST -Saturday, April 18, 2026, 11:55 PM IST Release of Hall Tickets Sunday, May 24, 2026 IISER Aptitude Test (IAT) 2026 Sunday, June 7, 2026 (9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon IST) Syllabus The IAT 2026 will broadly follow the rationalized NCERT syllabus for 2025-2026. Click here for the details. Seat Matrix The tentative total number of seats available for BS-MS/BS program is 2363, with each IISER having the following number of seats. BS-MS Program Number of Seats IISER Berhampur 300 IISER Bhopal 300 IISER Kolkata IISER Kolkata (BS-MS in Computational and Data Sciences) 280 30 IISER Mohali 270 IISER Pune 288 IISER Tirupati 350 IISER Thiruvananthapuram 320 BS-MS Program Number of Seats IISER Bhopal (Engineering Sciences) 140 IISER Bhopal (Economic Sciences) 35 IISER Tirupati (BS in Economic and Statistical Sciences) 50 Total Seats 2363 IAT for Other Institutes The following Institutions use IAT-2026 for admitting students to their programs as specified below: Bachelor of Science (Research) program of Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. BS-Medical Sciences and Engineering program of Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM). Students who wish to apply to any of the above programs (IISc, IITM) MUST complete BOTH Step 1 and Step 2 detailed below. Step 1: Apply to IAT-2026 on the IISER admission portal (www.iiseradmission.in).Step 2: Fill up the application form on the IISc AND/OR IITM admission portal as applicable.In other words, students wishing to apply for the programs listed above MUST apply to BOTH IAT-2025 AND the said program SEPARATELY. For IISc Bangalore, please click the following: https://admissions.iisc.ac.in For IIT Madras, please click the following: https://mst.iitm.ac.in/bs-in-medical-sciences-engineering/#bsadminfo2024 Related Links Information Brochure Apply for IAT Syllabus Previous Year Question Papers Mock Test Frequently Asked Questions Bachelor of Science (Research) program of Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore BS-Medical Sciences and Engineering program of Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) Source: IISER Admissions