In order to ascertain the eligibility for lectureship and for award of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) for Indian nationals so that a standard could be maintained for the people who enter the field of teaching and research so that education quality is sustained, the National Educational Testing Bureau of University Grants Commission (UGC) conducts National Eligibility Test (NET). The test is conducted in a number of subjects covering all the related subjects whose courses are provided under even a single Indian institute/university. They mainly can be categorized into Computer Science and Applications, Electronic Sciences, Forensic Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities (including languages).

The UGC-CSIR NET is conducted by Council of Scientific Research in joint collaboration with the UGC for the science subjects that are left uncovered in the NET examination which includes Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Chemical Sciences and Earth Atmospheric Ocean & Planetary Sciences. The tests are conducted two times in a year and generally are held in the months of June and December. The Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) is offered for five years to the interested candidates provided a few necessary conditions are fulfilled by them. Qualifying candidates are presented with the fellowships that the UGC allocates to the number of universities of the country. The candidates who qualify for lectureship in the NET examinations are selected first and then among them the meritorious ones are sorted out in order to award the JRFs. The JRFs are applicable only for those candidates who have explicitly opted for it in their NET application forms.

The Indian Government via a notification issued on 22 July 1988 entrusted the task of conducting the lectureship eligibility test to the University Grant Commission (UGC). The test for the award of Junior Research Fellowship started in the year 1984. The premier National Eligibility Test, including examination for both Lectureship and Junior Research Fellowship, was conducted by UGC back in the year 1989 in two installments in the months of December 1989 and March 1999.

The notifications for the exams being conducted in the months of June and December are published in the nation-wide circulated weekly journal Employment News in the months of March and September respectively. The results for the NET examinations are published in Employment Weekly and UGC website. The results come out generally in the months of October and April for the examinations conducted in June and December respectively.

The candidates who have successfully qualified their Masters degree course with an aggregate of 55% or above are eligible for taking the test. The candidates appearing for their PG exams or whose exams are delayed or whose result has not yet come out are also eligible to take the test. The age limit for JRF is 28 years with a 5 years relaxation for SC/ST/OBC/PH and Women applicants. There is no upper age limit for Lectureship.

The candidates who qualify the NET examinations successfully are eligible to apply for the post of Lecturer in all the Indian universities/institutes/colleges. The candidates qualifying the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) Examination of UGC/CSIR NET are eligible for the lecturers post. In addition, they are eligible to receive Fellowships (UGC/CSIR) under numerous schemes provided candidates placement location in the universities/IITs/other national organizations. The top candidates from this lot are offered the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Fellowship (SPMF) which is considered the most prestigious fellowship in India for completing PhD. These candidates also have high chances to be recruited in CSIR.