KVPYKishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (discontinued — subsumed into INSPIRE-SHE)
About KVPY
KVPY was the Department of Science & Technology’s prestigious fellowship examination, run by IISc Bangalore from 1999 to identify school and early-undergraduate students with genuine research aptitude in basic sciences. Its computer-based aptitude test across the four sciences, followed in most years by interviews, fed fellows into BSc, BS and integrated MSc programmes — and IISc itself used KVPY as an admission channel.
The programme was discontinued in 2022, when DST announced that KVPY would be subsumed into its INSPIRE umbrella. No aptitude test has been held since; students who would have targeted KVPY now access INSPIRE-SHE scholarships, which are awarded on Class 12 performance and admission to basic-science courses rather than through a dedicated exam.
Accepted by: When operational, awarded fellowships (₹5,000–7,000 per month plus contingency) to students pursuing basic-science degrees; existing fellows continue under old norms, and new support flows through DST’s INSPIRE-SHE scheme
Official websiteKVPY eligibility
Was open to science students via streams SA (Class 11), SX (Class 12) and SB (first-year BSc/BS/Int. MSc)
KVPY exam pattern
Sections
- Historical format: a single computer-based aptitude test with Part I and Part II sections across Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology, with internal choice of sections
Marking scheme: Yes — wrong answers attracted deductions in the last-held format
KVPY syllabus outline
- Aptitude-oriented questions in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology up to Classes 11–12 (and first-year UG for stream SB)
- Shortlisted candidates faced an interview in earlier cycles (interviews were dropped in the final years)
- Successor route: basic-science undergraduates now receive support through INSPIRE-SHE, which awards scholarships on board-exam and admission merit without a separate national test
Preparing for KVPY?
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