NEST Syllabus 2027: Subject-Wise Topics, Weightage, Best Books and PDF Download

Taxonomy levels (Species to Kingdom); Whittaker’s five-kingdom system; Cryptogamae and Phanerogamae; characteristic features of phyla in Kingdom Animalia; distinguishing features across plant divisions

Root, stem, leaf, flower, fruit, and seed morphology; meristematic and permanent tissues; tissue systems in plants; histology of earthworm, cockroach, and frog; organ-level structure in animals

Prokaryotic vs eukaryotic cell structure; organelle structure and function; carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, enzymes (structure, specificity, denaturation); nucleic acid structure; cell cycle phases (G1, S, G2, M); mitosis and meiosis stages and significance

Osmosis and water potential; active vs passive transport; essential macro- and micronutrients; nitrogen fixation; light reactions (Z-scheme, photophosphorylation) and Calvin cycle; C3, C4, and CAM pathways; photorespiration; glycolysis, Krebs cycle, and ETC; respiratory quotient; phytohormones; photoperiodism and vernalisation

GI tract structure and digestive enzyme action; lung volumes and capacities; oxygen-haemoglobin dissociation curve; ABO blood groups and Rh factor; cardiac cycle and ECG basics; nephron structure; urine formation (filtration, reabsorption, secretion); types of joints and muscle contraction (sliding filament theory); neuron structure and types; reflex arc; action potential; endocrine glands and their hormones (insulin, thyroxine, ADH, GH, sex hormones)

Asexual reproduction types; pollination mechanisms (agents and adaptations); double fertilisation; seed and fruit development; male and female reproductive system anatomy; spermatogenesis and oogenesis; menstrual cycle; implantation and placenta; contraception types; sexually transmitted infections; reproductive health challenges

Mendel’s laws; incomplete dominance; codominance; multiple alleles (ABO); sex-linked inheritance; chromosomal theory of inheritance; linkage and crossing over; DNA double helix structure; semi-conservative replication; transcription and translation; genetic code; lac operon regulation; human genome project; DNA fingerprinting; Darwin’s theory of natural selection; modern synthetic theory; Hardy-Weinberg principle; origin of life (chemical evolution)

Innate and adaptive immunity; B cells and T cells; vaccines and immunisation; common diseases (typhoid, pneumonia, malaria, amoebiasis, AIDS, cancer); plant breeding techniques; biofortification; single-cell protein; sewage treatment; industrial fermentation (antibiotics, ethanol, organic acids); biogas and biocontrol agents

Recombinant DNA technology; restriction enzymes (recognition sequences and cloning); PCR; gel electrophoresis; cloning vectors (plasmids, bacteriophages); Bt crops; golden rice; insulin and recombinant proteins; gene therapy; ELISA; transgenic animals; bioethics and biosafety

Population growth models (logistic and exponential); population interactions (mutualism, parasitism, competition, predation, commensalism); food webs and energy pyramids; biogeochemical cycles (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus); biodiversity hotspots in India; in-situ and ex-situ conservation; biomagnification; eutrophication; ozone depletion; greenhouse effect; solid waste management

Mole concept; stoichiometry; limiting reagent; quantum numbers; atomic orbitals; electronic configuration; periodic trends (ionisation energy, electronegativity, atomic radius)

Lewis structures; VSEPR theory; hybridisation (sp, sp2, sp3, sp3d, sp3d2); MO theory (bonding and antibonding MOs, bond order); hydrogen bonding; dipole moment; resonance and formal charge

Ideal gas laws; van der Waals equation; critical constants; first and second laws of thermodynamics; enthalpy; Hess’s law; bond enthalpy; Gibbs free energy; entropy and spontaneity

Kp and Kc; Le Chatelier’s principle; Bronsted-Lowry and Lewis acids and bases; pH calculations; buffer solutions; solubility product; common ion effect; oxidation state; balancing redox equations (ion-electron method)

Colligative properties; Raoult’s law; Henry’s law; electrolytic and molar conductance; Kohlrausch’s law; Nernst equation; EMF and standard electrode potential; Faraday’s laws; rate law; integrated rate equations (0th, 1st, 2nd order); Arrhenius equation; activation energy; catalysis

Adsorption types (physisorption vs chemisorption); Freundlich adsorption isotherm; colloids and their preparation; Tyndall effect; Brownian motion; coagulation; emulsions; homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis

Anomalous properties of first group members; diagonal relationships; properties of alkali and alkaline earth metals; industrial processes (Haber process, Contact process, Solvay process); oxides and oxyacids of Groups 13 to 18; nitrogen cycle compounds; phosphorus allotropes; sulphur allotropes and compounds; halogens (comparative properties and oxyacids); noble gas compounds

General properties of transition metals; variable oxidation states; magnetic properties; catalytic activity; colour in transition metal compounds; lanthanides and lanthanide contraction; actinides

Werner’s theory; IUPAC nomenclature of complexes; valence bond theory (VBT); crystal field theory (CFT) — high spin vs low spin, crystal field splitting; isomerism in complexes (geometric, optical); stability constants; applications of coordination compounds

Concentration of ores; pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy; thermodynamic principles (Ellingham diagrams); refining methods (electrolytic, zone refining, vapour phase); extraction of iron, copper, zinc, and aluminium

IUPAC nomenclature; inductive, mesomeric, and hyperconjugative effects; carbocations, carbanions, free radicals; alkanes (free radical halogenation); alkenes (electrophilic addition, Markovnikov’s rule); alkynes (acidic character); aromatic compounds (EAS — nitration, sulphonation, Friedel-Crafts acylation and alkylation)

SN1 and SN2 stereochemistry; E1 and E2 eliminations; nucleophilicity vs basicity; reactions of alcohols (Lucas test, PCC oxidation, dehydration); acidity comparison (alcohols vs phenols vs carboxylic acids); Williamson ether synthesis; Claisen rearrangement

Nucleophilic addition reactions; aldol and Claisen condensation; Cannizzaro reaction; Tollens’ and Fehling’s tests; acidity of carboxylic acids; derivatives (esters — esterification and hydrolysis; amides; acid anhydrides; acid chlorides)

Basicity of amines; Hoffmann bromamide degradation; diazonium salts and their reactions; amino acid structure and classification; peptide bond formation; enzyme active site and lock-and-key model; reducing vs non-reducing sugars; DNA and RNA structure; addition polymers (polyethylene, PVC, Teflon) and condensation polymers (nylon, polyester, Bakelite)

Drugs (analgesics, antibiotics, antiseptics, disinfectants, antacids, tranquilisers); food preservatives and artificial sweeteners; detergents vs soaps; ozone layer depletion (CFCs); photochemical smog; greenhouse gases and global warming; acid rain; water and soil pollution

Union, intersection, complement; Venn diagrams; types of relations (reflexive, symmetric, transitive, equivalence); types of functions (injective, surjective, bijective); composition of functions; even and odd functions; principal values of inverse trigonometric functions; properties and identities of inverse trig functions

Argand plane; modulus and argument; De Moivre’s theorem; roots of complex numbers; discriminant and nature of roots; AP, GP, HP; sum of n terms; infinite GP; nPr and nCr; counting principles; Binomial theorem for positive integers; general term; properties of determinants; Cramer’s rule; matrix addition, multiplication, adjoint, and inverse; system of linear equations

Radian and degree measure; trigonometric identities; sum and difference formulas; multiple and sub-multiple angle formulas; product-to-sum formulas; sine and cosine rules; general solutions of trigonometric equations

Distance formula; section formula; various forms of equations of straight lines; angle between lines; family of lines; standard equations of circle (general and standard form); parabola (y2=4ax and other forms); ellipse and eccentricity; hyperbola (standard and conjugate); equations of tangent and normal; direction cosines and direction ratios

Standard limits; L’Hopital’s rule; continuity (types of discontinuity); differentiability vs continuity; chain rule; implicit differentiation; parametric differentiation; higher order derivatives; Rolle’s theorem; Lagrange’s mean value theorem; maxima, minima, and points of inflection; indefinite integration (standard forms, substitution, by parts, partial fractions); definite integration; area under curves and between two curves; order and degree of differential equations; variable separable; homogeneous and linear first-order DEs

Vector addition, subtraction, and scalar multiplication; dot product (projection form); cross product (area of parallelogram and triangle); scalar triple product (volume of parallelepiped); equation of a line in vector and Cartesian form; equation of a plane; angle between two planes; distance from a point to a plane

Mean, median, mode; variance and standard deviation; frequency distributions; sample space and events; conditional probability; multiplication theorem; Bayes’ theorem; Bernoulli trials; binomial distribution; statements, connectives, quantifiers; tautology and contradiction; corner point method for linear programming; maximisation and minimisation problems

Scope of physics; fundamental and derived units; SI system; significant figures; errors in measurement; dimensional analysis and its applications; motion in a straight line (uniformly accelerated, graphs); projectile motion; relative velocity; uniform circular motion (centripetal acceleration)

Newton’s three laws; impulse-momentum theorem; static, kinetic, and rolling friction; banking of roads; connected bodies; pseudo forces; work-energy theorem; conservative and non-conservative forces; potential energy curves; conservation of mechanical energy; elastic and inelastic collisions; coefficient of restitution; power and efficiency

Centre of mass motion; torque and angular momentum; conservation of angular momentum; moment of inertia (standard bodies); theorems of parallel and perpendicular axes; rolling without slipping; Newton’s law of gravitation; Kepler’s three laws; gravitational potential energy; escape velocity; orbital velocity of satellites; geostationary satellites; variation of g with altitude, depth, and rotation

Elastic moduli (Young’s, Bulk, Shear); Stokes’ law; Bernoulli’s theorem; surface tension and surface energy; capillarity; thermal expansion; zeroth law; first and second laws of thermodynamics; isothermal, adiabatic, isochoric, and isobaric processes; Carnot cycle and efficiency; entropy and irreversibility

Kinetic theory of gases; rms and mean speed; degrees of freedom; law of equipartition; mean free path; SHM (restoring force, amplitude, time period, energy); damped and forced oscillations; resonance; superposition principle; standing waves; nodes and antinodes; Doppler effect

Coulomb’s law; electric field (due to point charge, dipole, infinite line charge); electric potential; Gauss’s law (applications to sphere, cylinder, plane); capacitance; parallel and series combinations; energy stored in capacitor; dielectrics; Ohm’s law and resistivity; Kirchhoff’s laws; Wheatstone bridge; potentiometer; drift velocity and mobility; internal resistance

Biot-Savart law; Ampere’s circuital law; force on current-carrying conductor in magnetic field; moving coil galvanometer; conversion to ammeter and voltmeter; magnetic materials (dia-, para-, ferromagnetic); hysteresis; Earth’s magnetic field; Faraday’s and Lenz’s laws; mutual and self-inductance; AC circuits with R, L, C; resonance in LCR circuit; power factor; transformers

Displacement current; EM spectrum (wavelength ranges and applications); Huygens’ principle; laws of reflection and refraction; total internal reflection; refraction through prism; optical instruments (simple microscope, compound microscope, telescope); Young’s double slit experiment; coherent sources; interference pattern; single slit diffraction; polarisation by Brewster’s law

Photoelectric effect (Einstein’s equation; work function; stopping potential); de Broglie wavelength; Davisson-Germer experiment; Bohr’s model (energy levels, spectral series, hydrogen spectrum); nuclear binding energy; mass defect; radioactivity (alpha, beta, gamma decay; half-life; decay constant); nuclear fission and fusion; p-n junction diode (forward and reverse bias, I-V characteristics); Zener diode as voltage regulator; transistor characteristics (CE configuration); logic gates (AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR)