Give yourself the SPACE to grow

Gauri Chhabra

Chandrayaan 2 — the second lunar exploration mission developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was a giant leap towards space exploration. It put the organisation in a coveted position on the world map. ISRO calls for a bent of mind that fosters a craving for exploration and discovery, application of the advancement of technology, attempt to simulate life beyond orbits and to help build a global fraternity in space.

Pay Scale

Scientist/Engineer-SD: Rs 67,700- Rs 2,08,700- Level 11

Scientist/Engineer-SC: Rs 56,100- Rs 1,77,500- Level 10

Technical Assistant: Rs 44,900- Rs 1,42,400- Level 7

Technician/Draughtsman-B: Rs 21,700-Rs 69,100- Level 3

ISRO, established on August 15, 1969, is under the administrative umbrella of the Department of Space, Government of India. Over the past decade or so, the organisation has carved a niche for itself in the space exploration horizon owing to its constant endeavours to explore space and orbits.

ISRO works with many offshoots such as communication satellites and remote sensing satellites, thus necessitating the spiral demand for fast and reliable communication and earth observation products. It is also responsible for the advanced applications that are helpful for the country in its decision-making process for services like weather forecast, geographical online information, scientific navigation and more.

Career options

Depending on the post, your eligibility can be SSC, diploma, undergraduate degree or a doctorate in the relevant discipline.

To become a scientist at the ISRO, you are required to have maths and physics as subjects in Class XII. You should’ve cracked IIT-JEE and gotten admission into IIST, maintaining a decent CGPA in order to finally get absorbed into the ISRO.

Post graduation: After completing BTech from any college, an examination namely ICRB (Centralised Recruitment Bangalore) is conducted by ISRO and candidates are tested as per their respective branches of engineering. Candidates must have a minimum aggregate percentage of 65 per cent and above in BTech in the relevant streams.

After clearing the interview, you will be ready to become a scientist at the ISRO. One can also enter in trades like geoinformatics, remote sensing, instrumentation, applied mathematics, geophysics, geography or any other equivalent degree in the field of physics or mathematics.

You may join as scientist, technician, technical assistant, admin officers or purchase officers depending on your qualifications.

Work profile

As a Scientist/Engineer 'SC', the job profile will be to design, develop and test different systems which will be used in either ongoing or future projects related to the ISRO.

Selection Process

The selection process for most of the posts is based on a written test. For Technical Assistant/Technician posts the process is based on the written and skill test. The written test serves as a qualifying test as candidates are called for a skill test on the basis of performance in the written test. The skill test is purely on 'go-no-go' basis and marks obtained in the skill test are not considered for selection. The skill test is evaluated on a 100-point scale with a minimum 60 per cent for qualification.

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Recruitment 2020

With 55 vacancies, ISRO SAC (Space Application Centre) has released the job notification for the post of scientist/engineer, technical assistant and technician. Candidates with ME/ MTech/ MSc/ PhD/ Diploma/ ITI are eligible to apply for this job. The selection process is based on the written and skill test. Interested and eligible candidates can apply online through ISRO SAC website till May 1.

Number of posts

A) Scientist/Engineer-SD - 2

B) Scientist/Engineer-SC - 19

C) Technical Assistant - 6

D) Technician/Draughtsman-B - 28

Age limit

For scientist/ engineer-SD, there is no age limit.

For scientist/engineer-SC, technical assistant and technician/draughtsman, the age limit is 18-35 years. However, the age relaxation may go up to 40 years for SC/ST category and 38 years for the candidates in the OBC category.

Who can apply

A) For Scientist/Engineer-SD (Electronics):

As far as the educational qualification is concerned, you need to be

• PhD in fields related to Electronics/ Communication/RF & Microwaves /Power Electronics/ VLSI Design/ Micro Electronics/ Embedded Sys./Signal Processing (OR)
• E/MTech in Electronics/Electronics & Communication/Electronics & Electrical Engineering / Information & Communication Technology (ICT) with Specialisation in Electronics / Communication/ RF & Microwaves / Power Electronics / VLSI Design / Micro Electronics / Embedded Sys. / Signal Processing and minimum two years of professional experience after acquiring the degree of ME/MTech.

B) Scientist/Engineer-SC

• For Scientist/Engineer-SC (Physics), you need to be MSc in Physics.

Scientist/Engineer-SC (Computer)

• ME / MTech in Computer Science / Computer Engineering / Computer Science & Engineering / Information and Communication Technology (ICT), with specialisation in Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Image Processing (OR)with specialisation in IT Security / Cyber Security

Scientist/Engineer-SC (Electronics)

• ME/MTech in Electronics / Electronics and Communication / Electronics & Electrical Engineering / Information and Communication Technology (ICT) with specialisation in Electronics / Communication / RF & Microwaves / Power Electronics / VLSI Design / Micro Electronics / Embedded Sys. / Signal Processing

Scientist/Engineer-SC (Mechanical)

• ME/MTech in Mechanical Engineering with specialisation in Thermal Engineering / Structural Engineering / Structural Analysis / Material Science / Material Technology / CAD / CAE / Design Engineering / Industrial Safety Engineering

Scientist/Engineer-SC (Structural)

• ME/MTech in Structural Engineering / Civil Engineering with specialisation in Structural Engineering

Scientist/Engineer-SC (Electrical)

• ME/MTech in Electrical Engineering
• For Scientist/Engineer-SC/SD you should have an aggregate minimum of 60% or CGPA / CPI grading of 6.5 on a 10.

C) Technical Assistant

• Diploma in Electronics / Electronics and Communication /Mechanical/Civil/Electrical Engineering in first class from a recognised Board /University.

D) Technician-B/Draughtsman-B

• Technician B vacancies, candidates with a Matric (SSC / SSLC / Class X) as well as ITI, NTC or NAC in the following trades can apply: Fitter (6 vacancies), Machinist (3 vacancies), Electronics (10 vacancies), Information Technology (2 vacancies), Plumber (1 vacancy), Carpenter (1 vacancy), Electrician (1 vacancy), Mechanical (3 vacancies) and Chemical (1 vacancy).