Students seeking admission to B.Tech. programmes in the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram, must appear for the Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced) and score the prescribed minimum marks. The marks will be used for deciding the eligibility for admission and not for ranking.

For general candidates, at least five per cent marks each in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and 20 per cent marks in aggregate are required.

Candidates from Other Backward Classes should score at least 90 per cent of the marks prescribed for general candidates. For those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the physically challenged, at least 50 per cent is required.

Admissions will be made from a rank list to be prepared and published by the Central Board of Secondary Education, giving 60 per cent weight to the score in the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) and 40 per cent to the normalised score of the Class 12 examinations.

Register online for admission on www.iist.ac.in from May 17 to July 8. Details and admission brochure will be published on the website by April 30.

Those who win the top 1.5 lakh ranks in JEE (Main) can appear for the JEE (Advanced) to be held on June 2 for admission to undergraduate programmes of the Indian Institutes of Technology, Institute of Technology of Banaras Hindu University, the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, and the IIST. To appear for the advanced test, register online on http://jeeadv.iitd.ac.in between May 8 and 13. The examination centres include Kochi, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Puducherry, Bangalore, Mangalore, Hyderabad, Nellore, Vijayawada, Warangal, Chennai and Madurai.

The applicants should have passed the qualifying examination in 2012 with minimum 60 per cent marks (55 per cent for those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and persons with disabilities). Those appearing for the Plus Two examination during 2013 should come in the top-20 percentile of the respective Boards. Visit www.jeemain.nic.in and www.jee.iitd.ac.in for details.

The IIST, under the Department of Space, a deemed-to-be university, offers residential B.Tech. programmes in Aerospace Engineering (60 seats), Avionics (60) and Physical Sciences (36 seats). Education is free and provides job opportunities in the Indian Space Research Organisation as scientists and engineers. Visit www.iist.ac.in for details.