OCES Bioscience interview at BARC, Mumbai

My OCES Bioscience interview at BARC, Mumbai

From home town to Mumbai:

My MSc Exams ended on 28th May, 2015 at School of Biotechnology, BHU which was followed by many interviews in which the first was OCES interviews for the post of Scientific officer in BARC, Mumbai on 2nd June, 2015. I was shortlisted here through my AIR 38 rank in GATE Life Sciences 2015. Because of busy trains I doesn't confirmed my train ticket to Mumbai thinking that I will make a confirm tatkal ticket when I will reach home but it was same condition there also. Anyhow my father managed to get a sleeper class confirmed ticket of the only train running from my home town to Mumbai. The train was overcrowded but luckily I got my seat and reached Mumbai after 26 hour journey. There I stayed at one of my father's friend for one night and left for Interview to Anushaktinagar at 7:00 am since my interview was scheduled at 8:00 am. 

Interview:

After reaching to new bachelor’s hostel in Anushaktinagar where interview was scheduled they provided me a form in which I have to fill my details of TA, and they also asked about if I am not selected as a Scientific officer, whether I want to do PhD here or not. I marked it yes.

My interview started 2:45 pm. I entered the interview room along with my MSc Project report titled “To study the modulatory effects of extracellular pH on macrophage activation”

The interview panel contained 7 senior scientists. After entering, they asked me whether I had lunch? I said yes, but actually I didn’t had. 

Then, the battle started !!

One of them asked me what is your favorite topic? I said Immunology. Now they started bombarding questions one by one. All the scientists were from different disciplines like Immunology, Molecular biology, Human genetics, Plant genetics. Biochemistry, Microbiology, Cell Biology. Thus they asked questions accordingly.

Questons were:

1- What are Immunoglobulins? Draw its detailed structure with light and heavy

chains? How many disulphide bonds are present? What is the role of hinge

region? Where is Fab and Fc regions and what are their roles?

2- Describe the experiment that deduced the structure of Immunoglobulins?

3- What will be the immune reaction when you get cut with a knife?

4- Describe DNA replication staring from chromosome level.

5- What is alternative splicing? Describe with examples?

6- Describe the mechanism of enzyme catalysis? Describe with activation

energy curve.

7- What is associative and linkage studies in genetics?

8- What is the defect of chromosome in cri du cat syndrome? Describe in

figures? Also name some of the chromosome aberrations.

9- What is size exclusion chromatography? Describe its principle.

10- What is mutation? Name some of the mutagens used to induce mutations

(they may also ask to design a small experiment related to this)

11- Find the genetic distance between two genes (A numerical was given)

12- What will the phenotype in F1 generation by crossing parents of the given

genotype (Characters of parents was given you have to obtain the

phenotype of F1 by making cross).

13- Draw the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. Where the visible light

falls?

14- What is gamma radiation? Describe some of its properties?

15- Some basic microbiology questions.

Many more questions were asked since my interview lasted for 1hr 40min. I correctly answered about 70% questions. 

At last, one of them asked me If you get a PhD in BHU and the post of Scientific officer in BARC where you will join?

- I said, Of course in BARC.

With this my interview ended.

Result - Selected

TIPS:

- If you don’t know the answer, say I don’t know. Don’t waste time by giving

wrong answers.

- If you have done MSc project then read it and should have a brief knowledge of

it, they may ask.

- Read a little of radioactivity part of chemistry.

- Always have a smile.