MSc in forestry, Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun.

This course can help you separate the wood from the trees. Institute of Career Studies opens the door to sustainable development.

Established as the Imperial Forest Research Institute in 1906, the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehra Dun is a premier institution under the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE). Designed in the Greeco-Roman style by C.G. Bloomfield, the main building, inaugurated in 1929, has been declared a national heritage monument.

The institute caters to the research needs of the Indo-Gangetic plains of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh, as well as Uttarakhand. FRI also creates awareness about forests and the environment among people through forestry extension programmes.

The well-equipped classrooms, computer centre and the conference room along with the offices are housed in the deemed university building within the new forest campus. Students have access to an extensive library and well-equipped laboratories. They can also avail of excellent hostel, sports and medical facilities.

FRI provides assistance in placing deserving students. Various industries and organisations visit the campus for interviews. On an average, 50 per cent of the students get placed through campus interviews. However, in case of MSc wood science and technology the placement is 100 per cent .

Apart from an MSc in forestry and one in wood science and technology, FRI offers an MSc in environment management, a post masters diploma in natural resource management, a post masters diploma in management of non-wood forest products, and a postgraduate diploma in biodiversity conservation.

Application forms can be obtained from the registrar, Forest Research Institute University, PO IPE, Kaulagarh Road, Dehra Dun- 248195 on payment of Rs 600 in cash or through bank draft drawn in favour of the registrar, Forest Research Institute University and payable at Dehra Dun. Forms can also be downloaded from the website (www.icfre.org / www.fri. res.in).

Eligibility

You should have completed a three-year BSc with at least one of these subjects — botany, chemistry, geology, maths, physics or zoology — or have a bachelors degree in agriculture or forestry.

Entrance exam

An admission test is held at 12 centres in the country in the second week of May.

Pattern of exam

The three-hour test is objective type, with questions grouped under four sections: basic sciences including social science (100 questions), arithmetic and quantitative abilities (40 questions), general knowledge and current affairs (30 questions) and English (30 questions). There is negative marking for wrong answers and one-fourth of the marks allotted to the question is deducted.

How to prepare

For the section on basic sciences, you could prepare from books like Botany by V.P. Pandey, Botany for Degree Students by Dutta, Zoology by Jordan and Verma and also the book by Kotpal, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry by Satya Prakash Tuli and Physical Chemistry by Puri and Sharma. Your concepts should be very clear because the questions assess the depth of your knowledge.

To crack the section on maths and reasoning, you could prepare from books like Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning Ability by Edgar Thorpe, Objective Question Bank (Mathematics) by R.K. Gupta and J.P. Arya, Test of Reasoning by R.S. Agarwal, and books by Tata McGraw Hill publishers.

For the English section, you can practise comprehension from Barron’s GMAT guide and for usage, go through books by A.S. Hornby and Norman Lewis.

To update your general knowledge, read the newspapers regularly and go through magazines like CSR and Competition Master as well as the Pearson Guide book and the Manorama Yearbook.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)