🔥 Meet AIR 57 Payel Acharjee 🏆 | CSIR NET Life Science JRF 2026 | Topper’s Talk 🎯 | Bansal Biology

Candidate Profile

Payal Acharjee is from Kolkata, West Bengal. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biochemistry at the same university.

Preparation and Results

Payal began studying independently during her bachelor’s degree and started preparing seriously after completing her master’s. She joined Bansal Biology’s Enzyme batch in July.

She scored 82 marks in December and improved to 138.5 marks in her later attempt, earning AIR 57. She attributed the improvement mainly to doing substantially more question practice. In her December attempt, she had focused on theory without solving enough questions.

Study Strategy

Payal aimed to prepare 11 units. She skipped Diversity and Genetics, explaining that Genetics was difficult for her because of its numerical problems.

Her routine included:

• Watching around three to four lectures a day, often using recorded videos at 2× speed.
• Studying mainly from course PDFs and notes rather than standard textbooks.
• Making brief notes on selected topics for quick revision before the exam.
• Practising questions as she progressed through each topic and unit.
• Solving the previous 15 years of questions, as well as new questions and test-series material on the course portal.

She revised the day’s material at night and reviewed units again after completing them. Unit tests and revision sessions helped her consolidate what she had learned.

Strengths and Challenges

Cell Biology was Payal’s favourite subject. Biochemistry was a strength because of her specialization, and she also felt confident in Molecular Biology and Cell Biology.

She found Applied Biology challenging, particularly its Genetics-related content.

Impressions of the Exam

Payal felt that Part C in the later exam was more like Part B and less analytical than she had expected. She also said the questions aligned with concepts covered in the course, which reinforced the importance of learning those concepts thoroughly.

Advice to Future Candidates

Payal recommended combining extensive question practice with theory study and revising consistently. She suggested using course notes and questions as focused preparation resources. She also advised students who feel short on time or need more guidance to consider joining structured coaching.

Next Step

Payal plans to apply for PhD programmes, ideally at a good institute in Kolkata.

Speakers Featured

• Payal Acharjee — CSIR NET Life Science candidate who secured AIR 57.
• Bansal Biology host and teacher — Payal’s interviewer and instructor; their name is not given in the subtitles.