UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

The term research–teaching nexus captures the mutually reinforcing relationship between research activities and teaching practices in universities. When faculty bring their research into the classroom and engage students in inquiry-based projects, they strengthen this nexus. The stem explicitly refers to these practices, so “research–teaching” is the correct completion, making Option A appropriate.

Option A:
A strong research–teaching nexus helps students develop critical thinking and exposes them to the frontiers of knowledge. It also enriches teaching by ensuring that course content remains updated and relevant, closely matching the intent described in the question.

Option B:
Teacher–parent relationships may be relevant in school education but are not central to university-level discussions of integrating research and teaching. Thus, Option B does not fit the context.

Option C:
Industry–labour relations concern employment and workplace issues and are not the primary focus when discussing classroom incorporation of research findings. Option C is therefore incorrect.

Option D:
Media–politics connections may influence public discourse but are unrelated to the academic practice described in the stem, so Option D is not appropriate.

Statements A, B, C and E are all correct and reflect the multifaceted role of research in universities, whereas D is false. Research keeps academic staff intellectually active, feeds into curriculum updates and nurtures critical thinking among students. It also contributes to national development and can create partnerships with industry and communities. Statement D is wrong because research and teaching are interrelated functions in higher education, not completely disconnected activities.

Option A:
Option A omits E, failing to mention the role of collaborative research in building external linkages that enrich both teaching and research. This omission makes the combination incomplete.

Option B:
Option B leaves out C, and so misses the important idea that a research culture fosters critical thinking among students, which is central to higher education. Without C, the picture of research benefits is partial.

Option C:
Option C excludes A, thereby overlooking how research knowledge feeds back into teaching quality and curriculum design. This reduces the explanation of how research directly benefits students.

Option D:
Option D is correct because it combines all four true statements and excludes D, which separates teaching from research in an unrealistic way. It reflects the integrated mission of universities as teaching–research institutions.

Option E includes D, the false statement, and therefore becomes invalid despite containing some true elements about research.

In universities, academics are expected both to teach students and to conduct research that advances knowledge. This teaching–research nexus distinguishes the academic profession from purely instructional roles. The stem points directly to this dual nature of academic work. Thus, “research” is the correct completion.

Option A:
Casual labour refers to temporary, low-security work and does not describe the core responsibilities of academics. It is unrelated to the recognised teaching–research combination, so this option is not appropriate.

Option B:
Research responsibilities involve designing studies, publishing findings and guiding inquiry, which together shape the knowledge base of disciplines. Combining these with teaching is central to academic identity, confirming that this option fits.

Option C:
Only clerical work consists mainly of routine paperwork and record-keeping and cannot represent the second pillar of academic roles. Hence, this option is incorrect.

Option D:
Purely administrative positions focus on management and coordination rather than direct knowledge creation, so they do not capture the essence of the academic profession in this context. Therefore, this option is not suitable.

NEP 2020 specifically notes that NRF will not privilege one discipline over another. It will support research in sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities alike, as long as proposals are of high quality and address important questions. This encourages a balanced knowledge ecosystem.

Option A:
Excluding social sciences would contradict NEP’s recognition of their importance for policy and society, so this option is incorrect.

Option B:
This option correctly reflects the inclusive disciplinary scope of NRF funding described in the policy. It emphasises equal respect for all fields and is therefore correct.

Option C:
Restricting NRF to applied engineering alone ignores the multi disciplinary nature of the foundation as described in the document.

Option D:
Funding only research outside India does not match NRF’s purpose of building Indian institutional capacity; thus this option is wrong.

The question asks for the wrong statements about the aims of higher education. Statements A and C are clearly correct: higher education is meant to create and spread knowledge and to contribute to national development by preparing skilled, informed citizens. Statement B is wrong because higher education is expected to nurture critical thinking, democratic values and responsible citizenship. Statement D is wrong because employment is an important but not the sole purpose of higher education. Therefore, the combination that includes both B and D, and excludes A and C, is the correct answer.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it suggests that only B is wrong. While B is indeed a wrong statement, D is also incorrect in reducing higher education to a single purpose of employment. By not including D, this option does not capture all the wrong statements.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect because it identifies only D as wrong and ignores B. This disregards the essential role of higher education in developing critical and democratic dispositions, which makes B clearly wrong as well. Therefore, this partial identification makes the option invalid.

Option C:
Option C is correct because it recognises that both B and D are misaligned with the broader aims of higher education. It appropriately treats A and C as correct and isolates B and D as statements that distort or narrow the role of higher education.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because it treats all four statements as wrong, which would deny the knowledge-creation role in A and the national-development role in C. Since A and C are correct, this option overgeneralises and cannot be accepted.