DRDO Scientist Recruitment Open | Formulation design and development

RAC, the Recruitment and Assessment Centre of DRDO was set up on 23 July 1985 after getting exemption from the purview of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). It is situated at Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi. RAC has undertaken various recruitment programmes to induct scientists each year in variety of scientific and engineering disciplines relevant to DRDO Laboratories and assessed the suitability of DRDO scientists for promotion to next higher grade through duly constituted Assessment Boards/ Peer Committee.
DRDO provides excellent opportunities for career growth under its Flexible Complimenting Scheme (FCS) wherein promotion to higher levels is delinked from availability of vacancy. Meritorious candidates can rise in hierarchy through the periodic merit based Assessments under Flexible Complimenting Scheme (FCS).

Post : Scientist ‘C’

RAC invites online recruitment applications through RAC website (rac.gov.in) for the following posts of Scientist C in the DRDS cadre and other Encadered posts in DRDS cadre on regular basis under Lateral Recruitment Scheme
Basic Pay : Rs. 67,700/- , Level 11 as per 7th CPC
Subject / Discipline : Pharmacology*
Qualifications & Experience : Essential: i. At least First class Master’s Degree in M.Pharmacy (Pharmacology) or M.Sc . (Pharmacology) from a recognized University or equivalent
ii. Minimum three Years’ of experience in Immuno Pharmacology / Formulation design and development/Medicinal chemistry/ natural product chemistry /drug designing
Desirable : i. Doctorate Degree in Pharmacy ii. Knowledge of German, French, Russian, Japanese or Chinese.
Equivalent acceptable subjects of Essential Qualification :
1. Pharmacology
2. Medical Pharmacology
3. Veterinary Pharmacology

IMPORTANT INFORMATION :
Online Submission of Application As described above for different posts, the applicants should ensure that they satisfy the eligibility criteria (in respect of age, essential qualification, experience) as on the closing date of advertisement i.e. 19 June 2026 (1600 hrs.). Date for determining the eligibility of all candidates in every respect shall be the prescribed Closing Date.
a. Candidates are required to first register online at the RAC website (rac.gov.in) for filling the online application form.
b. On successful registration, the candidates may login and submit the online application before the closing date of the advertisement to avoid last minute network congestion.
c. While filling the experience details in the application form, candidates are advised not to divulge any information related to his/her work experience which is confidential by his/her present or previous employer. RAC shall not be held responsible at any stage for revelation of the given information in any form through any means.
d. While filling the personal details in the application form, candidate shall ensure that the candidate’s name and parents’ names are filled correctly as mentioned in the Date of Birth proof (e.g. Original Name as Anil Kumar Sharma in Birth Certificate but AK Sharma/Anil K Sharma/ Sharma AK printed in the attached documents) to be treated as name mismatch for which notarized affidavit is to be submitted at the time of filling the online application.
e. Candidates desirous of applying for more than one post must apply separately for each post. In such case, please mention the item no. (nos.) of all other posts where you have applied/intend to apply alongwith the order of preference for all items in case of final selection against multiple items.
f. Applicants are advised not to change their registered mobile number or Email as vital information regarding their eligibility/shortlisting/selection status will be intimated through Email / SMS.
g. The applicants are advised to fill in/ upload documents for all their particulars carefully in the online application. Candidate must preview the application along with uploaded certificates/documents before final submission. Only locked/finalised applications in all respects shall be considered. No correction in the data/application will be allowed and no document will be accepted once their application is finally submitted / locked.
h. Candidates are advised to keep visiting RAC website (https://rac.gov.in) for regular updates regarding eligibility status upon their login. However, it is also informed that under unforeseen circumstances arising due to administrative/technical reasons, the results at all intermediate stages may also be published by RAC alternatively over common platform in PDF format.
j. Dispute, if any, will be subject to the Hon’ble Courts/Tribunals having jurisdiction over Delhi only.
k. Candidates will have to produce all certificates, in original, for verification at the time of interview, if and when called for.
l. Candidates are also advised to retain a printout/copy of the online application (.pdf format) after submission.
m. Incomplete applications will be summarily rejected. ESSENTIAL ELIGIBILITY DOCUMENTS INCLUDING PROOFS FOR DATE OF BIRTH/ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATION/CCA DECLARATION (IF APPLICABLE) WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AT ANY STAGE AFTER ADVERTISEMENT CLOSING DATE

Eligibility
1. Academic Requirements
1.1 At least First Division Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering/Technology in the relevant discipline or at least First Division Master’s degree in the relevant discipline from a recognized University is mandatory. In case a particular university / institute does not have any criteria for first division or equivalence, 60% marks will be taken as equivalent to first division for that university / Institute. In case of CGPA, candidate should provide conversion formula for calculating the percentage. In cases, where conversion formula is not available, CGPA/CPI of 6.75 (for a 10 point scale) will be taken as equivalent to 60% as per AICTE guidelines. No rounding off of marks is permitted.
1.2 Candidates should possess the prescribed experience in the relevant field as mentioned under the column “Qualifications & Experience” and must have documentary proof for establishing the fact.
1.3 Weightage for higher qualification will be given based on the following conditions: (a) Weightage for higher qualification is equated to research experience and is given as:
(i) Post Graduate Qualification in Engineering: 2 years of weightage.
(ii) Post Graduate Degree in Medicine/Physiology (For Medical Post only) : 3 years of weightage.
(iii) Doctorate Degree in Science : 3 years of weightage.
(iv) Doctorate Degree (PhD) in Pharmacy – 3 years of weightage.
(v) Doctorate Degree in Engineering: 4 years of weightage.
Note : Dissertation of ME/M.Tech. or Project/ Dissertation/ Thesis in case of Doctorate Degree in Engineering/Science/Pharmacy must be in the field relevant to the required area of experience for the given post and must be mentioned in the application form wherever asked for.
(b) In case of candidate(s) possessing both Post Graduate Degree and Doctorate Degree as per para 1.3 (a) above, weightage of higher degree only will be given.
(c) Weightage of higher qualification to be equated as experience only when the higher qualification is in the relevant discipline and the respective higher qualification has been acquired before the closing date. Candidates are therefore, advised to highlight the experience acquired (either through Higher Qualification or Job Experience) matching to requirements mentioned under Essential and/or Desirable Qualification while filling the Justification column under ‘Other’ Section in the online Application form.
(d) Maximum weightage upto 3 years only will be given for the work experience as Research Fellow / Research Associate (for every completed year of experience in the same Establishment/Institute) and in case of such candidate(s) possessing ME/M.Tech degree, weightage of one year only will be given for experience subject to the note above . In case of PhD degree no weightage for fellowship will be given. However, in ADA Bengaluru, the designation of JRF/SRF has been re-designated to Project Assistant. Therefore, such Project Assistants (working at ADA only) will be eligible to get the benefit of weightage in experience that has been obtained post re-designation.
(e) The period of study should not overlap with work experience as overlapping(if any) will not be considered and will be removed from the total experience.

Age Limit For Candidates (as on closing date of advertisement)
For Scientist ‘C’ : not exceeding 35 years.
Relaxation in upper age limit(as per Govt. rules) :
a. Upto 10 years for Divyang/PwD candidates
b. The upper age limit is relaxable up to 5 years for serving Civilian Central Govt. Employees with atleast three years of continuous service (on regular basis) in posts which are in the same line or allied cadres and where a relationship could be established that the service already rendered in a particular post will be useful for the efficient discharge of the duties of the advertised posts. c. The upper age limit is relaxable for Ex servicemen including Ex SSCOs/ECOs as per rules in vogue.‐
d. For vacancies pertaining to Sc C and above, category reservation is not applicable, therefore, there is no age relaxation under reserved categories
Note : Maximum age shall not exceed 56 years including any of the age relaxation mentioned above.

Nationality
Only Indian Nationals can apply.

4. Work Experience
4.1 The required experience will be counted only after the date of passing the essential qualification. While counting the experience, the suitability of the level of experience possessed will also be considered. For details regarding Suitable level or Pay equivalence, please visit RAC website and check ‘Pay Equivalence Criteria’.
4.2 All experience certificates/documents/salary proofs/promotion orders indicating length and nature of experience for each employment record should be uploaded.
4.3 For all posts, candidates should have attained the current experience level at one level below the post applied for before the closing date of the advertisement. Any experience below the Pay Level 10 as per 7th CPC or equivalent will not be considered. For details regarding Suitable level or‐ Pay equivalence, please visit RAC website and check ‘Pay Equivalence Criteria’. While applying for the post of Sc D & above, under current employment, the period of un-employment shall not exceed one year else the candidature will be rejected.
4.4 Candidates who have worked or are currently working in Private Sector must submit proof of Pay drawn/Cost to Company (CTC) /CTC revision document/Form 16A during the period claimed as experience for the post. While determining the suitable level of experience, the Pay drawn /CTC/Form 16A will only be the sole criteria. All candidates working in Govt. Sectors (other than Central Govt. organisations where CDA scales are applicable) are required to upload proof for Pay Equivalence applicable to respective organisation with equivalent CDA Scale. For details regarding Suitable level or Pay equivalence, please visit RAC website and check ‘Pay Equivalence Criteria’.
4.5 The period of experience rendered by a candidate on part time basis, daily wages, trainee or as a Visiting/Guest Faculty, Technical Assistant, Teaching Assistant, Research Assistant, Project Assistant (except for ADA) etc. will not be counted while calculating the suitable experience.
4.6 Experience certificates/proofs should contain name of individual, designation, salary drawn, date of joining/leaving with CTC and areas of work.
4.7 Candidates should upload all experience certificates, salary slips, promotion orders or proofs related to change in designation/pay scales/CTC revision etc. The length of experience i.e. date of joining alongwith Pay Scale/CTC and end date of each employment record should be available in attached experience documents to verify the period of suitable experience.
4.8 Duly signed and stamped experience certificate/proof issued by Admin/ HR Head / Director / Principal / Dean / Registrar / Competent Authority of the Institution will only be acceptable. The experience certificates issued by Group Head/Division Head/ Project Head/ Professor or Head of Department etc. will not be accepted.
4.9 Experience certificates related to Fellowships must be issued by the aforesaid competent authority only and must clearly mention the starting date & ending date of Fellowship.

Application Fee & Mode Of Payment
General, OBC and EWS male candidates are required to pay a non-refundable non-transferable application fee of Rs. 100/- (Rs. One Hundred only) payable online only. There is no application fee for SC/ST/Divyang and Women candidates.

Selection Process
1. For final selection, it is essential for a candidate to appear for Final Personal Interview in-person only before the Selection Board (which is an independent body) at RAC, Delhi on scheduled date in order to maintain uniformity and no request for conduct of Final Interview through Online or any other mode will be considered.
2. The final selection of candidates will be purely on the basis of merit of marks scored by a candidate in the Final Personal Interview only. For all vacancies, the candidates must score a minimum of 75% marks (i.e. 75 out of 100) in the Final Personal Interview for consideration for selection. The intimation/interview schedule for the same will be provided through RAC website.
3. All decisions in all matters relating to eligibility, acceptance or rejection of application shall be final and no inquiry or correspondence will be entertained in this connection from any individual or his/her agency.

General Instructions
1. Candidates will be shortlisted for final personal Interview on the basis of the information provided by them in their online applications. They must ensure that information provided by them is correct. If at the time of interview or at any subsequent stage, any information given by them or any claim made by them in their online application is found to be false/ incorrect, their candidature will be rejected and they may also be debarred either permanently or for a specified period from appearing in any future selection activity conducted by RAC.
2. The number of vacancies may vary.
3. Translation ambiguity, if any, will be resolved to the English version of the advertisement
4. The period of experience claimed like date of joining/date of leaving/current job status should be easily verifiable from experience certificates/documents uploaded.
5. In support of suitable level of experience, Valid salary proofs shall only be uploaded.
6. Under ‘Ex serviceman’ category, in case age relaxation is being sought then the candidate must ensure that the age relaxation under Ex serviceman‐ ‐ category has not been claimed previously and relevant Declaration as per format available upon candidate’s login at RAC website is required to be uploaded for the same.
7. Applicant must clearly mention details of relatives presently working in DRDO, if any.
8. Canvassing in any form will disqualify the candidate.

Closing date : 19 June 2026 (1600 hrs.)