The Union Public Service Commission in consultation with the Government (Ministry of Mines, the Nodal Ministry) has decided to revise the Scheme, Pattern and Syllabi of the Combined Geo-Scientist and Geologist Examination. The salient features of the same are as under:

2. (i) The nomenclature of this Examination has been changed to “Combined Geo-Scientist Examination” in place of “Combined Geo-Scientist and Geologist Examination”.

(ii) There will a three tier examination pattern i.e. (i) Stage-I : Preliminary Examination (ii) Stage-II : Main Examination (iii) Stage-III : Personality Test.

(iii) Preliminary Examination will screen the candidates for taking the Main Examination (Stage–II).

(iv) The Preliminary Examination will be of objective type having two Papers. Marks secured in this Examination will be counted for deciding the final merit. (v) The Preliminary Examination will be a Computer Based Examination.

(vi) The Main Examination will have three Papers for each Stream and all Papers will be of descriptive type. Marks secured in this Examination will be counted for deciding the final merit. (vii) Existing General English Paper has been discontinued.

(viii) The Revised Scheme, Pattern and Syllabi of the Examination will be made effective from the 2020 Examination to give sufficient preparation time to the aspirants. The details of this revised Scheme, Pattern and Syllabi are attached.

Plan of Examination

1. The Examination shall be conducted according to the following plan:— (i) Stage-I: (ii) Stage-II: (iii) Stage-III: Combined Geo-Scientist (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type Papers) for the selection of candidates for the Stage-II: Combined Geo-Scientist (Main) Examination; Combined Geo-Scientist (Main) Examination (Descriptive Type Papers) and Personality Test 2. as under: A. Stage-I : Combined Geo-Scientist (Preliminary) Examination [Objective-type]:- The Examination shall comprise of two papers. The detailed scheme and syllabi of Combined Geo-Scientist Examination is    

Stream-III : Chemist Subject Duration Maximum Marks Paper-I :

General Studies 2 Hours 100 Marks

Paper-II : Chemistry 2 Hours 300 Marks

Total 400 Marks

B. Stage-II : Combined Geo-Scientist (Main) Examination [Descriptive-type]:- The Examination shall comprise of three papers in each stream.

Stream-III : Chemist Subject Duration Maximum Marks Paper-I : Chemistry 3 Hours 200 Marks Paper-II : Chemistry 3 Hours 200 Marks

Paper-III : Chemistry 3 Hours 200 Marks

Total 600 Marks

Syllabus of Combined Geo-Scientist (Preliminary) Examination Stage-I (Objective Type) Paper-I : General Studies (Common for all streams) Current events of national and international importance. History of India and Indian National Movement. Indian and World Geography -Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World. Indian Polity and Governance -Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc. Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc. General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialisation General Science

Stage-I (Objective Type) Paper-II : Chemistry

1. Chemical periodicity: Schrödinger equation for the H-atom. Radial distribution curves for 1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p, 3d orbitals. Electronic configurations of multi-electron atoms. Periodic table, group trends and periodic trends in physical properties. Classification of elements on the basis of electronic configuration. Modern IUPAC Periodic table. General characteristics of s, p, d and f block elements. Effective nuclear charges, screening effects, atomic radii, ionic radii, covalent radii. Ionization enthalpy, electron gain enthalpy and electronegativity. Group trends and periodic trends in these properties in respect of s-, p- and d-block elements. General trends of variation of electronic configuration, elemental forms, metallic nature, magnetic properties, catenation and catalytic properties, oxidation states, aqueous and redox chemistry in common oxidation states, properties and reactions of important compounds such as hydrides, halides, oxides, oxy-acids, complex chemistry in respect of s-block and p-block elements.

2. Chemical bonding and structure: Ionic bonding: Size effects, radius ratio rules and their limitations. Packing of ions in crystals, lattice energy, Born-Landé equation and its applications, Born-Haber cycle and its applications. Solvation energy, polarizing power and polarizability, ionic potential, Fajan's rules. Defects in solids. Covalent bonding: Valence Bond Theory, Molecular Orbital Theory, hybridization. Concept of resonance, resonance energy, resonance structures. Coordinate bonding: Werner theory of coordination compounds, double salts and complex salts. Ambidentate and polydentate ligands, chelate complexes. IUPAC nomenclature of coordination compounds. Coordination numbers, Geometrical isomerism. Stereoisomerism in square planar and octahedral complexes.

3. Acids and bases: Chemical and ionic equilibrium. Strengths of acids and bases. Ionization of weak acids and bases in aqueous solutions, application of Ostwald's dilution law, ionization constants, ionic product of water, pH-scale, effect of temperature on pH, buffer solutions and their pH values, buffer action & buffer capacity; different types of buffers and Henderson's equation. 4. Theoretical basis of quantitative inorganic analysis: Volumetric Analysis: Equivalent weights, different types of solutions, normal and molar solutions. Primary and secondary standard substances. General principles of different types of titrations: i) acid-base, ii) redox, iii) complexometric, iv) Precipitation. Types of indicators - i) acid-base, ii) redox iii) metal-ion indicators.

5. Kinetic theory and the gaseous state: Kinetic theory of gases, average kinetic energy of translation, Boltzmann constant and absolute scale of temperature. Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution of speeds. Calculations of average, root mean square and most probable velocities.Collision diameter; collision number and mean free path; frequency of binary collisions; wall collision and rate of effusion.

6. Chemical thermodynamics and chemical equilibrium: First law and its applications to chemical problems. Thermodynamic functions. Total differentials and state functions. Free expansion, Joule- Thomson coefficient and inversion temperature. Hess’ law. Applications of Second law of thermodynamics. Gibbs function (G) and Helmholtz function (A), Gibbs-Helmholtz equation, criteria for thermodynamic equilibrium and spontaneity of chemical processes. 7. Solutions of non-electrolytes: Colligative properties of solutions, Raoult's Law, relative lowering of vapour pressure, osmosis and osmotic pressure; elevation of boiling point and depression of freezing point of solvents. Solubility of gases in liquids and solid solutions.

8. Electrochemistry: Cell constant, specific conductance and molar conductance. Kohlrausch's law of independent migration of ions, ion conductance and ionic mobility. Equivalent and molar conductance at infinite dilution. Debye-Hückel theory. Application of conductance measurements. Conductometric titrations. Determination of transport number by moving boundary method.

9. Basic organic chemistry: Delocalized chemical bond, resonance, conjugation, hyperconjugation, hybridisation, orbital pictures of bonding sp3, sp2, sp: C-C, C-N and C-O system), bond polarization and bond polarizability. Reactive intermediates: General methods of formation, relative stability and reactivity of carbocations, carbanions and free radicals.

10. Stereochemistry: Configuration and chirality (simple treatment of elements of symmetry), optical isomerism of compounds containing two to three stereogenic centres, R,S nomenclature, geometrical isomerism in compounds containing two C=C double bonds (E,Z naming), and simple cyclic systems, Newman projection (ethane and substituted ethane).

11. Types of organic reactions: Aliphatic substitution reactions: SN1, SN2 mechanisms, stereochemistry, relative reactivity in aliphatic substitutions. Effect of substrate structure,attacking nucleophile, leaving group and reaction medium and competitive reactions. Elimination reactions: E1, E2, mechanisms, stereochemistry, relative reactivity in aliphatic eliminations. Effect of substrate structure, attacking base, leaving group, reaction medium and competitive reactions, orientation of the double bond, Saytzeff and Hoffman rules. Addition reactions: Electrophilic, nucleophilic and radical addition reactions at carbon-carbon double bonds. Electrophilic and nucleophilic aromatic substitution: Electrophilic (halogenation, sulphonation, nitration, Friedal-Crafts alkylation and acylation), nucleophilic (simple SNAr, SN1 and aryne reactions).

12. Molecular Rearrangements: Acid induced rearrangement and Wagner-Meerwein rearrangements. Neighbouring group participation.

Syllabus of Combined Geo-Scientist (Main) Examination Stage-II (Descriptive Type)

Stage-II (Descriptive Type) Chemistry : Paper-I (Inorganic Chemistry) 1. Inorganic solids: Defects, non-stoichiometric compounds and solid solutions, atom and ion diffusion, solid electrolytes. Synthesis of materials, monoxides of 3d-metals, higher oxides, complex oxides (corundrum, ReO3, spinel, pervoskites), framework structures (phosphates, aluminophosphates, silicates, zeolites), nitrides and fluorides, chalcogenides, intercalation chemistry, semiconductors, molecular materials.

2. Chemistry of coordination compounds: Isomerism, reactivity and stability: Determination of configuration of cis- and trans- isomers by chemical methods. Labile and inert complexes, substitution reactions on square planar complexes, trans effect. Stability constants of coordination compounds and their importance in inorganic analysis. Structure and bonding: Elementary Crystal Field Theory: splitting of dn configurations in octahedral, square planar and tetrahedral fields, crystal field stabilization energy, pairing energy. Jahn-Teller distortion. Metal-ligand bonding, sigma and pi bonding in octahedral complexes and their effects on the oxidation states of transition metals. Orbital and spin magnetic moments, spin only moments and their correlation with effective magnetic moments, d-d transitions; LS coupling, spectroscopic ground states, selection rules for electronic spectral transitions; spectrochemical series of ligands, charge transfer spectra.

3. Acid base titrations: Titration curves for strong acid-strong base, weak acid-strong base and weak base-strong acid titrations, polyprotic acids, poly-equivalent bases, determining the equivalence point: theory of acid-base indicators, pH change range of indicator, selection of proper indicator. Principles used in estimation of mixtures of NaHCO3 and Na2CO3 (by acidimetry).

4. Gravimetric Analysis: General principles: Solubility, solubility product and common ion effect, effect of temperature on the solubility; Salt hydrolysis, hydrolysis constant, degree of hydrolysis. Stoichiometry, calculation of results from gravimetric data. Properties of precipitates. Nucleation and crystal growth, factors influencing completion of precipitation. Co-precipitation and post-precipitation, purification and washing of precipitates. Precipitation from homogeneous solution. A few common gravimetric estimations: chloride as silver chloride, sulphate as barium sulphate, aluminium as oxinate and nickel as dimethyl glyoximate.

5. Redox Titrations: Standard redox potentials, Nernst equation. Influence of complex formation, precipitation and change of pH on redox potentials, Normal Hydrogen Electrode (NHE). Feasibility of a redox titration, redox potential at the equivalence point, redox indicators. Redox potentials and their applications. Principles behind Iodometry, permanganometry, dichrometry, difference between iodometry and iodimetry. Principles of estimation of iron, copper, manganese, chromium by redox titration.

6. Complexometric titrations: Complex formation reactions, stability of complexes, stepwise formation constants, chelating agents. EDTA: acidic properties, complexes with metal ions, equilibrium calculations involving EDTA, conditional formation constants, derivation of EDTA titration curves, effect of other complexing agents, factors affecting the shape of titration curves: indicators for EDTA titrations, titration methods employing EDTA: direct, back and displacement titrations, indirect determinations, titration of mixtures, selectivity, masking and demasking agents. Typical applications of EDTA titrations: hardness of water, magnesium and aluminium in antacids, magnesium, manganese and zinc in a mixture, titrations involving unidentate ligands: titration of chloride with Hg2+ and cyanide with Ag+.

7. Organometallic compounds: 18-electron rule and its applications to carbonyls and nature of bonding involved therein. Simple examples of metal-metal bonded compounds and metal clusters. Wilkinson’s catalyst.

8. Nuclear chemistry: Radioactive decay- General characteristics, decay kinetics, parent-daughter decay growth relationships, determination of half-lives. Nuclear stability. Decay theories. Unit of radioactivity. Preparation of artificial radionuclides by bombardment, radiochemical separation techniques. Experimental techniques in the assay of radioisotopes, Geiger-Muller counters. Solid state detectors.

9. Chemistry of d- and f-block elements: d-block elements: General comparison of 3d, 4d and 5d elements in terms of electronic configuration, elemental forms, metallic nature, atomization energy, oxidation states, redox properties, coordination chemistry, spectral and magnetic properties. f-block elements: Electronic configuration, ionization enthalpies, oxidation states, variation in atomic and ionic (3+) radii, magnetic and spectral properties of lanthanides, separation of lanthanides (by ion-exchange method).

Stage-II (Descriptive Type) Chemistry : Paper-II (Physical Chemistry)

1. Kinetic theory and the gaseous state: Real gases, Deviation of gases from ideal behaviour; compressibility factor; van der Waals equation of state and its characteristic features. Existence of critical state. Critical constants in terms of van der Waals constants. Law of corresponding states and significance of second virial coefficient. Boyle temperature.

2. Solids: Nature of solid state. Band theory of solids: Qualitative idea of band theory, conducting, semiconducting and insulating properties. Law of constancy of angles, concept of unit cell, different crystal systems, Bravais lattices, law of rational indices, Miller indices, symmetry elements in crystals. X-ray diffraction, Bragg's law.

3. Chemical thermodynamics and chemical equilibrium: Chemical potential in terms of Gibbs energy and other thermodynamic state functions and its variation with temperature and pressure. Gibbs-Duhem equation; fugacity of gases and fugacity coefficient. Thermodynamic conditions for equilibrium, degree of advancement. vant Hoff's reaction isotherm. Equilibrium constant and standard Gibbs energy change. Definitions of KP, KC and Kx; vant Hoff's reaction isobar and isochore. Activity and activity coefficients of electrolytes / ions in solution. Debye-Hückel limiting law.

4. Chemical kinetics and catalysis: Second order reactions. Determination of order of reactions. Parallel and consecutive reactions. Temperature dependence of reaction rate, energy of activation. Collision Theory and Transition State Theory of reaction rates. Enthalpy of activation, entropy of activation, effect of dielectric constant and ionic strength on reaction rate, kinetic isotope effect. Physisorption and chemisorption, adsorption isotherms, Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherms, BET equation, surface area determination;colloids, electrical double layer and colloid stability, electrokinetic phenomenon. Elementary ideas about soaps and detergents, micelles, emulsions.

5. Electrochemistry: Types of electrochemical cells, cell reactions, emf and Nernst equation, ᐃG, ᐃH and ᐃS of cell reactions. Cell diagrams and IUPAC conventions. Standard cells. Half-cells / electrodes, types of reversible electrodes. Standard electrode potential and principles of its determination. Concentration cells. Determination of ᐃGo, Ko, Ksp and pH. Basic principles of pH metric and potentiometric titrations, determination of equivalence point and pKa values.

6. Quantum chemistry: Eigenfunctions and eigenvalues. Uncertainty relation, Expectation value. Hermitian operators. Schrödinger time-independent equation: nature of the equation, acceptability conditions imposed on the wave functions and probability interpretation of wave function. Schrödinger equation for particle in a one-dimensional box and its solution. Comparison with free particle eigenfunctions and eigenvalues. Particle in a 3-D box and concept of degeneracy.

7. Basic principles and applications of spectroscopy: Electromagnetic radiation, interaction with atoms and molecules and quantization of different forms of energies. Units of frequency, wavelength and wavenumber. Condition of resonance and energy of absorption for various types of spectra; origin of atomic spectra, spectrum of hydrogen atom. Rotational spectroscopy of diatomic molecules: Rigid rotor model, selection rules, spectrum, characteristic features of spectral lines. Determination of bond length, effect of isotopic substitution. Vibrational spectroscopy of diatomic molecules: Simple Harmonic Oscillator model, selection rules and vibration spectra. Molecular vibrations, factors influencing vibrational frequencies. Overtones, anharmonicity, normal mode analysis of polyatomic molecules. Raman Effect: Characteristic features and conditions of Raman activity with suitable illustrations. Rotational and vibrational Raman spectra.

8. Photochemistry: Franck-Condon principle and vibrational structure of electronic spectra. Bond dissociation and principle of determination of dissociation energy. Decay of excited states by radiative and non-radiative paths. Fluorescence and phosphorescence, Jablonski diagram. Laws of photochemistry: Grotthus-Draper law, Stark-Einstein law of photochemical equivalence; quantum yield and its measurement for a photochemical process, actinometry. Photostationary state. Photosensitized reactions. Kinetics of HI decomposition, H2-Br2 reaction, dimerisation of anthracene.

Stage-II (Descriptive Type) Chemistry : Paper-III (Analytical and Organic) PART-A (Analytical Chemistry)

A1. Errors in quantitative analysis: Accuracy and precision, sensitivity, specific standard deviation in analysis, classification of errors and their minimization, significant figures, criteria for rejection of data, Q-test, t-test, and F-test, control chart, sampling methods, sampling errors, standard reference materials, statistical data treatment.

A2. Separation Methods: Chromatographic analysis: Basic principles of chromatography (partition, adsorption and ion exchange), column chromatography, plate concept, plate height (HETP), normal phase and reversed phase concept, thin layer chromatography, frontal analysis, principles of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Gas Liquid Chromatography (GLC), and Ion- exchange chromatography. Solvent extraction: Classification, principle and efficiency of the technique, mechanism of extraction, extraction by solvation and chelation, qualitative and quantitative aspects of solvent extraction, extraction of metal ions from aqueous solutions.

A3. Spectroscopic methods of analysis: Lambert-Beer's Law and its limitations. UV-Visible Spectroscopy: Basic principles of UV-Vis spectrophotometer, Instrumentation consisting of source, monochromator, grating and detector, spectrophotometric determinations (estimation of metal ions from aqueous solutions, determination of composition of metal complexes using Job’s method of continuous variation and mole ratio method). Infra-red Spectrometry: Basic principles of instrumentation (choice of source, monochromator and detector) for single and double beam instruments, sampling techniques. Flame atomic absorption and emission spectrometry: Basic principles of instrumentation (choice of source, monochromator, detector, choice of flame and burner design), techniques of atomization and sample introduction, method of background correction, sources of chemical interferences and methods of removal, techniques for the quantitative estimation of trace level metal ions. Basic principles and theory of AAS. Three different modes of AAS - Flame-AAS, VG-AAS, and GF-AAS. Single beam and double beam AAS. Function of Hollow Cathode Lamp (HCL) and Electrode Discharge Lamp (EDL). Different types of detectors used in AAS. Qualitative and quantitative analysis.

A4. Thermal methods of analysis: Theory of thermogravimetry (TG), basic principle of instrumentation, techniques for quantitative analysis of Ca and Mg compounds.

A5. X-ray methods of Analysis: Introduction, theory of X-ray generation, X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence methods, instrumentation and applications. Qualitative and quantitative measurements. Powder diffraction method. A6. Inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy: Theory and principles, plasma generation, utility of peristaltic pump, sampler– skimmer systems, ion lens, quadrupole mass analyzer, dynode / solid state detector, different types of interferences- spectroscopic and non-spectroscopic interferences, isobaric and molecular interferences, applications. A7. Analysis of geological materials: Analysis of minerals and ores- estimation of (i) CaCO3, MgCO3 in dolomite (ii) Fe2O3, Al2O3, and TiO2 in bauxite (iii) MnO and MnO2 in pyrolusite. Analysis of metals and alloys: (i) Cu and Zn in brass (ii) Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Al and Ni in bronze (iii) Cr, Mn, Ni, and P in steel (iv) Pb, Sb, Sn in ‘type metal’. Introduction to petroleum: constituents and petroleum fractionation. Analysis of petroleum products: specific gravity, viscosity, Doctor test, aniline point, colour determination, cloud point, pour point. Determination of water, neutralization value (acid and base numbers), ash content, Determination of lead in petroleum. Types of coal and coke, composition, preparation of sample for proximate and ultimate analysis, calorific value by bomb calorimetry.

PART B (Organic chemistry)

B1. Unstable, uncharged intermediates: Structure and reactivity of carbenes and nitrenes and their rearrangements (Reimer-Tiemann, Hoffman, Curtius, Lossen, and Schimdt,). B2. Addition reactions: Addition to C-C multiple bonds: Mechanism of addition involving electrophiles, nucleophiles and free radicals (polymerization reactions of alkenes and substituted alkenes), Ziegler-Natta catalyst for polymerization, polyurethane, and conducting polymers; addition to conjugated systems (Diels-Alder reaction), orientation and reactivity (on simple cis- and trans- alkenes). Addition to carbon-heteroatom multiple bonds: Addition to C=O double bond, structure and reactivity, hydration, addition of ROH, RSH, CN-, bisulphite, amine derivatives, hydride ions. B3: Reactions at the carbonyl group: Cannizzaro, Aldol, Perkin, Claisen ester, benzoin, benzil-benzilic acid rearrangement, Mannich, Dieckmann, Michael, Strobe, Darzen, Wittig, Doebner, Knoevenagel, Reformatsky reactions.

B4. Oxidation and Reduction: Reduction of C=C, Meerwein-Pondorf reaction, Wolff-Kishner and Birch reduction. Oxidation of C=C, hydration, hydroxylation, hydroboration, ozonolysis, epoxidation, Sharpless epoxidation.

B5. Electrocyclic Reactions: Molecular orbital symmetry, frontier orbitals of ethylene, 1,3-butadiene, 1,3,5- hexatriene, allyl system, FMO approach, pericyclic reactions, Woodward- Hoffman correlation diagram method and perturbation molecular orbital (PMO) approach for the explanation of pericyclic reactions under thermal and photochemical conditions. Simple cases of Norrish type-I and type-II reactions. Conrotatory and disrotatory motions of (4n) and (4n+2) polyenes with emphasis on [2+2] and [4+2] cycloadditions, sigmatropic rearrangements- shift of H and carbon moieties, Claisen, Cope, Sommerlet-Hauser rearrangement.

B6. Spectroscopic methods of analysis:

Infrared spectroscopy: Characteristic frequencies of organic molecules and interpretation of spectra. Modes of molecular vibrations, characteristic stretching frequencies of O-H, N-H, C-H, C-D, C=C, C=N, C=O functions; factors affecting stretching frequencies.

Ultraviolet spectroscopy: Chromophores, auxochromes. Electronic transitions (σ−σ*, n-σ*, π-π* and n-π*), relative positions of λmax considering conjugative effect, steric effect, solvent effect, red shift (bathochromic shift), blue shift (hypsochromic shift), hyperchromic effect, hypochromic effect (typical examples). Woodward rules. Applications of UV spectroscopy to conjugated dienes, trienes, unsaturated carbonyl compounds and aromatic compounds.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometry: (Proton and Carbon-13 NMR) Nuclear spin, NMR active nuclei, principle of proton magnetic resonance, equivalent and non-equivalent protons. Measurement of spectra, the chemical shift, shielding / deshielding of protons, upfield and downfield shifts, intensity of NMR signals and integration factors affecting the chemical shifts: spin-spin coupling to 13C IH-IH first order coupling: some simple IH-IH splitting patterns: the magnitude of IH-IH coupling constants, diamagnetic anisotropy