No, NIMHANS Bangalore does not offer an M.A. or MSc in Psychology. The Department of Clinical Psychology was started in 1954. Currently, it offers a two-year full-time M. Phil. program and a three-year doctoral program in Clinical Psychology. Additionally, the department also offers certificate programs in 

• Child and Family Therapy (6 months)
• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (6 months)
• Positive Psychology Perspective (1 month). 

Additionally, NIMHANS also conducts workshops and conferences regularly.

First of all, there is no fixed syllabus for NIMHANS’ M.Phil and PhD (Clinical Psychology) entrance exams. The exam comprises several MCQs, for which you have to go through many topics rather than studying deeply. So, one should try to read as many books as possible or at least go through their glossaries only. Here are some great recommendations for M.Phil and Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology):

• Theories of Personality
• Any good ‘Introduction to Psychology’ book
• Any good Statistics/Research Methodology book
• Social Psychology
• Abnormal Psychology

To score better you should focus more on these specific topics:

• Cognitive Psychology

• Biological Psychology
• Developmental Psychology

Additionally, for the PhD entrance exam, you need to study Statistics and Research Methodology.

The first and foremost step is to determine the right branch for yourself. If you want to pursue a research internship some of the common options are 

• Psychiatry 
• Neuro-bioinformatics
• Neurotoxicology
• Neuro-microbiology
• Psycho-physics
• Neuro-virology 

Once you have decided on the branch, contact the concerned professor and express your interest in working with him via email. If the professor agrees, there might be some additional formalities depending on if you are a student or not. As far as I know, you don’t require a recommendation letter. Seek help from the professor or the seniors regarding other formalities. The Academic sections in NIMHANS take care of all the formalities. You might have to pay some fees for doing the internship if you are not a student.

Hope this helps you!

Usually, the stipend paid to a PhD in Clinical Psychology student (external category) at MIMHANS is around INR 31,000 for the first two years and INR 35,000 for the remaining 3 years.

The only drawback is that students who have already done an MPhil will get only an institute fellowship for 3 years and they will be considered as SRFs with a salary of INR 28,000. These students get to stay in the hostel by paying a monthly rent of INR 250 for institute fellows and an HRA amount for external fellows.

Yes, everyone who clears the entrance exam for MPhil Clinical Psychology at NIMHANS is called for an interview. However, not everyone gets selected because the number of seats available is very low in comparison to the shortlisted students.

The interviewers don’t ask much technical questions and usually assess your personality and talents. The most common question asked is ‘Why do you want to join this specific course?’. So, it’s better to prepare for it beforehand. Sometimes candidates might be enquired about their post-graduation thesis.

Usually, it’s just a very personal interview with no technical questions so don’t worry about preparing for it and just be your real self.

In the NIMHANS entrance exam, around 90-100 MCQs are based on the foundation 19 subjects taught. These M Qs are similar to the ones asked in PG entrance exams of other medical colleges like AIIMS and JIPMER. So, the study material is more or less the same for other All-India exams.

Here are some excellent book recommendations for the Neurology part 

• Harrison for neurology
• Ganong for neurophysiology
• Snell's neuroanatomy
• Neurobiochemistry from Harper
• Neuro-microbiology from Paniker
• Neuropharmacology from KDT
• Neuropathology from Robbins
• Neuro-ophthalmology from Parson
• Neuroradiology
• Psychiatry from Kaplan

Hope you clear the exam!

Yes, NIMHANS offers several UG courses some of which have been listed below 

BSc in Anaesthesia Technology: 

• Duration : 3 years.
• Intake : 6 seats
• Eligibility : Pass in Two-year Pre-University examination or equivalent with a Science group having secured an aggregate of 45% in Science subjects.

BSc in Radiography: 

• Intake : 10 (4 for sponsored) (5 seats reserved for Post Diploma candidates) 
• Duration : 3 years.
• Eligibility : Pre-University examination conducted by the Department of Pre-University Education or any recognized State Board with English and Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics as optional subjects with 45% aggregate. 

BSc in Nursing :  

• Intake : 77 Seats (Under the College of Nursing) 
• Duration : 4 years Minimum Qualification for 
• Admission : Pre-University examination conducted by the Department of Pre-University Education with Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and English with a minimum 45% aggregate in the above subjects and Higher Secondary School Certificate Examination (12 years course) with Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and English with a minimum 45% aggregate. 

Hope this helps you!

NIMHANS conducts one common online entrance test of 2 hours duration comprising 150 questions. This entrance exam is conducted for MD in Psychiatry, Ph.D. in clinical Neurosciences, DM in Neurology, and M.Ch. in Neurosurgery courses for candidates with MBBS qualification.

• Seat Breakdown: 31 Seats- 8 seats for Karnataka domiciles, 2 seats for sponsored candidates out of which 1 seat is for domiciles of Karnataka
• Duration : 3 years for post-MBBS candidates and 2 years for post-DPM candidates
• Minimum Qualification required: MBBS or DPM

Hope this helps you!