Students aspiring to study humanities or science at the undergraduate level at Jadavpur University can apply online from August 14 to September 4, a notification uploaded on JU’s website says.

Applications are to be made online through the university’s website www.jaduniv.edu.in. Details about the admission will be available on the website from August 14.

The original plan was to have the site activated on August 10 in keeping with an advisory from the state government, but the start had to be delayed to make the system ready for online payment.

“We ran several rounds of checks to ensure that the payment gateway for application and admission fees works smoothly. This caused a little delay,” said a university official.

The higher education department has ordered that this year fees would have to be paid online or through designated banks. Candidates have been barred from paying the fees on the campus as a precaution against Covid-19.

“Till last year, those who had the facility could make an online payment. Those who did not, had to go to a bank. This year it will be entirely online so that aspirants do not have to step out of home,” an official said.

Each department will publish a provisional merit list as well as a list of provisionally selected candidates for admission. After verification, the provisionally selected candidates of each department will get a link to pay the admission fee online.

“The admission fee has to be paid within three working days of getting the link, failing which the candidature will lapse,” said another official.

Among the seven departments in humanities, five — English, comparative literature, international relations, sociology and Sanskrit — will admit students based on their plus-II board marks. The Bengali and economics departments will admit candidates based on their plus-II and Class X board marks.

In science, while selecting students from the Bengal board, the university will consider marks in the higher secondary as well as Madhyamik exams. Students from the CBSE and the ISC council will be selected based on their plus-II board marks.

Classes are likely to start in mid-September. The teachers have suggested that study materials — notes, soft copies of textbooks, powerpoint presentations, and audio and video lectures — be delivered to the students through email and WhatsApp.

The university will carry out a survey among students to find out who need smartphones, which are required to download study materials.