RPSC Asst Director & Sr Scientific Officer syllabus — subject and topic-wiseRPSC Asst Director & Sr Scientific Officer syllabus: 31 subjects, 86 topics. Exam — Conducted by: RPSC; Last held: 12 June 2022. 840 real previous-year questions are classified onto these topics.Updated 31 October 2026 — PYQ counts as of this dateFull RPSC Asst Director & Sr Scientific Officer syllabus — 31 subjects and 86 topics, each with how many past-year questions it has actually carried.Information Security — 76 questions

CIA triad, authentication, cryptography & steganography — 40 questions

Vulnerability assessment & penetration testing (VAPT) — 36 questions

Cognitive Psychology — Memory, Perception & Learning — 45 questions

Perception — figure-ground, classical & operant conditioning, learning theory — 35 questions

Types of memory — sensory, working, long-term, episodic/semantic — 8 questions

Baddeley's working memory model, Tip-of-the-Tongue phenomenon — 2 questions

Forensic DNA Analysis — 44 questions

DNA sources, collection & extraction (incl. Real-Time PCR) — 28 questions

STR profiling, RMP/Likelihood Ratio, LCN typing — 11 questions

Y-STR/X-STR, mitochondrial DNA, Sanger & NGS sequencing — 5 questions

Cyber Crimes & Cyber Forensics — 42 questions

Chain of custody, hashing, SOPs, malware analysis — 30 questions

Types of cyber crimes, forensic process, electronic evidence — 12 questions

Personality & Individual Differences — 42 questions

Sensation-seeking, motivation, achievement need — 24 questions

Trait theories of personality, personality as mental structure — 14 questions

Personality assessment & tests — 4 questions

Biochemistry — 41 questions

Biomolecules, water/pH/buffers — 18 questions

Bioenergetics & metabolic regulation — 10 questions

Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins — structure & function — 7 questions

Enzymes — classification, kinetics, regulation, metabolic pathways — 6 questions

Crime Scene Management & Acts — 39 questions

Crime scene securing, documentation & processing — 20 questions

Physical evidence — collection, preservation, chain of custody — 18 questions

Forensic aspects of BNS, BNSS, BSA & Identification Act — 1 questions

Networking Concepts — 38 questions

OSI model, TCP/IP suite, communication devices — 20 questions

LAN/MAN/WAN, topologies, architecture — 11 questions

Internet, ISP, VPN, mailing/file-transfer protocols — 7 questions

Cell & Molecular Biology — 38 questions

Gene expression & regulation — 12 questions

Cell structure & organelles — 9 questions

Cell cycle, growth & apoptosis — 9 questions

DNA replication, repair & recombination — 6 questions

Cell signalling & communication — 2 questions

Genetics & Bioinformatics — 32 questions

Mendelian genetics & chromosomal inheritance — 21 questions

Genetic markers — VNTR/STR/SNP/CNV & detection (RFLP/AFLP/RAPD) — 8 questions

Population genetics & evolutionary biology — 2 questions

Bioinformatics — databases, sequence alignment, BLAST/FASTA — 1 questions

Microbiology — 32 questions

Microbial classification, structure & function — 18 questions

Microbial pathogenesis, host interaction & bioterrorism — 9 questions

Microbial growth, metabolism & isolation from forensic samples — 5 questions

Sterilization techniques — 0 questions

Developmental & Abnormal Psychology — 31 questions

Psychoanalytic therapy — transference, family therapy — 13 questions

DSM-5 vs DSM-IV changes, psychological disorders — 12 questions

Erikson's stages of psychosocial development — 6 questions

Database Management Systems — 30 questions

DBMS/RDBMS concepts, SQL & NoSQL — 30 questions

Database administration — backup, recovery, security — 0 questions

Interrogation & Investigative Techniques — 30 questions

Polygraph — history (Larson, Marston, Keeler), stages of examination, accuracy debate — 22 questions

Reid Technique — stages and procedure — 6 questions

PEACE model of interrogation — 2 questions

Computer Fundamentals — 26 questions

Computer organization & architecture — 13 questions

Operating systems — boot process, MBR/VBR, process/memory mgmt — 10 questions

File systems — FAT, NTFS, EXT, APFS, YAFFS — 3 questions

Instrumental & Analytical Techniques — 26 questions

Microscopy — compound, fluorescence, SEM/TEM — 13 questions

Chromatography types & statistical analysis — 8 questions

Spectroscopy — UV-Vis, fluorescence, IR, Raman, NMR, mass spec — 3 questions

Electrophoresis & centrifugation — 2 questions

Research Methodology & Statistics — 26 questions

Experimental design, hypothesis testing, controlling extraneous variables — 11 questions

Sampling, questionnaire vs schedule, observation methods — 8 questions

Descriptive statistics, measures of central tendency & variability — 7 questions

Computer & Mobile Forensics — 25 questions

Android & iOS forensics, CDR analysis, VoIP — 15 questions

Disk, Windows, Linux & VM forensics — 10 questions

Immunology — 24 questions

Antigens, antibodies & immune response regulation — 19 questions

Immune system — cells & organs — 5 questions

Network, Multimedia & Memory Forensics — 20 questions

Multimedia forensics — CCTV, deepfake detection, audio analysis — 18 questions

Network forensics — IPDR, packet analysis, SIEM, cloud forensics — 2 questions

Memory forensics — RAM acquisition & analysis — 0 questions

Social Psychology — 18 questions

Social Identity Theory, group formation & dynamics — 13 questions

Pro-social behaviour, attitudes & persuasion — 5 questions

Emerging Technologies — 17 questions

AI/ML/DL — algorithms, ANN/CNN/GAN, LLMs — 13 questions

IoT, Blockchain, AR/VR/Metaverse — 4 questions

Legal & Forensic Framework — 17 questions

Magistrate courts & sentencing powers, IPC sections relevant to forensic psychology — 14 questions

Indian Evidence Act — expert witness provisions — 3 questions

Psychological Testing & Psychometrics — 17 questions

Global capacity/intelligence theorists, test validity & reliability — 11 questions

IQ, aptitude, achievement & intelligence tests — 6 questions

Criminology & Criminal Behaviour — 15 questions

Theories of crime — Differential Association Theory and others — 9 questions

Goals of imprisonment, consequences of serious crime on victims — 5 questions

Crime statistics publications — Crime in India report — 1 questions

Acts & Legal Framework — 15 questions

IT Act 2000, BNS/BNSS/BSA cyber provisions, IPR — 15 questions

Recombinant DNA Technology — 11 questions

Tools & techniques — enzymes, vectors, cloning — 11 questions

Nucleic acid hybridization — Southern/Northern/Western blotting — 0 questions

Genome editing — CRISPR-Cas9, TALENs, ZFNs, gene therapy — 0 questions

Forensic Psychology — Foundations — 11 questions

History & scope of Forensic Psychology, specialization recognition timeline — 5 questions

Role of psychologist in clinical/forensic setting, ethics — 3 questions

Landmark works — On the Witness Stand, psychology of testimony — 3 questions

OSINT, Dark Web & Emerging Threats — 5 questions

Social media investigation & OSINT — 3 questions

Dark web/TOR, AI-based crimes, drone/UAV forensics — 2 questions

Wildlife Forensics & Entomology — 5 questions

Wildlife forensics, IUCN/CITES, Wildlife Protection Act — 5 questions

Drug-plant identification (cannabis, opium, tobacco) — 0 questions

Forensic entomology — PMI estimation, entomo-toxicology — 0 questions

Software Engineering & Programming — 2 questions

Programming paradigms, testing, deployment, patch management — 2 questions

SDLC models, application types, software licenses — 0 questions

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