In an attempt to recognize merit and attract students to pursue higher education in the basic sciences, the department of science and technology is offering scholarships to students who passed out of Class 12 this year. Reports say that the DST has said that students who secured 471 marks or more of 500 in the Class 12 board exam conducted in 2012 by the Central Board of Secondary Education and who plan to pursue a basic science course in higher education stand to get Rs 80,000 a year for five years.