Science for School Kids at IIT Bombay

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    Bridging the gap between science and knowledge is paramount in the understanding of science. While many of us are aware of scientific breakthroughs we are not that much aware about the very basis of it. To counter this we need actual science visualization amongst students, starting from the school level. IIT Bombay has tried to address by their new initiative for school kids.

    What is it?

    Devang Khakhar, Director of IIT Bombay, told the Indian Express, that the institute is planning an outreach programme where the campus is made more accessible to school and college students and teachers.

    With intentions to spark curiosity in young students in the field of science, the outreach programme will allow students to learn about the research being carried out at the institute.

    Aims and Objective

    The initiative aims to nurture scientific curiosity and outlook at an early age. “This is the beginning of our vision, as a full-fledged year-long outreach programme, where we could host as many as 50-60 students per month. The idea is to expose students to our research work. We hope this will encourage them to consider scientific research as a career,” said Majumder.

    Hopefully, this outreach programme is not just beneficial to the students but also to the researchers, who can imprint their knowledge onto the students and then some. “We get to evaluate our work through the eyes of young students, who are uninhibited and provoke us to think differently,” Majumder said.

    The Progress So Far

    In February, students of class XI from migrant schools in Jammu and Kashmir and their teachers visited the IIT-B campus for five days. They learned about the research work and attended science and sky watching workshops.

    And in March, class XI students from Bombay Scottish School spent an afternoon at IIT-B interacting with the faculty and the laboratories they use. They also conducted experiments alongside them, said Abhijit Majumder, Assistant Professor at the Chemical Engineering Department, who spearheads the programme.

    Source: The Better India