Summer programme for budding scientists held

PUNE: A total of 16 students from classes IX and X got their first taste of being a scientist during a five-day school students' summer programme at the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) as they gave a blackboard presentation on their respective projects on Friday. From drawing diagrams to fielding questions and thinking on their feet -- they did it all, in the process, learning about the different approaches to problem solving.
The summer programme, which is conducted for batches of 15-30 students, each over a duration of six weeks every year is an attempt to introduce students to the procedures of research, and give them a flavour of what it entails to be a scientist, said Arvind Paranjype, scientific officer in charge, public outreach programme, IUCAA."The students are also given pocket money for travel, lunch and a certificate of participation at the end of the programme," he said.
The groups, divided into three, were assigned three projects: the first pertaining to the symmetry of the equilateral triangle, the second on polarization of light and the third on how the observation of the solar eclipse could help measure distances between earth and sun, or earth and moon.
"The first group was guided by our faculty members V Chellathuri, the second by Nisha Katiyar and the third by Pushpa Khare," said Paranjype. "The summer programme consists of Pune schoolchildren, who have done well in our National Science Day programme -- an annual event every year -- and introduces them to concepts well beyond their classroom curriculum. Faculty members then assign projects and ask them to evolve their own answers. The presentation that follows the five-day programme is a valuable experience too, as it involves quick thinking, public speaking and answering questions thrown at them by IUCAA research students and faculty members on their project," he said.
For their part, the students loved every minute of it. "It was a great chance to get to the root of mathematical and scientific concepts," said Anand Dugad, a class X student. "We had access to their library, and it was fun to read and brainstorm over our project, which required us to study the symmetry of the equilateral triangle," he said.
While Aditya Palnitkar, another student who worked on the solar eclipse project, said, "It was an eye-opener learning how the solar eclipse was observed, and distances worked out, by ancient people who lived much before the BC era."