Encourage scientific temper

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">If you are curious, ask lots of questions and feel excited when new information is discovered which might explain how a particular thing works, or even help cure people of a killing disease, then you may have the potential to become a scientist. Participating in the Olympiad Programme at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) would be just the thing for you.The HBCSE aims at promoting excellence in science among pre-university students.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Olympiad programme</span><br /><br />The National Olympiad Programme in physics, chemistry and biology is jointly administered by the HBCSE-Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) and the Indian Association of Chemistry Teachers (IACT). There are various stages leading to the International Olympiads.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Stage I</span><br /><br />The National Standard Examination (NSE) in physics (NSEP) or NSE in chemistry (NSEC) or NSE in biology (NSEB) is the first stage of selection of students in the National Olympiad Programme.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Stage II</span><br /><br />The top 200 to 250 students selected from the NSEP, the NSEC and the NSEB each are eligible to appear for Indian National Physics Olympiad (INPhO), Indian National Chemistry Olympiad (INChO) and Indian National Biology Olympiad (INBO) respectively. About 50 students are short-listed in each subject on the basis of their performance in the National Olympiads (theory).<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Stage III</span><br /><br />About 50 students in each subject are invited to the orientation-cum-selection camps organised by the HBCSE. These camps are usually of one-week duration in each subject, held in May or June. At the end of the camp in each subject, the best 25 students each in physics, chemistry and biology are selected to be the INPhO gold medalists, INChO gold medalists and INBO gold medalists respectively.<br /><br />The top five INPhO, the top four INChO and the top four INBO gold medalists receive special merit award of Rs 5,000 each in the form of books and cash. If they hold valid Indian passports at that time, they become a part of the student team to represent India at the International Physics, Chemistry and Biology Olympiad.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Stage IV</span><br /><br />The selected Indian teams undergo a rigorous training programme at the HBCSE in theory and experiment. As per International Olympiad statutes, the training in chemistry and biology is limited to two weeks'' duration while the training is for three weeks in physics.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Stage V</span><br /><br />Participation in International Olympiads in Physics (IPhO), Chemistry (IChO) and Biology (IBO), is usually held in July.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Enrol for NSE</span><br /><br />To find a list of registered centres for NSEs log on to www.hbcse.tifr.res.in/olymp/Data/ObjectType/stage1/enrolproc/centrelist<br /><br />All students of Class XI and Class XII (science stream) are eligible to appear for the NSE. A student may appear for any one, two or all the three subjects. Students who have passed Class XII are not eligible to apply.<br /><br />NSEs to be held on 21.11.2004 are scheduled thus:<br /><br />NSEP - 0930 hours to 1230 hours NSEC - 1300 hours to 1500 hours NSEB - 1530 hours to 1700 hours Deadline for enrolment: 15.09.2004<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">About NSE</span><br /><br />The NSEP, NSEC and NSEB question papers are in English. However, NSEP question papers may be available in Hindi, Gujarati, Bangla, Telugu and Tamil, if at least 300 students opt for that language.<br /><br />The NSEP of three hours duration has Part A, which includes 50 multiple choice questions, and Part B that contains five short answer-type questions or problems. On the other hand, NSEC is of two hours and contains 100 multiple choice questions. The NSEB is of 90 minutes'' duration and it consists of 100 multiple choice questions.<br /><br />Questions and problems in National Olympiads are usually non-conventional and of high difficulty level, comparable to the International Olympiads. Although there is no detailed syllabus for NSE, it is broadly equivalent to Class XI and Class XII of CBSE.<br /><br />Indian National Olympiads (tentative dates) INPhO on 29.05.2004 between 1300 to 1700 hours. INChO on 30.05.2004 between 0900 to 1300 hours. INBO on 30.05.2004 between 1500 to 1700 hours.<br /><br />The syllabus for INPhO and INChO is broadly equivalent to IIT-JEE main examination. INChO syllabus moreover, includes elementary biochemistry. INPhO (Theory) syllabus has further addition of special relativity and modern physics at an elementary level. The INBO syllabus encompasses all branches of biology and is generally equivalent to the biology component of national level medical entrance examinations such as conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.<br /><br />Follow up on NSEs M L Oglapurkar, co-ordinator (NSEP), IAPT Office, Pune (E-mail:iapt@vsnl.net) R M Dharkar, chief co-ordinator (IAPT Examinations), Thane (E) (E-mail:rdharkar@vsnl.com) D V Prabhu, head of department, Department of Chemistry, Wilson College Mumbai (E-mail: dvprabhu@rediffmail.com)</div> </div>