The DST-INSPIRE (Department of Science and Technology - Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspire Research) residential camp got off to a start at the National College on Monday with a mandate to draw 150 participating school students towards a research career in science by creating an environment to think out of the box.
The 90 boys and the rest girls were chosen based on their high score in their X Board examinations.
Under the innovative programme, the five-day INSPIRE internship till Friday is a component of 'Scheme for Early Attraction of Talents for Science' (SEATS) under which students are provided opportunity to interact with experts in science and experience the joy of innovations.
On Tuesday, the students will interact with N. Ramanujam and M. Palaniandavar, both Emeritus Fellows (UGC). As mentors, they will interact with the students through lectures related to scientific success stories and joys of innovation in order to nourish their curiosity.
The students will be spending the afternoon hours on all five days in the science laboratories, carrying out hands-on experiments.
Subbiah Pandian, former Professor and Head, Department of Physics, Presidency College, Chennai, will engage the students in simple experiments.
And, an expert trained at IIT Madras will be teaching the students the methodology of making rockets during the course of the camp.
The students will also take part in essay competitions on the second green revolution, renewable and non renewable energy, clean energy, natural resources utilization for sustainability, Make in India, Swachh Bharat and Ganga rejuvenation, energy conservation efficiency and sustainability, harnessing modern technology for second green revolution, dairy and livestock sector, solid and liquid waste management, recycling and processing of waste to conserve resources, co-ordinator of the DST-INSPIRE Camp A.T. Ravichandran said.
On the first day of the camp, the participants were oriented on the fundamentals of all science subjects by eminent experts. At the inaugural session, V. Murugesan, Vice-Chancellor, Annamalai University, dwelt on the fundamental concepts of Chemistry.
A. Paneerselvam, Professor of Botany, Poondi Pushpam College, also interacted with the students and familiarised them with mushroom culture.
