For a Class XI student, to play around with Nanomaterials or get a chance to design a fuel cell is the stuff of dreams. But for those who are part of the Research Science Initiative's summer programme, these are part of the everyday timetable.
RSI is an annual summer programme in which about 30 to 35 selected students, who have completed Class XI, spend six weeks in an intensive research programme under the guidance of scientist mentors.
The participants are required to submit a project report on a chosen field of interest by end of the six weeks.
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The programme is being organised by the PSBB Group of Schools in collaboration with IIT-Madras.
Tanmay Shankar, a student of Bala Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, said “It is an amazing experience to be able to interact with professors and scientists from leading institutes when you are still in school.”
Calling it a rare opportunity to get a glimpse of the research world, he said that in-depth understanding of various fields also helps to better judge the merits of various options that are available after finishing Class XII.
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M.V. Sivasubramanyan of Kendriya Vidyalaya, IIT campus, said that the programme has helped him see science in action everyday. “I now think a lot more about the scientific principles behind everyday events. Real learning is something which helps one notice things which they otherwise would not.”
The summer programme is fully residential, with the students staying at the IIT-M campus.
It also includes extra-mural lectures by personalities from non-scientific backgrounds.
“Staying with other students in a learning environment is like experiencing college while in school,” S.Vignesh, a student of DAV Public School, said about the programme which began on May 5.
“This is like summer camp for students with a research bent of mind.”
V.V.Sreedhar, a professor at Chennai Mathematical Institute, who gave a talk on Wednesday on the history of structural topology, said
“Students must be encouraged to understand the close links and inter-disciplinary nature of various branches of science. The ideas and concepts are the same, only scientific language is different. The classroom environment must play a role in rousing their curiosity and persuade them to pursue self-learning.”