Excel in multiple fields, school students told

Y.S. Rajan, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Distinguished Professor, ISRO, Bengaluru, on Tuesday urged youngsters to develop a determination to excel in multiple skill sets, rather than focus only on a single area of interest.

He was inaugurating the sixth edition of the five-day residential Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) internship programme conducted by the School of Life Sciences (SLS), Manipal University, here.

Toppers

More than 180 toppers from Class 10 and Class 11 from different schools in the State are participating in the event, which is part of the Union Department of Science and Technology-sponsored initiative to inculcate a scientific spirit to toppers in schools and to promote science research as a career option.

He said science had never stagnated, but was advancing at a relentless pace. Pointing out that the average human life expectancy was to increase further due to various advancements, he said people would have more time to contribute to the society.K.N. Ganeshaiah, Professor at University of Agriculture Sciences, Bengaluru, and P.M. Gopinath, senior scientist at SLS, were present.

The five day programme would see the students interacting with renowned scientists. They would learn through interactions, demonstrations and hands-on training in various disciplines of science.