The India International Science Festival (IISF)-2019 will be held at Kolkata in November this year.
An annual event jointly organised by the Science and Technology-related ministries and departments and Vijnana Bharati, it is said to be one of the biggest platforms in the country for bringing together students, researchers, innovators, artists and the general public for celebrating India’s achievements in science and technology (S and T).
Kolkata will host the event from November 5 to 8 and the theme of this year’s event is ‘RISEN’ India – Research, Innovation, and Science Empowering the Nation.
The previous IISFs were held at IIT, New Delhi in 2015, CSIR-NPL, New Delhi in 2016, IIT-Madras, Anna University and NIOT, Chennai in 2017 and Indira Gandhi Prathistan in Lucknow in 2018. The Kolkata science festival will be hosted mainly at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre and Science City.
Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Bose Institute and Indian Institute of Chemical Biology are the other venues that will host the mega science show. www.scienceindiafest.org will give a snapshot of some of the significant events.
Addressing a press conference to share details about IISF-2019 at CSIR-CFTRI here on Saturday, Union Minister for Science and Technology and Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan said around 12,000 participants from India and abroad were expected. IISF-2019, which will be hosting 28 events such as Global Indian Scientists’ and Technocrats’ Meet, and Face-to-Face meet with New Frontiers in Science.
He said the festival will be showcasing the achievements in science and technology and attracts scientists and students from across the country. “Last year’s event at Lucknow had a footfall of around 10 lakh.”
Special gesture
Five students from the villages adopted by the MPs in each State will attending the festival and the DST will take care of their participation.
A students’ science village has been planned at IISF-2019 where more than 2,500 school students from across the country have been invited. Young Scientists’ Conference is another big event in terms of variety and number of participants. Around 1,500 young scientists and researchers were expected to interact with experts of international repute and get a chance to present their posters and papers.
Prominent among the expos at IISF-2019 will be the science expo at Science City. “Vignanika”, a science literature festival, will be another highlight along with Divyangjan, a new-age technology show.
The Minister said the curtain raiser for IISF-2019 was being held at over 100 places in the country to build momentum and make it successful like the previous festivals.
