Two CSIR Labs Celebrate The National Science Day

Pune, 26 February, 2021: Two CSIR Laboratories National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL) Pune and Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT) Hyderabad jointly celebrated the National Science Day event together on 26 February 2021. On this occasion Prof. Rishikesha Krishnan, Director and Professor of Strategy at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore delivered the National Science Day lecture on “Making the Vision of India’s New STIP a Reality: What does this mean for the Development of Human Capital?” The event was organised on virtual platform.

Prof. Rishikesha Krishnan in his talk mainly focused on these two visions of the Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (STIP) draft document: (i) to achieve technological self-reliance and position India among the top three scientific superpowers in the decade to come, and (ii) to build individual and institutional excellence in science technology and innovations with the aspiration to achieve the highest level of global recognitions and awards in the coming decade.

While referring the STIP draft document, Prof Krishnan said that it will impact on education, skills and work making vision of India a reality through STIP and what does it mean for human capital of India.

Prof Krishnan gave a few examples of eminent people making significant contributions to various science and technology disciplines in modern India and takeaway messages from their pioneering work. These names include Sujata Ramadoorai, Manindra Agrawal, Sam Pitroda, Asok Jhunjhunwala, GN Ramachandran, MK Bhan, Gagandeep Kang, Paul Ratnasamy, Swaminathan Sivaram, Acharya PC Ray, Anji Reddy, YK Hamied, etc. He also mentioned the work done by strategic sectors such as ISRO, DRDO and DAE and recounted the significant role played women scientists in Mangalyaan mission.

On education front, Prof. Krishnan said that the country is facing the challenges in Science education, English and Maths literacy though some good work is being done by the agencies and institutions like Agastya International Foundation, Atal Tinkering Labs, DST Inspire, Prime Minister Research Fellows Scheme, and IISERs.

Prof. Krishanan listed the skill gaps such as weakness in scientific education, historical deficiencies in industry-academia interaction He stressed more on open science, research excellence framework for higher education institutions, mission mode programmes, etc. He said there is a need to focus more on scale, confidence, emerging areas, long-term perspectives, connecting theory with practice, recognising excellence, mobility, networks, besides a necessity of better experimental facilities, open-ended experiments, undergraduate research, research internship at top institutions, extend tinkering lab idea beyond mechanical and electrical streams, etc..

Dr Sunil Joshi, Chair, Chemical Engineering and Process Development Division of CSIR-NCL initiated the event by elaborating on the various lectures delivered by the award winning scientists and research students and poster presentations and CSIR-NCL.

Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar Director CSIR-IICT and Director CSIR-NCL (Additional charge) in his introductory remarks appreciated the display of posters by research students and talks given by the award winning scientists and research students as part of the National Science Day celebration. He recounted on this occasion the research work done during last one year by CSIR labs and especially NCL and IICT to face the Covid-19 pandemic.

As a part of the celebrations, the research work being carried out in the laboratory was showcased in the form of poster presentations during 24-25 February. About 100 posters were displayed by the research students. The posters were arranged in six categories namely Biological Sciences & Biochemical Engineering, Physical & Materials Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, Catalysis and Inorganic Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering & Polymer Engineering. An eminent panel of judges scrutinized and evaluated the posters in each category and selected the best posters. The prizes for the best posters in each category and best research papers 2020 with highest Impact Factors were announced during the event.