ISRO plans to ‘catch them young’

Bangalore: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is organising a special programme for school children called ‘YUva VIgyani KAryakram’ (YUVIKA) or ‘Young Scientist Programme’ to impart basic knowledge on space technology, science and applications to young students, especially those from rural areas.

The programme is aimed at creating awareness about the emerging trends in science and technology amongst the youngsters, who are ‘the future building blocks of our nation’, according to the Bangalore-headquartered space agency.

“The programme aims to select 150 students across India who are studying in Class IX as on March 1, 2022 in a school located within the territory of India,” ISRO said in the announcement. The space agency also said it has chalked out the programme to ‘catch them young’.

The programme is also expected to encourage more students to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) based careers and research work, ISRO said.

The YUVIKA-2022 residential programme will run for two weeks from May 16 to May 28. The schedule will include talks, experience-sharing by eminent scientists, experimental demonstration, facility and lab visits, exclusive sessions for discussions with experts, practical and feedback sessions.

The selection of participants will be on the basis of a few parameters, including marks obtained in Class VIII examination, and participation in science fairs (school/district/state and above level) organised by the school/district/ state/Central government authority in the last three years.

The programme is planned to be held at five ISRO centres – Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram; UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bangalore; Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad; National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad; and North-East Space Application Centre (NE-SAC), Shillong.