30-Jun-2022: Vritika Research Internship
The one month Vritika Research Internship sponsored by the Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt of India, under Accelerate Vigyan Vritika scheme was concluded with the valedictory function organized today at the Vivekananda Hall, CSIR-NIScPR, New Delhi.
The participants shared their feedback individually reflecting up on such a wonderful opportunity for learning the basics of Science Communication at the right place, interaction with experienced staff, listening to useful lectures by eminent experts in the field over the period of last four weeks, and more interestingly “hands on exercises” on various aspects of science communication, be it popular science writing for the general masses and scholarly communication and academic publication. Shri RS Jayasomu, Chief Scientist was the ‘Guest of Honour’ as the Acting Director, CSIR-NIScPR today. In his address, he congratulated the participants for successfully completing the one month ‘Vritika’ Research Internship. Appreciating their involvement and passion towards communicating science, shri Jayasomu urged all of them to complete the given challenge of converting their ‘one-month’ assignment work on ‘citation of predatory publications in selected SCI indexed journals’ into a valuable scholarly communication and publish in a reputed journal.
The Internship marked as one of the key milestones by inspiring the young research scholars with an emphasis on the need for gaining a research oriented career. All the participants appreciated the efforts made by CSIR-NIScPR in successfully conducting this one-month long internship programme, hospitality apart from ‘food for thought’, and also thanked SERB, DST for supporting such practically useful programmes. Dr. N K Prasanna, the PI of the Vritika Research Internship programme delivered the Vote of thanks highlighting the support and encouragement extended by Dr Ranjana Aggarwal, Director, CSIR-NIScPR, funding received from SERB-DST, Govt. of India, organizing team at CSIR-NIScPR, and last but not the least, the participants for their interest and enthusiasm shown all through the month long internship programme cooperation.
6-Sep-2022: Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WEST): Launching of a new I-STEM initiative
Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WEST), a new I-STEM (Indian Science Technology and Engineering facilities Map) initiative called “Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WEST)” was launched by Dr. Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India on 5th September 2022. The WEST programme will cater to women with a STEM background and empower them to contribute to the science, technology, and innovation ecosystem. I-STEM is a national web portal for sharing research equipment/facilities and is the umbrella under which many programmes for promoting collaborations in R&D and technological innovation among and between academia and industry, especially startups, are underway.
Through the WEST initiative, I-STEM shall provide a separate platform to scientifically inclined women researchers, scientists, and technologists for pursuing research in basic or applied sciences in frontier areas of science and engineering. Women may join the WEST program and explore opportunities to become stakeholders in various domains and pursue careers in R&D at various levels: technicians, technologists, scientists, and entrepreneurs. Opportunities range from operating scientific equipment and maintaining them, to designing and manufacturing them.
The Skill Development programmes under the WEST initiative will provide training for women with S&T backgrounds to brush up on their abilities and become engaged “in the field” as lab technicians and maintenance engineers, filling crucial gaps in the R&D infrastructure of the country. This initiative will also help bring women back into S&T domains after a career break.
With this experience, women can become entrepreneurs to serve as consultants for the operation and maintenance of sophisticated equipment/instruments through the I-STEM platform. This would go a long way towards filling a “skills gap”, and putting publicly-funded equipment to good use.
Under the WEST initiative, the current support being provided to S&T startups by women entrepreneurs by I-STEM will be enhanced. The access to R&D facilities and R&D software platforms (COMSOL, MATLAB, LABVIEW, AUTOCAD) available through the I-STEM portal will form a strong support network for women entrepreneurs in S&T.
I-STEM shall provide a platform/forum for women researchers to deliberate on achievements, issues, and exchange ideas on taking the country forward through advances in science, technology, and innovation. In addition, a digital consortium “Connect Quickly” for online discussion and immediate support has also been established through the I-STEM WhatsApp and Telegram platforms.
A dedicated team of women will ensure the successful implementation of the WEST initiative.
In her address on the occasion of the launch, Dr. Maini appreciated the WEST initiative taken by I-STEM and called upon women in S&T to take advantage of it. She advised I-STEM to monitor the impact of the initiative by obtaining feedback and putting steps in place to increase the wider participation of women in WEST and I-STEM.
Dr. Vartika Shukla, CMD, Engineers India Ltd.; Dr. Sunita Mishra, Senior Principal Scientist, Central Scientific Instruments Organization (CSIO, CSIR); and Dr. Sangeeta Semwal, Scientist, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Govt. of India also congratulated the team on the launch of the platform and called for more participation of women on I-STEM. The programme was attended by participants across the country.
16-Dec-2021: WISE-KIRAN to ensure participation of women in the field of Science and Technology (S&T) through various gender enabling programmes
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is implementing a dedicated scheme Women in Science and Engineering-KIRAN (WISE-KIRAN) to ensure participation of women in the field of Science and Technology (S&T) through various gender enabling programmes.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today, Dr Jitendra Singh said that around 1040 women scientists, more than 12000 meritorious girls of Class IX-XII and around 10000 women at grassroots level from different states of the country have been benefitted through various programmes under WISE-KIRAN Scheme in last three years.
The Minister informed that the “Science & Technology for Women” scheme is focused on empowering women in livelihood generation through suitable technologies and available natural resources in their native areas, which has led to income generation and creation of livelihood opportunities for them. Nearly 50 individual projects and 40 Women Technology Parks (WTPs) have been supported under Science & Technology Scheme for Women and around 10,000 women have been trained through both the initiatives over last three years for gainful employment in different parts of the country including rural areas, he added.