The National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, along with the Exciting Science Group (ESG) are organizing a six-month long event (chemistry workshops) to celebrate the International Year of Chemistry, to highlight the relevance of chemistry to our life, and its importance for our future. These chemistry workshops were formally launched by Dr. Sourav Pal, Director, NCL and by Dr. K.N. Ganesh, Director, IISER-Pune at a program held between 3.30-4.30 pm on 22nd June (Wednesday) 2011 at the NCL Innovation Park Campus.
During these chemistry workshops, we will invite groups of students, through their schools, to visit our laboratories, interact with our scientists and faculty, and to perform hands-on experiments in our laboratories which will scientifically explain and illuminate various day-to-day issues and phenomenon. This effort is to reach out to the students and teachers in and around Pune and educate them on the utility of chemistry in our daily lives and inspire them to take up science as a career.
This celebration of chemistry is being supported by the Forbes Marshall foundation, Praj foundation, Royal Society of Chemistry, British Council, Association of British Scholars, Pune.
Dedicated website launched:
Dr. Sourav Pal and Dr. K.N. Ganesh launched the official website for these chemistry workshops (http://www.excitingscience.org/iyc2011). Schools and students who are interested in participating in these workshops can register to attend through the above website.
Dr. Sourav Pal and Dr. K.N. Ganesh spoke about the importance of chemistry and science education in school children and how these proposed outreach activities will excite and inspire the students. They also touched upon how chemistry is everywhere and how our day to day lives are touched, influenced and improved by the use of chemistry. And they highlighted that these chemistry workshops are designed in a way to give school students “hands-on” experience, and excite them, and hopefully inspire them to take-up a career in science/research.
Sponsors and supporters who spoke during the event are:
Dr. David Clark, International Development Manager of the Royal Society of Chemistry, United Kingdom
Mr. Vinayak Kelkar, Praj Foundation
Ms. Bina Joshi, Forbes Marshall Foundation
Ms. Kajari Mitra, Head, British Council, Pune
Mr. Vijay Laghate, President, Association of British Scholars, Pune
At the end of the event, two young student volunteers demonstrated the experiments that are going to be performed by the school students as part of the chemistry workshops. This event was attended by principals and science teachers of some of the schools that will be sending their students to participate in the planned chemistry workshops. The first workshop will be held on 2nd July (Saturday) 2011.