The Junior Science Club (JSC), an organization run by science students of the College for Integrated Studies (CIS), at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) is organizing Vigyanotsav 2018 on February 3 & 10, 2018. It was established by Prof. K.P.N Murthy in 2006 and is affiliated to the Indian Physics Association, Hyderabad Chapter.
Prof. Sanjay Subodh, Director, College for Integrated Studies gave the welcome address at the inaugural of Vigyanotsav 2018 which started off with an overwhelming response from schools in and around the city. Like every year, JSC is celebrating Vigyanotsav 2018 and around 16 schools are participating this year compared to 12 last year.
Vigyanotsav is an annual science fest conducted by JSC, with an aim to inculcate scientific temper among school students and encourage them to pursue various scientific careers in future.
After the Inauguration, the event officially started with organized competitions, where the students put up impressive performances in the debate, quiz, Just-a-Minute, and writing competitions. There was also a science model demonstration session, where the students explained their innovative ideas through working science models.
There was a constant healthy interaction between the students of both schools and the University throughout the duration of competitions, where students from various schools and classes asked us about the university, about studying science, and more about the topics they were given for the competitions. During the breaks in between sessions, short interesting videos and documentaries were screened for the students. In the afternoon were the much-awaited visits to the research laboratories in the University Campus. The students were taken in batches to four different centres- Centre for Modelling, Simulation and Design (CMSD), Central Instruments Laboratory (CIL), Centre for Nanotechnology, and the Genomics and Proteomics facilities at the School of Life Sciences (SLS). CMSD was extremely popular amongst the students due to the explanation of a supercomputers and the discussion of their efficiency, maintenance and most importantly, their power compared to that of the human brain. At the Centre for Nanotechnology, they got to see the Scanning and Tunnelling Electron microscopes (SEM and TEM), clean room, Laser lithograph machines and micrographs scanned in the TEM. At the Central Instruments Laboratory, the eye of an ant was shown under 1000x magnification under an electron microscope. Apart from this, they were also shown various other equipment such as Vibrating Sample Magnetometer and the Liquid Nitrogen Plant.
At the Genomics and Proteomics labs at SLS, the students were shown different methods such as the Polymerase Chain reaction (PCR) and equipment with which DNA can be amplified, quantified, and separated, and were excited about knowing how this is used in diagnosis and DNA fingerprinting. They were also shown the equipment that sequences proteins, samples of proteins separation gels, and instruments such as Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) involved in drug testing and studies. At the end of the lab visits, the students were brimming with questions and ideas, and it was fun to interact with them, answer their questions and pose questions to them as well.
This was followed by a distinguished Lecture by Prof. Kambadur Muralidhar from the School of Life Sciences, who spoke about the history and philosophy of science, specifically the biological sciences. He had a very stimulating discussion with the students, where he stressed on the importance of passion in one’s career. The first day of Vigyanotsav 2018 ended on a positive note, with students and teachers expressing their appreciation of the event, and their enthusiasm to return on the 10th February.
The University of Hyderabad (UoH) Vice-Chancellor will give away the prizes to all the winners on the evening of February 10, 2018 at the School of Life Sciences Auditorium.