Workshops For for DU’s science students

Workshops for DU’s science students has announced by Delhi University. In order to promote a research-based approach at the undergraduate level and to encourage students to pursue science courses

Delhi University organised two workshops at the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) and Solid State Physics Laboratory (SSPL).

The three-week workshops, which concluded recently, are part of a collaboration DU entered in last year, wherein top research laboratories will organise workshops and lectures to expose the university’s students to state-of-the-art equipment.

According to the course co-ordinator, Vinay Gupta, the participants were second and third year students selected on the basis of their performance in previous years and their passion to pursue science. In all, 52 students were selected from different colleges — 26 for each programme. Swati Mendiratta, a third year chemistry (honours) student from Hindu College, was one such participant. Despite being a chemistry student, she chose to attend the programme on radiation in biology and medicine held at INMAS. “It is a field I am interested in and I thought prior exposure would help me decide whether I want to pursue it,” she said.

Recounting her experience, she added, “Overall, the programme was very helpful as it exposed us to various laboratory techniques. There are many techniques that we come across in theory, but to actually see these techniques in such advanced laboratories was great.”

On the other hand, Jayeeta Sen, a chemistry (honours) graduate from Sri Venkateswara College attended the programme on solid state materials and devices at SSPL. “Professors from IIT-Delhi and JNU were also invited to deliver lectures. During the workshop, we learnt how to use advanced research equipment in the lab.”

The workshops were divided into two parts. The first half of the day focussed on the theory aspect and the second saw students learning and operating lab equipment. “The most exciting part was interacting with researchers and scientists working in the lab. Not only did they tell us about the equipment, they advised us on the basics of doing research, selecting a topic and writing a paper. The experience was extremely beneficial for those wanting to pursue a PhD,” said Mendiratta.