The Scientific Aptitude Assessment Exercise under CSIR’s JIGYASA programwas conducted online on 20December 2024 in which the students gathered in each of 37 constituents’ laboratories of CSIR and took part in the big scientific demonstration and experiment. The event was unique because it was the first time these many students underCSIR JIGYASA program performed an experiment simultaneously.

The event was inaugurated by Dr. Souvik Maiti, Director of the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB), Delhi. During his inaugural address, he welcomed all the online participants and thanked them for their presence. “Education is not only attainedby reading text books or giving exams, going beyond textbooks and regular curriculum is also important”, DrMaiti said. He praised the importance of such events toward imparting practical skills to the students.

Dr. Beena Pillai, Chief Scientist, IGIB introduced participants with the theme of the event. Citing the example of Dr. Mitali Mukerji, a former Chief Scientist at the CSIR-IGIB with notable achievement in the field of human genomics and personalized medicine, Dr Pillai told about the importance of DNA, Genomics and Molecular Biology in agriculture, healthcare and other sectors.

Students who gathered to perform DNA isolation experiments were given isolation kits and were briefed about the protocol by Dr. Arya Sidharthan. Later, she performed a practical demonstration of DNA isolation following which around 550 students isolated DNA from their saliva.

Dr.Geeta Vani Rayasam, Outstanding Scientist & Head, CSIR-Human Resource Development Group (HRDG) thanked Dr. Souvik Maiti and IGIB team for convening this event. In her address, she said that CSIR is not only plays an important role in development of scientific technologies but also human resource development in the country that aims to inculcate scientific temper. She also added that CSIR is also playing important role in effective science communication to the common people. Dr. Rayasam also asked students to think critically, go beyond textbooks and to involve in extra-curriculum activities which would also help policy makers to think about various engaging activities for students.

Dr. Suman Ray, Principal Scientist, Shri C B Singh, Chief Scientist and Ms. Pratibha convened the event in CSIR-NIScPR wherein the students of Kendriya Vidalaya, Gole Market accompanied by their teachers gathered in SV Marg campus of the CSIR-NIScPR. Ms Pratibha provided the background knowledge and cleared the doubts of students while DNA isolation.

Almost all the students successfully isolated DNA from their saliva and happiness on their faces was a testimony to show that how excited and satisfied they were after performing this experiment. After the experiment, a questionnaire was also given to students to select winner of Scientific Aptitude Assessment Exercise.

Shri CB Singh and Dr. Suman Ray distributed participation certificates to the participants. Shri CB Singh on closing remarks thanked all the participants of the event and praised the efforts of CSIR-IGIB, CSIRJIGYASA team and other volunteers for active participation.

About CSIR-NIScPR

CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR) is one of the constituent laboratories of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) under the Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India. It specializes in the fields of science communication; STI focused evidence-based policy research and studies. It publishes various journals, books, magazines, newsletters, and reports on science and technology. It also conducts research on science communication, science policy, innovation systems, science-society interface, and science diplomacy.

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