New Delhi: Are human babies born with languages in their brains? Can you do Mathematics without formulae? Can you design anything under the sun? How big is the smallest entity of the universe? These and many more questions will be addressed during the weekend lectures and laboratory demos to be organized by IIT Delhi, India’s premier institute for higher education, under its academic outreach initiative ‘Sci-Tech Spins’ for high school students.  

Under this initiative, IIT Delhi professors engaged in cutting edge research in science, technology and allied fields will deliver lectures and conduct laboratory demonstrations every month starting September 2021 in virtual mode. The first lecture titled ‘Design Thinking - A Powerful Tool for Problem Solving’ accompanied by the lab demo will be delivered by Prof PV Madhusudan Rao, Head, Department of Design, IIT Delhi on September 11, 2021 (Watch Live on YouTube- https://youtu.be/SeCD2nISluE).

Sci-Tech Spin lectures will take students on short, but riveting spins into the fascinating world that surrounds us, and that still holds innumerable mysteries for us to resolve. They will be organized in informal, dialogical settings, with the hope that students will be excited enough to pursue them in the future.  

Prof Pritha Chandra, Associate Dean, Academic Outreach & New Initiatives, IIT Delhi said, “We regularly receive multiple requests from schools for campus tours, workshops and mentorship programs for their students. IIT Delhi wanted to take a more proactive stance on academic outreach for schools, and this was the genesis of the idea behind Sci-Tech Spins.”

While launching the Sci-Tech Spins initiative, Prof V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi said, “IIT Delhi has taken up the Institute Social Responsibility on a major level. We not only want to provide education to students who come to IIT Delhi but also want to connect with thousands of other students who are outside the IIT system and inspire and help them in all possible ways. The goal of Sci-Tech Spins is to connect with every school in the country. On education part, IIT-Professor Assisted Learning (PAL) is one thing that IIT Delhi has championed with participation from other IITs. On the research side also, several exciting things are happening on the campus. Showcasing these research works to the school students so that they get inspired is also one of the aims of this initiative.”

Prof Shantanu Roy, Dean, Academics, IIT Delhi said, “Our students will also be actively involved in such academic outreach initiatives by the Institute. IIT Delhi PhD students and research scholars will contribute to this initiative by sharing their experience with the school students.” 

e-Certificates

School students currently enrolled in Grades 9 and above can be nominated for Sci-Tech Spins by their respective schools. Each school may nominate up to four students. 

All registered students attending the lectures will be given e-certificates of participation at the end of each weekend session. They will also be invited to IIT Delhi’s annual event Open House, an intellectual fest that provides an ideal platform for school students to connect with some of the leading researchers in the fields of Science and Technology. 

The lecture and the laboratory demonstration sessions will also be live streamed on YouTube to allow access to students from across the country.

Interested schools may reach out to the Associate Dean, Academic Outreach & New Initiatives, IIT Delhi (email- adoni@iitd.ac.in, acadoutreach@iitd.ac.in).                                       

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