Indian students put the wow back into science

Raghu Mahajan was ranked first in IIT-JEE 2006. Like most top rankers, he chose computers, at IIT-Delhi. But midway, he switched over to pure science.

“The association (with the National Initiative on Undergraduate Science, or NIUS) gave me the courage to make a switch from a ‘safe’ career in computer science to an ‘unsafe’ career in physics,” he wrote to the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). The NIUS is an HBCSE initiative, an “extended nurture” programme lasting two years. As it turned out, Mahajan’s “association” with the NIUS was quite safe: he is at present pursuing a bachelor’s degree in physics at the MIT.

Not only IIT students, but also undergraduate degree college students are benefiting from the NIUS, a programme that responds to the criticism that the Indian education system is not designed to breed scientists; that it only leads students towards the lure of the dollar, which can be had through an engineering or MBA degree.

But in two years, because of the NIUS, 40 scientific articles by undergraduate students have been published in prestigious journals such as the American Journal of Physics, Physical Review, Europhysics Letters, Physica and Physics Letters.

“We started the NIUS in April 2004. Our aim is to expose students to the best in science and keep their interest alive,” said Vijay Singh, national coordinator, NIUS. “We also aim to keep them involved in producing science. Our efforts have started showing good results.

“Many of the students have written back to us saying our camps have rekindled their interest in pure science, something their school education perhaps wasn’t able to do.”

The HBCSE started the seventh batch with 69 physics and 25 biology students.

“I am studying engineering at IIT Bombay, but I also love physics. The NIUS seemed to be the perfect opportunity to do something in the subject I like so much,” said Priyanka De’Souza, a batch VI NIUS student. “I’m applying what I have learnt to engineering too.”

The NIUS organises three or four camps per batch, each camp lasting two to four weeks. A third of the students who enrol for the programme complete it.

“We get students from colleges across the country. Many doing core engineering courses from the IITs come to us to do scientific research. What attracts many is research projects, which are integral to the programme,” Singh said.

Another programme modelled after the NIUS is the Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (CBS), a joint initiative of the Department of Atomic Energy and Mumbai University. “The IITs and the IIMs have produced talented youth who have made a difference nationally and internationally. So, we should ask how come we don’t have similar institutes for basic sciences in India?” said SM Chitre, chairman, academic board, CBS, and a former scientist with the TIFR. “In this respect, more programmes like the NIUS should be encouraged.”