Science City to host 17th national kids Science Congress

The Gujarat Science City will host the 17th National Children’s Science Congress (NCSC) from December 27 to 31. The event will be based on the theme ‘Planet Earth — our home: explore, share and care’. The programme will be held at the Gujarat Science City for 700 selected child scientists from across India. Schools from Gujarat will also be involved by way of different scientific activities and interactive programmes.

The NCSC is expected to involve around 5,000 students from the state through various programmes every day. Moreover, several scientific institutions from across India will be invited to participate in a scientific exhibition, which will be held alongside the other activities. Another feature of the 17th NCSC will be that around 100 child scientists from SAARC countries and the teachers escorting them will be participating.

The NCSC is a prestigious national academic event for meritorious children between 10 and 17 years of age, named as child scientists, along with eminent scientists and faculties of the country. The event has been conceptualised by the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC).

Over the years, eminent scientists like Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, former president of India; Prof Yashpal, chancellor of JNU; MS Swaminathan, chairman of MSSRF; Dr Madhab Gadgil; Jayant V Narliker; Dr Madhavan Nair; Dr D Balasubramanian; Dr NK Sehgal and many others have interacted with the child scientists at the NCSC.

The state government has constituted organising, advisory and steering committees for the 17th NCSC, with chief minister Narendra Modi as the patron. The committees consist of government employees, eminent scientists and academicians. D Rajgopalan, chief secretary of the Gujarat government, is the chairman of the organising committee.

Raj Kumar, secretary for science and technology, and Hasmukh Adhia, principal secretary for education, are the convenors of the NCSC. Yashpal, president of the NCSTC Network, is the chairman of the advisory committee, while Adhia is also chairman of the steering committee.