Women make good scientists; are patient, balanced, committed, perseverant

One hundred meritorious students from economically weak backgrounds were awarded scholarships on Sunday to continue their education in pure sciences by the Malhotra Weikfield Foundation (MWF).

This is the fifth year of MWF awarding scholarships to students belonging to different parts of the state, including students from rural and far-flung villages of Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nashik, Ahmednagar and Belgaum (Karnataka) districts.

Apart from the chief guest and former director of NCL, S Sivaram, other prominent scientists and educationists, including Vijay Bhatkar, SB Mujumdar, Govind Swaroop and Vidyasagar Pandit, were present at the function.

Bahri R Malhotra and SP Malhotra, founders of the foundation, along with trustees and members of the Malhotra family, were also present.

The foundation awarded 100 scholarships in five categories: Ramanujam scholarship in mathematics, CV Raman scholarship for physics, GN Ramachandran scholarship for biology, Dr RA Mashelkar scholarship in chemistry and Aryabhatta scholarship for astronomy and astrophysics.

Sivaram lauded the Malhotra family for the noble gesture of helping needy and meritorious students with a chance to achieve success.

He told the students, “There are no holy grails in science. There is nothing that cannot be questioned.” Noting that almost 50% of recipients of the scholarship this year are girls, he added, “Women make good scientists because they are patient, balanced, committed and perseverant.”

Bhatkar encouraged the students to pursue knowledge and innovation. Swaroop hoped that the 100 students would include not just innovators but also teachers. “If there are no science teachers, where will science be,” said the internationally renowned radio astronomer.