NEW REGIONAL ADVANCED CENTRES FOR
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & EDUCATION
The government has
proposed to set up four new Advanced Centres for Science, Technology
and Education, on regional basis. However, at the apex level in
research, massive national and international centres of excellence
and facilities will continue to be created, besides the existing
ones including the Nuclear Science Centre. Moreover, the infrastructure
and facilities in the existing institutions will continue to be
upgraded. This was disclosed by the Minister for Human Resource
Development and Science & Technology, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi
here today, while inaugurating a national workshop on "Design
of Innovative Experiments for Post-graduate Teaching Laboratories",
organised by the Nuclear Science Centre of the Department of Science
and Technology. Dr. Joshi also said that plans are afoot for selectively
upgrading some of the universities. The Nuclear Science Centre
now provides research facilities to over 100 universities and
colleges.
Underscoring the
need to develop a "culture of experiments", Dr. Joshi said without
experimental science we can not move forward. He expressed concern
over the declining trend in this and said government has been
taking a number of steps to arrest this and give a boost to fundamental
science. One of them is a unique government-private sector tie-up
in a manpower-building activity which the Department of Science
and Technology contracted with Intel, whereby about 60 chosen
projects from the National Children Science Congress will automatically
be included in the Intel National Science and Engineering Fair.
This will give them an opportunity to participate in the Intel's
International Fair.
Another entirely
new initiative is the first-ever National Teacher's Science Conference
which is to begin in Bhopal next week. A new concept the government
is working on is "Mobile Laboratory" which can cater to a number
of schools and help the students do science experiments, Dr. Joshi
said.
