CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR), New Delhi, a constituent establishment of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, is one of the premier institutes of Science Publishing in India. With the mandate to disseminate quality science among the researchers & academicians, and inculcate scientific temper in common man, CSIR-NIScPR brings out 19 peer-reviewed Journals in various disciplines of science; two abstracting journals, and three popular science magazines, viz., Science Reporter, Vigyan Pragati and Science-Ki-Duniya in English, Hindi and Urdu, respectively. In 2010-11, we ventured into Multimedia, exploiting its tools for outreach of science more vividly.
JIGYASA, the Student-Scientist Connect programme, between the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), launched in July 2017 deepening the Scientific Social Responsibility for CSIR, was indeed the need of the hour. In alignment with the agenda of JIGYASA, CSIR-NIScPR has been implementing the scheme quite vigorously engaging the students with various events from time to time.
During 2018-19, we conducted eight JIGYASA programmes with the participation of 1536 students and 142 Teachers. On five different occasions during this period, we invited Students & Teachersof Kendra Vidyalayas from the NCT region to our Institute, showcased our achievements and activities, gave live demonstrations, and encouraged active interactions with our Scientists and Technologists. Our nursery with interesting medicinal and aromatic plants, and raw materials museum and herbarium, with unique collection of Indian economic Plants, Animals & Minerals and Herbarium sheets, evoked good response and feedback from the students of biology stream. Interactive sessions with our popular science staff were well received by the students as evident by the enthusiasm that they showed by shooting questions. Multimedia Studio was a practical hit among the students as they enacted short plays themselves. On our Open Day held on 25 September 2018, we arranged display of some select medicinal plants as exhibits as part of “Indian Raw Materials & Products Expo”. The “Touch and Feel” of herbs was exciting for the students. As many as 900 Students & Teachers visited our campus on the Open Day. In the month of September 2018, we conducted three awareness programmes on India International Science Festival (IISF) 2018 which was held in Lucknow on 05-08 October 2018. We invited members from IISF 2018 secretariat and provided platform for students to listen directly from them about IISF. Overall, JIGYASA brought us closer to the young generation of our nation.
