GUWAHATI : The University of Science & Technology, Meghalaya is organizing this year’s “Group Monitoring Workshop for the INSPIRE Internship Science Camp Organisers” from 25 to 26 June at the University’s own campus at 9th Mile. More than 120 nationally and internationally acclaimed scientists who are coordinators of Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) from all over India as well as 50 scientists from Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, apart from Vice Chancellors and Principals from Universities and Colleges from the North East would be congregating at USTM for the workshop. This is for the first time that this annual science conference is being held in the North East.
ISPIRE is a flagship programme of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. The initiative aims at generation and nurturing of a human talent pool capable of utilizing and developing first principles in science. DST has developed this innovative programme to attract talent to the excitement and study of science at an early age, and to help the country build the required critical resource pool for strengthening and expanding the S&T system and R&D base with a long term foresight.
Expressing his gratefulness to DST for granting the University this unique opportunity to hold this conference for the first time in the region, Mahbubul Hoque, Chancellor of USTM, said, “I specially thank Dr Umesh Kumar Sharma, Scientist E and Director of INSPIRE programme of DST for selecting USTM considering its performance and contribution in the field of science and technology”. He informed that the University has already formed a high level committee to organize the conference successfully.
INSPIRE has three components: (i) Scheme for Early Attraction of Talent (SEATS), (ii) Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) and (iii) Assured Opportunity for Research Careers (AORC). A striking feature of the programme is that it does not believe in conducting competitive exams for identification of talent at any level. It believes in and relies on the efficacy of the existing educational structure for identification of talent.