GUWAHATI: Now, space enthusiasts apart from postgraduate and final year undergraduate students from the Northeast can give wings to their aspirations and dreams of a career in space science!
In a significant development, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has selected the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) as a nodal centre for their special programme called Space Science and Technology Awareness Training (START).
The programme will cover various domains of space science, including Astronomy and Astrophysics, Heliophysics and Sun-Earth interaction, Instrumentation, and Aeronomy.
Scientists from Indian academia and ISRO centres will be a part of the training faculty.
Notably, USTM is the only centre in the northeastern region that has been selected by ISRO to conduct the START programme to facilitate the active participation of postgraduate and final year undergraduate students in space science and technology research.
Headquartered in Bangalore, ISRO is the national space agency of India and operates under the Department of Space (DOS), which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the chairman of ISRO acts as the executive of DOS as well.
ISRO is India’s primary agency for performing tasks related to space-based applications, space exploration and the development of related technologies. It is one of six government space agencies in the world which possess full launch capabilities, deploy cryogenic engines, launch extraterrestrial missions and operate large fleets of artificial satellites.
Speaking in this regard, USTM vice chancellor Prof GD Sharma said the START programme was part of ISRO’s efforts to enable Indian students to become professionals in space science and technology, as the organisation’s space science exploration programme continues to expand into new domains.
“Since the programme is online, along with our own students, we wish to accommodate the interested students from the region,” Prof. Sharma said.
Dr Nitu Borgohain, coordinator of the USTM Nodal Centre for START programme and head of the Department of Physics, said the programme would be conducted for two to three hours per day for a duration of two to three weeks during July-August 2023.
“We are happy to say that the participants’ registrations for the ISRO START programme are now open,” Borgohain said.
The START programme is offered by ISRO free of cost. There is no registration fee/admission fee. The participants’ registration began on June 20, 2023 and will continue till July 15, 2023.
Physical Science and Technology students from the region can join this three-week-long free-of-cost digital programme after their online registration.
An introductory-level awareness programme in space science and technology, the START programme is envisaged to be organised in online mode in order to reach out to as many of the space enthusiasts as possible.
Although primarily aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students of science and technology, the programme is designed to be suitable for any individual with basic, systematic training in science, at least up to the high school level.
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The lectures will cover topics on the Indian space science exploration programme and research opportunities in space science and technologies.
The student community will be benefitted from this training programme as they will receive an overview of the different facets of space science and technology, exposure to the research ongoing in different Indian institutes, insight into how their individual aptitude would suit some of the facets of space science and technology, appreciate the cross-disciplinary nature of the subject, and accordingly choose their career path.
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