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Indian S&T Breakthroughs

Children and youth possess an immense fascination for space and the universe. They are always curious to discover and learn all there is to know about celestial phenomena. To satisfy their young minds’ staunch curiosity, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is organising a special programme for school children called the “Young Scientist Programme” — YUva VIgyani KAryakram (YUVIKA).

The key objective of this initiative is to impart basic knowledge of space science, space technology, and space applications to younger students, introducing them to emerging trends in the field. ISRO has chalked out this programme to “Catch them young”, recognising their potential to excel in space science and technology, and these young minds represent the future building blocks of our nation. YUVIKA programme is also expected to encourage more students to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) based research and aligned careers.

Young Scientist Programme — YUVIKA was conceived to provide basic understanding of space science, space technology and space applications to younger students with a preference for rural areas of the country. Thus, the programme aims to create awareness about the emerging trends in science and technology amongst school-going students. The programme envisages two weeks of classroom training, practical demonstration of experiments, hands-on CANSAT, Robotic kit, Model rocketry interactions with ISRO scientists and field visits.

The programme was conducted successfully in 2019, 2022, and 2023 with the participation of 111, 153, and 337 students representing each state and union territory of India, respectively. The students were divided into five batches based on the geographical locations and imparted training at VSSC, URSC, SAC, NRSC, NESAC, SDSC SHAR & IIRS.

ISRO received an overwhelming response for YUVIKA-2023, as more than 1.25 lakh students from all corners of India had registered for YUVIKA-2023. The students were selected from all states and union territories based on marks scored in their last examination and co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. The course covered classroom lectures, hands-on activities like robotics challenges, DIY assembly of rockets/satellites, sky gazing, technical facility visits, interaction with space scientists, etc…read more on NOPR