(Thanks to Abi for the pointer.)
The web page for this program is http://www.iisc.ernet.in/ug/index.htm. Following are some excerpts from its main page.
The Indian Institute of Science, a leading institution of higher learning with a strong tradition of research for over a century, is opening its portals to undergraduate students by launching a four-year Bachelor of Science (BS) Programme. The programme is designed as a balanced blend of core science and interdisciplinary topics, to serve as a launching pad for research and doctoral studies in cutting-edge areas in science and technology. The graduates will also be ready for attractive career opportunities in academia and industry.
Major Disciplines offered: Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Materials, Mathematics and Physics.
Students majoring in any of the above disciplines will also take courses in engineering, humanities, and inter-disciplinary areas for a well-rounded learning experience.
The inaugural batch will begin classes from August 2011 and graduate in July 2015.
Admissions will be based on national examinations such as KVPY and through other channels to be announced soon.
Eligibility: 12th Standard or equivalent with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as main subject.
Applications will be accepted from January 1, 2011 till March 31, 2011.
August 19th, 2010
Its website is http://inspire-dst.gov.in/. Following are important links:
Following are some excerpts from the application form.
Genesis of INSPIRE: Global competitiveness in the changing global knowledge economy calls for expansion and right-sizing of the Research and Development base of the country. Need for
special interventions for attracting youth to study of natural sciences and careers with research is recognized. Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) is a Programme launched by the Government of India to strengthen the National Science and Technology base. It is being implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
About INSPIRE: Programme includes three components namely Scheme for Early Attraction of
Talents for Science (SEATS), Scholarships for Higher Education (SHE) and Assured Opportunity for Research Careers (AORC). The Scheme SHE is focused on attraction of talent to study of natural/basic sciences at the bachelor and master’s level education. SHE is currently limited to support for educational programmes at B.Sc., B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc. and integrated master’s level course in sciences leading to MSc in any branch of natural and basic sciences namely mathematics, statistics, physics, chemistry, earth sciences and life sciences.
Call for Applications: Applications are invited from eligible candidates for `Scholarship for
Higher Education (SHE)’ component of INSPIRE. Total of 10,000 scholarships are available
annually under SHE starting April 2008. The scholarships are limited only to the candidates
studying courses in natural/basic sciences (B.Sc., B.Sc. (Hons), integrated M.Sc.) in any one of the recognized institutions in India. Eligibility criterion for the scholarships are a) performance in
board examinations within the cutoff threshold (of top 1%) for each state or central board
examination at the class X and class XII level and/or b) performance in any of the specified
competitive examinations within stipulated cut off ranks. The eligible applicant must be already
enrolled into degree level education in natural/basic sciences in any of the recognized institutions
in India.
Criteria for Eligibility for SHE:
a) Based on Performance in Board Examinations: The candidates should have obtained
aggregate marks in the top 1% in the board examination at both class X and XII levels. For
example, the candidates applying for INSPIRE Scholarship 2008 should have secured marks
within the top 1% in class X in the year 2006 and class XII in 2008 in the respective board
examinations and should have joined a degree course leading to B.Sc. or B.Sc. (Hons) or
integrated M.Sc. in natural/basic sciences in any institution in India. Cut-off marks for various
board examinations conducted in the years 2006 and 2007 for class X and corresponding year
of 2008 and 2009 for class XII are listed in Table 1. The cut-off marks of various Board
Examinations conducted in the years 2008 for Class X and 2010 for Class XII are being compiled and shall be up-loaded in Website in due course. Candidate securing top 1% marks only in class XII board examination can also submit the application form.
b) Based on Performance in Competitive Examinations (specified in Table 2).: Performance
within the top 10,000 ranks in Joint Entrance Examination of IIT, AIEEE (Engineering) and CBSE medical and joining degree level courses in natural/basic sciences in any recognized Indian
institution. The candidate may apply with a valid document of these examinations. The scheme in its current format does not include courses in engineering, medicine, technology and other
professional courses.
c) Based on Performance in Competitive Examinations (specified in Table 3): Clearance of
competitive examinations conducted by institutions listed in Table 3 and all candidates securing
admissions and joining integrated M.Sc/ MS courses in natural/basic sciences conduced by Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER), National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), in Indian Institutes of Technology, Department of Atomic Energy – Centre for Basic Science (DAE-CBS) and University from the academic years 2008-09, 2009-10 ad 2010-11 are eligible. Institutional coverage is being done for this category. Students in this category need not to apply.
Value and Type of Support: Eligible candidates will receive annually scholarship @ total value
Rs.80,000 per candidate. The cash value payable to the SHE scholarship holder is Rs.60,000 per annum. All the SHE scholars are undertake summer time attachment to an active researcher in recognized research centers in the country. A summer time attachment fee of Rs.20,000 will be paid to the mentoring institution for undertaking summer time project.
Duration of the Support: Selected candidates will be supported for a maximum period of five
years starting 1st year course in B.Sc., B.Sc. (Hons) and integrated course leading to M.S. or M.Sc. or the completion of the course, which ever is earlier. Continuation of the scholarship for once selected candidates is based on satisfactory performance of the examinations conducted and certified by the institution imparting education.
Format for Application: All interested and eligible candidates (as per Table 1 for Board
examination based eligibility or as per Table 2 or Table 3 for competitive examination based
eligibility) must apply in the prescribed format written preferable in English & Hindi only along
with attested copy of i) Mark sheets of Class X and Class XII and ii) Endorsement Certificate from Principal of the College/ Director or Registrar of the Institute or University where the applicant is presently enrolled. Candidate may please download this Advertisement and Application Format which is available at the website: www. inspire-dst.gov.in and submit the duly filled-in application with all necessary documents. Applications should be sent by Ordinary Post only within one month from the date of this advertisement in Newspaper and shall be addressed to the Director, National Institute of Science, Technology & Development Studies (NISTADS), Dr K S Krishnan Marg , New Delhi – 110012. The envelope should mention on top “Application for INSPIRE Scholarship – 2008, 2009 and 2010” program. For online submission of application, kindly also visit the Website: www.inspire-dst.gov.in. The online applicants should also submit a hardcopy of the applications with all attested documents.
July 19th, 2010
Update: Apparently the MHRD people driving this project have told the HRD minister regarding the origin of the idea behind this proposal and Odisha is in their initial list of locations for one of the 10 schools.
See http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Science-Magnet-Navodayas-soon/597429 and http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100330/jsp/nation/story_12280434.jsp for details. Following are excerpts from the Indian Express article.
… a new set of Navodayas will come up as ‘Science Magnet’ schools in collaboration with top-notch R&D institutes like the Indian Institute of Science, Bhaba Atomic Research Centre, National Physical Laboratory, Council for Science & Industrial Research, Indian Space Research Organisation and the IITs among others, highly placed sources told The Indian Express. Following them will be special schools focused on culture, music, sports and vocational education.
These specialised schools will, however, only cater to students from classes IX to XII. All other Navodaya schools admit students from Class VI onwards.
Starting this year, the schools will be set up over the next three years and add to the chain of over 560 Navodayas spread across the country. Cleared last week by the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti’s Executive Committee headed by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, the proposal is set to go to the Union Cabinet and will take off with 10 Science Magnet Navodayas to start with.
“The whole concept has been developed in view of the huge shortage of Science graduates and post-graduates worldwide. No one wants to do core Science any longer. So planned as a Phase II of the Navodaya expansion, 10 Science Magnet Navodaya schools will be set up at a cost of some Rs 15-20 crore each,” a senior official in the HRD Ministry said. “These will be located in the vicinity of institutes like NPL, BARC, ISRO, IISc etc with whom we will be collaborating. We have already written to these institutes.”
“These institutes will basically do the handholding for the specialised schools, conduct special sessions, help set up state-of-the-art labs, assist in making Science teaching easy, evolve new pedagogical methods and also help to project the basic sciences as attractive options,” added the official. “It is hoped that students will ultimately also plug the vacuum in the scientific community and join their league at these institutes.”
While the course will be based on CBSE curriculum, the admission to these schools will take into account aptitude in Sciences, participation in events like Science Olympiads among other criteria. Admissions to the Navodayas are on the basis of a national-level examination.
We had written about this in https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/303 and had contacted the SAC-PM, DST, IISER/NISER directors, and MHRD officers about it. We are happy that it is now going to be implemented. Hopefully, one of the 10 schools will be in Odisha.
March 30th, 2010
(Thanks to the Suryanarayanan’s comment number 147 in https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/285).
The IISER admission site at http://www.iiser-admissions.in/ says that there will be three ways to get admission in the IISERs: (i) KVPY (ii) IIT JEE and (iii) Direct.
But by "Direct" they mean through an aptitude test that will be held on July 18 2010. They say:
Direct Admission is open to applicants who have Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and/or Biology in their class 12 board examination. Aptitude Assessment consists of a written test. It will have multiple choice questions on Physics Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology based on CBSE syllabus up to class 12.
The NISER NEST exam will be on June 6th. Details at http://www.nestexam.in/index1.php.
IISERs and NISER should have co-ordinated to have a single test. It does not make sense to have separate tests for admission into similar programs. Such lack of co-ordination and foresight is what encourages the government to interfere and issue diktats.
March 15th, 2010
Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.
About 124 students of rural schools were felicitated by chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday for their brilliant performance at the National Math Olympiad.
Shradha Ranjan Grahacharya, a Class IX student at Kanakpur in Jagatsighpur district, wants to be a scientist and do research in her favourite subject, algebra. Although mathematics as always been her favourite, she began to take greater interest in the field after she was selected for the Rural Mathematics Olympiad (RMO) in 2006 when she was in Class VI.
"After I was picked for the RMO camp, I started liking the subject even more. At the camp, teachers taught us some easy methods to solving difficult mathematical problems," said Shradha, who stood first in the Junior Mathematics Olympiad, 2008.
According to IMA director Swadhinananda Pattanaik, there is a lack of interest in mathematics among parents and teachers, especially in government schools in villages. Hence, the IMA has decided to make teaching of mathematics an interesting and fun-filled activity.
"In most classrooms, there is little opportunity to understand maths beyond the level of solving equations. Typically, students just memorize mathematical facts without actually understanding the subject," he said.
Encouraging the young mathematicians, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said, "The IMA’s efforts are commendable, especially the special programmes to prepare students for premier institutes like IIT and NISER. This is the only institute of its kind in the country. I hope it will spread its wings globally very soon".
Besides the 124 young students, 33 senior students who performed well in the Regional and National Mathematics Olympiad were also felicitated. IMA is also conducting summer camps for undergraduate and post-graduate students.
June 15th, 2009
Following is from http://www.iisc.ernet.in/kvpy/about.html.
ABOUT KVPY
The "Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana" (KVPY) is a program started during 1999 by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India to encourage students of Basic Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to take up research careers in these areas. The aim of the program is to identify and encourage talented students with aptitude for research.
This program strives to assist the students to realises their potential and to ensure that the best scientific talent is developed for research and growth in the country. Generous scholarship and contingency grant is provided (up to the Pre-Ph.D. level) to the selected students.
In addition, summer programs for the KVPY Fellows are organised in prestigious research and educational institutions in the country.
The KVPY is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. The program is administered by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc, Bangalore), through the overall control of the Chief Executive (SID). The selection of students from those who are studying +1, +2, any U.G. Program including First/Second year Engineering/Medicine are carried out by IISc (Bangalore), IIT-Bombay (Mumbai), and ICMR (New Delhi), respectively, in association with two Zonal Centres one at Kolkata (Indian Institute of Science Education Research, Kolkata) and another at Mumbai (HBCSE, TIFR). There are special groups or committees set up at IISc, IIT and ICMR which screen the applications, conduct interviews at various centres, make the final selection and attend to follow-up matters.
The Department of Science and Technology – the nodal agency of the Government has entrusted the overall responsibility for organising the scheme to the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and set up a National Advisory Committee (NAC) for overseeing its implementation. A Basic Committee and a National Scientific Committee has been set up to monitor various aspects, both administrative and academic, of the KVPY Program.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Request for Application Form
a. Each Stream has its own application form. Students who wish to apply for more than one Stream should submit separate applications.
b. Applicants may apply either by Hard copy or Online. (http://www.iisc.ernet.in/kvpy).
c. Application forms may be down loaded from the KVPY website. Those who are unable to do so, may request for a Hard Copy.
d. Hard copy of the application form can be obtained from KVPY on request by sending a processing fee of Rs. 200/- (Rs. 100/- for SC/ST) by means of remitting Rs. 200 (Rs. 100/- for SC/ST) “to any core banking branches of STATE BANK OF INDIA, payable at all branches in India. Paid into the credit of Administrative Executive, KVPY A/c. No. 10270577392” and send the “pay-in-slip” along with the request, clearly indicating the stream (i.e.SA, SB, SP etc.) on the envelope
e. The SC/ST – candidates should provide a copy of the caste certificate issued by a competent authority in the prescribed proforma.
f. The completed application form along with the
1. Caste certificate in the case of SC/ST candidate
2. Project report in the case of SP/Basic Sciences/ Engineering/ Medicine
3. copy of the marks statement of the qualifying examination(s), in the case of SP (Engineering), SP(Medicine).
4. The original copy of the challan of processing fee of Rs. 200/- (Rs. 100/- for SC/ST)
should reach KVPY on or before 11.9.09 (Friday).
g. KVPY will not be responsible for postal delays in receiving completed application.
h. Last date for receipt of the request for application form.
| 1. |
By post |
:
|
01 September 2009 |
| 2. |
In person at IISc |
:
|
10 September 2009 |
| 3. |
Last date for receipt of the completed application (both Online/Hard Copy along with cast certificate, project report and processing fee ) |
:
|
11 September 2009 |
All correspondence should be addressed to:
The Convener
Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY)
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore 560 012.
May 11th, 2009
Following is from a report in the Statesman.
Twelve students of the state including five from DAV Public School, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar have been selected for the Kishore Vaigyanik Protshana Yojana (KVPY) scholarship. A total of 198 students from across the country have qualified this year.
The students who qualified for the scholarship from DAV Public School, Chandrasekharpur, are ~ Mr Pinaki Prasun Kumar, Mr Biplab Rana, Mr P Dinesh, Mr Rohit Gupta and Mr Smarak Mohanty.
Students of BJB College of Bhubaneswar who qualified for the scholarship are Mr Animesh Swain, Mr Aish Mohapatra and mr Saswat Panigrahi.
Mr Himalaya Senapati of Bhadrak College, Ms Pallabi Mishra from Cuttack Siddharth Senapati and Mr Ajaya Kumar Jena of Balasore have successfully qualified for the scholarship.
The scholarship programme, which is initiated by the Department of Science and Technology, government of India, aims to identify and select students who demonstrate talent and aptitude and encourage and assist them in pursuing research careers. It does so by the means of a two-tire examination.
The successful students will be provided with generous fellowship up to pre-PhD level. In addition, summer programmes in prestigious research and educational institutions in the country will also be organised for them.
February 20th, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi on this.
Tata Steel, in collaboration with Pathani Samanta Planetarium, will organise a Young Astronomer Talent Search (YATS). According to a Tata Steel release, all students from Class 8 to 10 from any school in Orissa are eligible to participate in the programme.
The YATS will be conducted in three stages. In the first phase, the students have to prepare an abstract within 500 words on any subject related to astronomy and space science and submit it with the concurrence of the heads of their respective institutions, either to Tata Steel or the Pathani Samanta Planetarium before October 15. In the second stage, the short-listed students will be called for the zonal camps and those selected in these camps will be invited to participate in the state-level camp.
The zonal camps will be held at Keonjhar, Jharsuguda, Jajpur, Bhubaneswar , Koraput and Berhampur and the State-level camp in Bhuibaneswar. The students participating in the zonal and state-level camps will be reimbursed for their actual expenses. About 100 students will be invited to each zonal camp.
Out of the 600 students participating in the six zonal camps, 150 will be invited to State-level camp. The best 10 models of the state-level camp will be awarded on the occasion of the 173rd birth anniversary of Mahamahopadhyay Chandrasekhar Singhsamant Harichandan Mahapatra, popularly known as Pathani Samanta, on December 13.
October 12th, 2007
More details is at the RMTS website. Following are excerpts from a news item in New Indian Express.
The Institute of Mathematics and Application (IMA) plans to award as many as 500 scholarships in the fifth Rural Mathematics Talent Search Examination 2007, provided the response is encouraging.
For, lesser than expected turnout has become a reason of concern for all. Last time 200 scholarships were given.
Last year, only about 23,000 class VI students, for whom the test is intended, appeared. Evidently, with 6,000 high schools and 11,000 elementary schools, it was way below reckoning.
Thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of the School and Mass Education Department, thousands of schools simply remained unaware of such an event.
The students remained deprived of availing of an unique opportunity. However, institute Director Prof Swadhin Pattanayak said, the Department has got its acts together this year and has instructed all inspector of schools to reach out to each school with the circular. The test would be held on November 11.
The eligible ones would receive Rs 1,500 per year for five consecutive years. The best among the lot also would also get a chance to participate in the Indian National Mathematics Olympiad.
The scholarship amount is funded mostly by NRIs. The 200 number of scholarships is equally divided among eligible students of East, Central and South Orissa.
October 6th, 2007
(Editor’s comment: Please read more about the noble RMTS effort and consider contributing to it.)
Dear Friends: Please read the mail below from Dr. Swadheen Pattanayak and rejoice. It has been long 4 years but it seems only the other day when the list of 30 students selected from 1st RMTS(2003) was forwarded by Swadheen, to me in December 2003. Himalaya was second of thirty in the list of merit.
Continue Reading March 24th, 2007
