Shiv Nadar School, Noida concluded its virtual scientific awareness event, Educational Boot Camp (EBC) 2021 on the theme, “Let Us Celebrate the Sun”. As the world battles the rising threat of climate change, the month-long camp aimed to create awareness of the potential of the sun and clean energy. 

The camp started on November 15 and included inter-school competitions, technical paper writing sessions and panel discussions to understand aspects of the sun from a historical and scientific perspective. Shreya Ranjan from Grade 7 Shiv Nadar School Noida was selected for the technical paper presentation based on her paper “Jantar Mantar – Center of Ancient Astronomy” and received the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Fellowship, from IYNS. The camp witnessed participation from around 2000 students from Grade 6 to the undergraduate level. Students from schools in Delhi NCR including Bal Bharati Public School, Sanskriti School, New Delhi, Podar International School, IB and Genesis Global School participated in the camp along with students from the VidyaGyan Leadership Academy and Shiv Nadar University, Delhi-NCR. 

The key highlight of the boot camp was the virtual visit to Nehru Planetarium, New Delhi and the world’s largest Fusion Reactor at ITER, France, where students got first-hand experience of what they are taught in class about fusion experiments. India is among 35 nations to collaborate with France for the ITER which is an ambitious project and an important step towards an alternative and limitless source of clean energy.

During the three-day culmination from December 16 to 18, scientists and educators from across the world took interactive sessions on topics like ‘Cosmology and the Future of Astronomy’, ‘Sun and the Circadian Rhythm’, ‘Surya Siddhanta’ and ‘Astrophysics and the Universe’. While delving deep in understanding the aspects of the sun in the present day, students, along with the eminent scientists, experts, and panellists from various fields, discussed the challenges ahead in a knowledge podcast titled: ‘Sun – today and tomorrow?’.

The event was dedicated to Dr Nandivada Rathnashree, the former Director of Nehru Planetarium who had envisioned the event but unfortunately passed away during the second wave of coronavirus. Prof. Patrick Dasgupta, a pioneer in Physics from the University of Delhi and Dr Archana Sharma, senior scientist at the Physics Department of CERN (European Organization of Nuclear Research) in Geneva were the guests of honour.

Dr Nitendra Singh, Nuclear Scientist and Nuclear Safety Expert; President, Indian Youth Nuclear Society (IYNS) congratulated Shiv Nadar School for coming forward and successfully organizing a one-of-its-kind camp for the students. He said, “Scientific awareness is the cornerstone of this boot camp, as students were educated on scientific principles and implications. It is important for today’s youth to understand the alarming threat of climate change, its impact on our future and the need to create alternative sources of clean energy for a safe environment. This will help them make informed decisions and also understand the essence of more sustainable choices. I appreciate the commitment of Shiv Nadar School towards creating awareness and providing holistic opportunities for students to understand the process and need of creating clean energy.”

Director of Education, Shiv Nadar School, Shashi Banerjee added that the boot camp provided opportunities for students and scientists to learn, network, and share ideas to expand the horizons of knowledge. “The educational philosophy of Shiv Nadar School is based on the principle of providing experiential learning to its students and this Educational Boot Camp was in line with the same. We seek to infuse the spirit of scientific inquiry, respect for every living being and global-mindedness in every aspect of school life, and hopefully to infect other schools in our learning environment with the same mind-set. I am happy that all the students were able to learn from the eminent scientists and educators during this event, and also see the marvels in the sky closely during the virtual visits,” she said.

Also read: Shiv Nadar school student makes it to the NBA Academies’ Women’s Training Programme