GUWAHATI, July 4 - The IIT Guwahati is hosting a three-day Royal Society of Chemistry India and Salters Camps-sponsored residential chemistry camp programme for students of Class IX from 30 government-run/less-privileged schools in and around the city. The first such camp to be held in the North East will begin tomorrow.
Sixty-eight students will take part in the chemistry camps that will enable them to participate in the fun of chemistry and motivate them to develop awareness of and long-term interest in chemical science.
The Salters� Chemistry Camps India is part of the project Inspirational Chemistry Programme in India and has been supported by Dr Yusuf Hamied, leading Indian philanthropist and pioneer in the pharmaceutical industry.
Dr Hamied has committed Rs 8 crore for the five-year programme, which includes training school teachers as well.
Sir John Holman, Chairman, Salters� Institute and president-elect, Royal Society of Chemistry, told The Assam Tribune that the Salters� Chemistry Camps had been very successful in the UK as a way of sparking interest and enthusiasm among young people for the future study of chemistry.
�The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Salters� Institute are pleased to have this opportunity to extend the Salters Camps� concept to India in this pilot programme. We are most grateful to Dr Yusuf Hamied for his generosity in making this pilot possible, and we note with pleasure that Dr Hamied�s own enthusiasm for chemistry was stimulated at Cambridge by Lord Todd, a distinguished member of the Salters� Company,� he said.
Dr Uttam Manna, Assistant Professor, IIT Guwahati, expressed happiness over IIT Guwahati�s association with the RSC and Salters Institute to hold the Salters� Chemistry Camp in Assam.
�Salters Chemistry Camps is an excellent idea to motivate underprivileged budding minds, and to inspire them to become successful chemist in future. This is a silent process to expose the prospective scientific minds from all possible corners of our country. We whole-heartedly support such outreach programmes to enlighten our young minds at scientific platform,� he said.
The next Salters Chemistry Camp in Assam will be conducted at the North East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-NEIST), Jorhat, from July 11 to 13.
Salters Chemistry Camps provide an action-packed programme, which will include hands-on practical activities in university labs, exciting chemical demonstrations, the chance to meet like-minded students and stay in university hostels. Importantly, the camp activities will be delivered in a local language in addition to English.
