IIT-Delhi announces a STEM mentorship programme
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi introduced a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Mentorship Program for Class XI girls from government schools on Thursday to encourage them to pursue a career in science.
“The initial objectives of the programme, designed for Class XI girl students,” according to the institute, “are to train young students to think creatively about science and innovation, to provide them with novel hands-on experience in solving research problems, and to help them form a stronger knowledge foundation.”
For the initiative, ten girls from various Kendriya Vidyalayas around the city have been picked, and they will be mentored by academics from IIT-Delhi in their chosen fields. They will also get access to research fellows working under the supervision of these experts.
The initiative will provide female students with the necessary propulsion to pursue careers in science and technology in the future. We think that children should be introduced to scientific concepts at a young age in order to understand the rigour of academic research and to get the confidence to pursue academia as a career later in life," said Associate Dean Pritha Chandra
There will be three stages to the curriculum. “A two-week winter project consisting of an online lecture series consisting of modules in Chemistry, Biology,Physics, Mathematics, and various Engineering areas, commencing at the end of December 2021 and concluding in early January 2022.” During the months of February and April 2022, IIT-Delhi lecturers will offer these lectures. During this time, students will be in frequent contact with their mentors about their individual projects. “The students will acquire hands-on experience in labs and finalise their project reports with their mentors during the summer project (3-4 weeks in May-June 2022),” according to the institute.