The third edition of the YUva VIgyani KAryakram (YUVIKA) or the Young Scientist Program of ISRO was conducted at NESAC during 15th – 26th May, 2023 along with six other major centres of ISRO namely, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram; U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru; Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad; National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad; Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun and Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) Sriharikota. Ten students of class IX-X standards from each State and Union Territory (UT) were selected for the programme based on the well defined criteria. Students, who belong to rural schools, were given special weightage in the selection criteria. Thus, a total of 353 students are selected from the entire country. NESAC hosted the program for the 49 selected students from the eight states of North Eastern Region of India.
The program was inaugurated virtually from ISRO HQ by Shri S Somanath, Chairman ISRO on 15th May, 2023. The program included invited talks, experience sharing by the eminent scientists, facility and lab visits, practical and feedback sessions. The program covered many interesting activities like CANSAT experiment, Model Rocketry, Telescope assembly, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) assembling and flying, exploring the Google Earth, Moon and other planets, etc. in addition to lectures on different interesting topics covering Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmology, Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan, Gaganyaan, different Space Applications, etc. In addition, live demonstrations on sounding rocket launching and live session from Antarctica were arranged to make the program a memorable one for the Young Scientist. Students were also taken to Regional science centre and Planetarium at Guwahati.
The valedictory program was organized by ISRO HQ on 26th May 2023 via online mode, which was chaired by Chairman, ISRO/ Secretary, DOS, wherein he interacted with the students, answered their queries and addressed all the students. During valedictory program two students from NESAC gave very positive feedback and thanked ISRO and NESAC for the opportunity given to them as well as for the arrangements. The program was continued at NESAC Auditorium wherein the certificates were distributed by Director, NESAC and prizes for different events were distributed by other distinguished guests. The program ended with feedback from young scientists followed by an inspiring address by Director NESAC.
