Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh today hosted a sensitization workshop on societal fellowship scheme of Department of Science & Technology (DST) for women empowerment at the Golden Jubilee Hall.

The workshop was organised by Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST) in collaboration with Research Promotion Cell (RPC), PU and DST, Government of India.

Chairperson, National Academy of Sciences (NASI) Dr. Manju Sharma, Secretary to the Govt of Punjab, Department of Science, Technology and Environment Mr. KAP Sinha and Principal Scientific Officer, SEED Division, DST, GOI Dr. Jyoti Sharma delivered talks on the occasion. PU Vice Chancellor Prof Arun Kumar Grover presided over the workshop.

The key note speaker Dr. Jyoti Sharma introduced the different DST schemes and mobility programmes available for the women scientists, which focussed on bringing back women with career breaks back to the field of research. She gave a detailed talk on the eligibility criterion and the kind of project proposals which qualify for availing the research grants.

Chief Guest Dr. Manju Sharma highlighted the importance of mentoring young students to generate a valuable human resource. She stressed about the importance of networking among different institutes in the region for the upliftment of science and technology.

Mr. KAP Sinha enlightened the audience about the scientific contributions of Indian researchers which have benefitted the society and resulted in upliftment of our country.

Prof. K.K. Bhutani, Director, NIPER, Mohali emphasized on the women empowerment for scientific development for the benefit of society. 

Principle Scientific Office, PSCST, Dr. Dapinder K. Bakshi talked about the opportunities provided for societal development in life sciences sector particularly emphasizing on the agricultural sector, health sciences and collaborative agrotechnologies. She provided a brief review of different projects going on in different areas of Punjab in collaboration with industry, academia and rural population on the utilization of local medicinal plants and aromatic crops for the developmental of vinegar, beverages, bioethanol and biopesticides.

Dr. Raghunandan, Head, Central For Technology Development, talked about filling the gap between rural knowledge and industry, development of innovative project models and formulations in engineering giving special attention to value added  processing industries in rural areas by providing machinery and training to rural people , so that they can take utilize their rural resources such as non-edible oil, natural fibres and traditional rural skills such as pottery up to the level of industry contributing both to  technology as well as increasing their livelihood.

   The technical session included a talk by Prof. Shelly Praveen, IARI, who guided the audience on important components for preparing a effective project proposal. It was followed by a talk by Prof. Paramjit Khurana, D.U who enlightened the audience about the presentation and communication skills which could be useful during applying for a job, thesis defence, conferences etc.  

Director, PSCST Dr. Jatinder Kaur Arora, Prof Lalit K Bansal and Prof Sanjay Chhibber also participated in the day long deliberations.