Activities Organised

• Science Week Festival 2022: The Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (celebrating the 75th Year of Indian Independence) is being celebrated all over the country. In this regard, the Office of the PSA and Ministry of Culture, GoI in association with Vigyan Prasar, is planning February 22-28, 2022 as the glorious week called Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate. This event is supported by Vigyan Prasar under its flagship programme SCoPE “Science & Technology Communication, Popularization & its extension. Themed around “75 Years of Independence”, 75 programs at 75 different locations all over India are planned. Department of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar has been identified as one of the 75 locations to celebrate this week long science festival. Department of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar with support from Punjab State Council for Science and Technology is going to organize Science Week Festival from 23rd to 27th February 2022. For more details: https://sites.google.com/view/science-week-festival/home

• Organised National Mathematics Day, 2022 on 2-2-22 at Guru Nanak Dev University

• Organised a one week short term course on LaTeX-Tool to prepare scientific documents from 19-03-21 to 25-03-2021

• Organised Fundamental Science & Quantum Technologies using Atomic System (FSQT 2020) from 28-09-2020 to 01-10-2020:https://sites.google.com/view/fsqt2020/

• Organised National Students' Conference on Spectroscopy (NSCoS 2020): 16-10-2020 to 17-10-2020

• Organised AstroRetreat '20, 13-06-2020: https://sites.google.com/view/astroretreat

• Organised a two day National Conference on Non Linear Phenomena in Physics, 1-2 March, 2019

• Organised a two day National Conference on Functional Materials for Device Applications, 9-10 March, 2019

• Organised a one day workshop on Introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics, 12 August, 2017

• Organised one day workshop on Novel Experiments in Physics Pedagogy, 19 March, 2016

• Convenor for Science Day Celebrations (from 2017 to Present)

• Organiser of ‘Star Gazing Event’ for of all age groups

• List of activities including a number of webinars, conferences, interaction sessions organised by the SciRox, Science Club can be found at: https://sites.google.com/view/scirox-gndu

Glimpses of the Science Week Festival Organised:

Department of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar under the able guidance and leadership of Prof (Dr.) Jaspal Singh Sandhu, worthy Vice-Chancellor, GNDU hosted a Science Week Festival "Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate" from 22^nd February to 28^th February 2022. The event was supported by the state nodal agency Punjab State Council for Science and Technology and Vigyan Prasar within its flagship program SCoPE “Science & Technology Communication, Popularization & its Extension” under the support of the Ministry of Culture and Office of the PSA, Government of India.

The main aim of the Science Week festival was to explore the evolution of science and technology and its vital and intriguing intersections with culture, curriculum and society through a multitude of creative and thought provoking programmes. A series of short films showcasing the unsung heroes from the Indian scientific community was unveiled at this festival. A variety of innovative and immersive scientific talks, competitions and programmes were designed for this festival by the benevolent organizing team to nurture young minds. A science poster exposition with 150 banners sent by Vigyan Prasar were displayed at the Sangat Hall of GNDU. The entire event was hosted at Guru Nanak Bhawan.

The festival aimed to explore and celebrate science in every possible way by bringing together a diverse group of professionals to engage and inspire a wide range of audience from various schools, colleges and general public. Participants were motivated and enlightened with scientific temperament from this event. The festival catered the holistic and cognitive approach towards science and technology, which is the need of the hour. On all days the celebration hosted expert lectures, a Science Book Fair, Science poster Exposition, Vigyan Safari, Photo Booths and Science Film Screening. The main attractions were a science magic show and a “Vigyan Natak” by the students of the drama club at GNDU. A number of competitions for school and college students were organized to bring out the scientific aptitude in an artistic way. Children not only from various schools, colleges and universities but from local orphanages were invited too. Science literary festival was celebrated by a lecture by a renowned Punjabi Poet and Writer, Prof. S. S. Behl who presented his thoughtful notes on how and why the difference between science & literature must be removed. A science communication book called “Avriti” was released on the same day. 75 copied of Avriti have been printed which will be distributed at 75 different schools/institutes. A number of local partners were invited to collaborate in the event. Books from the Amritsar district library and local book vendors were displayed on all days. Science books from GNDU library were also exhibited. The outreach of the program was around 1400 (registered participants). The total foot fall was around 3000-4000.

The details of the event are as below:

Day 1, 22.02.22, Tuesday.

• Inauguration by Chief Guest of the Day- Prof. Dinesh Singh, Padam Shri awardee and Chancellor, K.R. Mangalam University

• Other dignitaries included Prof. (Dr) Hardeep Singh, Dr D.P. Singh (HOD Physics); Dr. Bindiya Arora (Cooridnator); Dr Aman Mahajan (Co-Coordinator); Dr B.S. Bajwa, Dean Placements; Dr R.C. Singh, Honorary Professor; Dr K.J. Singh; Dr. Anupinder Singh; Dr. Parambir S. Malhi and Dr. Balbir Singh.

Day 2, 23.02.22, Wednesday

• Guest of Honor- Mr. Dharamvir (retd. IAS – 1973 batch); Prof. Kya Dharamvir, SPSTI, Panchkula;and Mr. Harjit Singh (ISRO).

• Expert lecture by Prof. Anish K. Dua, Dean, Student Welfare, GNDU and Mr. Harjit Singh (ISRO).

• Science Magic show by Prof. Kya Dharmvir.

• Other dignitaries included Dr D.P. Singh (HOD Physics); Dr Bindiya Arora (Coordinator), Dr Aman Mahajan (Co-Coordinator)and Dr R.C. Singh, Honorary Professor.

Day 3, 24.02.22, Thursday

• An online expert lecture by Shri Guruwinder Singh SCL Chandigarh.

• Competitions- SciWalk (Scientific Fancy Dress Competition) and Vibgyor (Scientific Rangoli Competition)

Day 4, 25.02.22, Friday

• An expert lecture by Dr Kamini Walia, Senior Scientist, ICMR, New Delhi.

• Competitions- SciWars (Science model exhibition and competition for school category) & Poster Competition (for college/university category)

Day 5, 26.02.22, Saturday

• Release of "AVRITI" magazine, by Prof Sarabjot Singh Behl (GNDU), Dr. N.P.S Saini, Dr Bindiya Arora, Dr Rajesh Kumar, Yatin Batra and Priyanka Sharma.

• An expert lecture by Prof. S. S. Behl on the importance of holistic approach for Science and Technology.

• A science drama/skit "VIGYAN NATAK" performed by University Drama Team under the able guidance of Dr. Sunil, Department of Hindi.

• Competitions- Scribbles and SciWriters (scientific story writing and narrating competition for school category and college/university category respectively)

Day 6, 27.02.22, Sunday

• An expert lecture by Dr RC Singh, Honorary Professor, Department of Physics, GNDU.

• Competitions- An Idea Pitching Declamation "SciVision" for both schools and college/university category.

Day 7, 28.02.22, Monday

• Grand Finale of Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate

• Guests present Prof. Manoj Kumar, Controller of Examinations, GNDU; Prof. D.P. Singh, Head, Physics; Prof. Sukhprit Singh, Head, Chemistry; District smart school mentor Sr. Balraj singh; District Mentor, Science, Narinder Singh and Dr. Vandana Bhalla, Chemistry.

• Prize distribution function for all the winners of various events held during one week long science festival.

• Open day for 50 students from selected schools to visit the Central Instrumentation Facility of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.