SERB-DST sponsored two days workshop on “Possible Funding Opportunities in Materials Science” was organized ONLINE by Department of Applied Sciences, Punjab Engineering College (Deemed to be University), Chandigarh during 6-7 August, 2021 under SSR (Social Scientific Responsibility) scheme. Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, Principal Investigator, SERB-DST project coordinated the workshop with an idea of providing knowledge about various funding agencies and their mandates with different schemes to the participants.
Prof. S.K. Singh, Dean Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy, inaugurated the event with motivational words to the participants. He appreciated the efforts of course coordinator for arranging eminent speakers from IITs, IISc, DRDO labs etc. to deliver the talks on different aspects of Materials Science and possible funding opportunities.
On Day 1, Dr. M.M. Shaijumon, IISER Trivandrum, delivered the talk on Energy storage using nanostructures. He further emphasized on the latest development of hybrid supercapacitor to meet future energy requirements. He also discussed about strategic planning regarding submission of proposals.
Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, PEC, described about various funding agencies in India as well as abroad to facilitate the researchers in materials science. He also give some tips about how to write the research proposal.
Prof. Rajeev Ranjan, Materials Engineering, IISc Bangalore, described about his work in piezoelectric materials and furture aspects of research in piezoelectrics. He stressed on fundamentals and also gave tips to write proposals.
Dr. S.D. Kaushik, UGC-DAE CSR Centre, Mumbai, gave the talk on Neutron scattering. He also discussed about the facilities available UGC-DAE CSR, Mumbai Centre and how to utilize them under various schemes.
On Day 2, Dr. Nilesh Gurao, IIT Kanpur, gave motivational talk on thinking about new ideas. He motivated the participants to not waste time on social media gadgets. He also gave information about open source softwares for research during ongoing pandemic period.
Dr. Suvankar Chakraverty, INST Mohali, delivered the talk on Quantum materials and technology. He also discussed he fundamentals of nanoscience with fruitful interaction with participants.
In the afternoon session, Dr. Rahul Vaish, IIT Mandi, discussed on the topic “In house research”. He also discussed how low cost equipments can be used for fruitful research. He also described smartphone based spectrophotometer.
Dr. S.K. Pandey, AR&DB, DRDO described about various funding schemes under Aeronautical Research and Development Board. He also discussed scholarship scheme for girls in aerospace engineering at undergraduate as well as postgraduate level.
After the last session, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar expressed gratitude to Prof. Siby John, Director PEC, Prof. S.K. Singh, Dean Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy, Prof. Sucheta, Head Applied Sciences, SERB-DST for generous funding under SSR scheme, invited speakers, participants and the whole team working for the successful organization of the workshop.
