Inspire Internship Programme, class 11.

11 students of class 11 ( Science) attended the 'Inspire (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research) Internship Programme' at Deshbandhu College from 14th to 17th December 2015. The four day programme was attended by science enthusiasts from schools across the city. Eminent research scholars from the field of Science conducted talks and demonstrated interesting experiments in the lab to give students an insight into developing trends in the diverse branches of Science. The programme was sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

On 14th December, the first day, we were accompanied to the programme by Dr. Anu Singh. We began the day with a lecture by Professor Bhudev Chandra Das, Chairman and Professor and H.G. Khorana, Chair Professor, AIIMMSCR. They gave us insight into one of the most deadly diseases today- Cancer. They acquainted us with the causes of the disease and how it can be cured if detected early. They even spoke about stem cells and their growing use in medicine and cancer therapy today. According to them, cancer is nothing but Good Genes Gone Bad. After a quick lunch, we headed to the Botany Lab, not knowing that a very exciting experiment was in store for us! The aim of the experiment was to identify gram positive and negative bacteria using a gram stain from sour curd. A bacteria smear was taken from the curd, crystal violet was used to stain it, and then iodine was used as a mordant. After treating the bacteria with ethyl alcohol, we were told that those which lose colour are to be identified as gram negative and those which retain the stain are gram positive. After observing the slides under a microscope, we were able to differentiate between the two types of bacteria. The experiment intrigued us and we longed to wanted to learn more. On 15th December, we headed once again to Deshbandhu College with our teacher, Dr. Smriti Singh, for the second day of the programme.The day started with a lecture on the chemical sciences. The lecture was conducted by Professor Man Singh, Dean, School of Chemical Sciences, Central University of Gujarat. He shared several facts about chemistry and the lives of a few famous scientists.This was followed by a lecture around noon by Professor Vinay Gupta, Department of Physics, Delhi University. He oriented us about several electronic and electrical devices, their usage in contemporary life and thereby the growing demand for engineers. He showed us a presentation on numerous changes that have taken place in the field of electronics. Expectedly we all looked forward to the practical session! In the laboratory, we were guided to study the effect of light intensity on the working of solar cells. We asked the instructor to explain the working of solar cells and their photodiodes to us. He patiently explained the concept and it helped to clear a lot of our doubts. We were able to learn something new that day and it lifted our spirits. We were fascinated by the insights we received and were the last group to move out of the lab! On 16th December, we arrived at Deshbandhu College for the 3rd day in succession. The day began with a talk on Gaussian Distribution by Dr. Antara Bandhopadhyaya who works for the Indian Statistical Institute. She spoke about Binomial Distribution. We were also introduced to the De-Movier Laplace Central Unit theorem. After a short break, we assembled again in the auditorium for the second talk of the day, namely, Digital Literacy. We discussed the possibility of a wifi-enabled campus. We were enlightened on the breakthroughs ICT is making in the field of teaching. We also spoke about the possibility of including the programme Scilab in the class 12 computer science curriculum. Later, we headed to the chemistry lab for a much awaited practical session. We were given a brief introduction on proteins, mainly amino acids. The aim of the practical was to locate the ionisation point of glycine. We were divided into groups of four. We combined titrated carboxylic acid with sodium hydroxide to reach the ionisation point. We recorded our readings and found that the readings started decreasing after every 5 ml of acid. After 20 readings, we were able to locate the ionisation point. It was around 4:30 pm when our session ended and we headed back feeling overwhelmed once again by the learning we had received that day. The last day of our programme was 17th December. We arrived ahead of time with our teacher Ms. Sumi John so we took seats in the front of the auditorium. The session started at 10 am with a lecture by Dr. Alok Krishna Sinha, scientist at the National Botanical Research lnstitute. His presentation was based on transgenic plants: an application of plant biotechnology. He started with a brief introduction to biotechnology. He then, went on to speak about the genome in depth discussing its various applications. He also spoke about the central dogma of molecular biology. He talked about DNA transplantation and topics related to it. He was able to stir the curiosity of students towards biotechnology through his talk. As it was our concluding day at the programme, the second half of the day was set aside for a short session where students shared their experiences of the programme. Finally, we were all awarded certificates for participation and a tiny sapling as a parting gift. The programme was an extremely enriching one! We than School for providing the invaluable opportunity to interact with science minds of reckoning and accomplishment. Swapnil Kanwar, Karan Bansal, Sakshi, Mayank Wadhwani and Yashmoi Guha (XI A).