Page 110 - Annual report 2021-22

Annual Report 2021-22 |

Outreach activities

At IGIB a group of students and scientists engage in communication of science to the public, be it in
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the form of awareness programs or school visits and during the COVID pandemic, in the form of in-
camera lab visits or hands on demonstrations. The main goals of such public engagement are (1) to
spread awareness about genetic diseases and testing (2) to nurture curiosity and scientific temper
amongst the public (3) to assist teachers and curriculum developers with accurate and relevant
content about modern biology and lastly, (4) to motivate school students to take up science as a
career.
The objective of the programme is to nurture curiosity amongst school students, especially from
government schools, Navodaya Vidyalaya and Kendriya Vidyalaya Schools through virtual games,
citizen science and creative videos. Under this network project where different CSIR labs have taken
up different tasks, IGIB has proposed two main programmes. Firstly, the Lab@Home program- a citizen
science program- was proposed to develop kits that will encourage students to carry out experiments
in their home or school. Secondly, a virtual 3D DNA lab environment with an interactive game will be
developed for capacity building in this emerging area of science education and communication. The
outreach team used various science communication channels and tools to reach out to students
during the COVID pandemic. During the early stages of the pandemic, many schools were eager to
participate in online webinars and compensate for the learning challenges faced due to closure of
schools. In the later phase of the pandemic, the preference was for videos, walk through sessions and
a strong urge for unconventional communication methods was felt. The first Lab@Home session was
organized around the International Women's Day in association with National Service Scheme Unit
and Ganpati Govt. Girls High School in North Kerala. Scientists from CSIR-IGIB connected through
virtual mode and through an interactive session performed experiments with the students. This
experience was communicated to the international journal Nature as a Correspondence and worked
further on finding CSR partners for scaling up this project.

To communicate scientific concepts in a catchy and memorable manner, an original poem capturing
the inheritance of traits and the molecular nature of DNA in Hindi was written, set to music and
performed by a group of IGIB scientists and students. This “DNA song” was released on social media,
with video: https://youtu.be/otVpQADgj7Y. The team also contributed by supporting an internal
event wherein IGIB student community created science murals on campus which capture their
imagination as well as creative thoughts about science in 2022.
A diary capturing 12 iconic / historic scientific discoveries was created using powerful and original
illustrations. Special effort was taken to ensure representation of women scientists in the featured
illustrations. This diary / science notebook was distributed to schoolteachers and other stakeholders
as they are the essential components of this science communication channel. Several events were
conducted at IGIB for college students and private schools. Students, teachers and the public can now
easily follow the activities at IGIB through social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.