Page 19 - AWSAR 2.0

PREFACE
|| xix
The public communication of science and technology and inculcation of scientific temper among masses are important elements for overall development of the country. The National Council for Science & Technology Communication (NCSTC) being the apex body for science and technology communication has a mandate to coordinate programmes and activities focused on science communication and orchestrate them for enhanced science awareness and scientific temper among masses. It is believed that public science communication is the shared responsibility of scientists and communicators, however bringing scientists and researchers to the fold of communication has been a challenge, although there are exceptions and efforts have been made over the period to address the situation with encouraging results.
A popular science writing workshop for Ph.D. scholars on their respective research areas
was organized at India International Science Festival (IISF-2017) in Chennai to encourage them to write popular science stories for common audiences. Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research (AWSAR) programme, a step forward in a systematic manner, was initiated by the Department of Science & Technology in 2018. The programme is supported and coordinated by NCSTC along with Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous institute of DST. The main objective is to highlight the research being carried out by young scholars in popular form and to bridge the existing gap in research and its communication to the public at large by way of harnessing the latent potential of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers.
The period of last two years has witnessed an overwhelming response from the young researchers in terms of participation and contributions in the form of innovative research stories. A series of workshops on popular science writing was conducted for capacity building of these aspiring young scientific writers across the country. AWSAR 2.0 started in 2019 also seen encouraging response as 4,993 researchers were registered for AWSAR 2.0 under both categories, Ph.D. and PDF. 141 selected scholars were awarded on the occasion of National Science Day, i.e. 28 February 2020. An AWSAR Webinar on Popular Science Writing was organized on 25 June 2020 during COVID-19 pandemic for research scholars to create new generation science communicators. The webinar received a huge response with a total of 917 registered participants from 28 States and UTs, including an enthusiastic participation from 16 other countries.
The present book is a collection of AWSAR awarded stories submitted in the year 2019. It gives a filip to the cause of authentic public science communication as well as encourages and inspires the next generation scientists and communicators to join the field with necessary skills and confidence to serve the society better. I congratulate all young researchers whose stories are included in this important publication and wish them an exciting journey ahead in the area of science and science communication.
Dr Manoj Kumar Patairiya
Head & Advisor National Council for Science and Technology Communication Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, New Delhi