Page 23 - AWSAR 2.0
P. 23

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
|| xxiii
In the last two years, the Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research (AWSAR) program has emerged as the most captivating initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The journey has been inspiring and fruitful due to the enthusiastic participation of research scholars during the capacity building workshops and call for entries. My sincere gratitude to all PhD Scholars and Postdoctoral Fellows (PDFs) who have participated in this endeavour by submitting their own research stories in popular format.
During 2019, six capacity-building workshops were organized for skill development of these scholars at Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Guwahati, Gandhinagar, and Lucknow, this essentially required infrastructure and technical support, therefore special thanks to all the organizers who supported AWSAR team in facilitating these workshops effortlessly.
I would like to thank our mentors, who have been the guiding force during the last two years. Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST, who is the pillar of this initiative, is a constant source of inspiration for the AWSAR team. He was kind enough to inspire the participants during the workshop at IIT-Delhi despite his extremely busy schedule. I would also thanks key resource persons Shri Biman Basu, Former Editor, Science Reporter, Dr. T. V. Venkateshwaran. Sci-F, Vigyan Prasar, Dr. B. K. Tyagi, Sci-F, Vigyan Prasar, Dr. Pradeep Srivastava, Scincetoon specialist, and Shri Chander Mohan, Former Head, NCSTC Division, DST. All were kind enough to take time from their busy schedules for contributing to this unique endeavor since the beginning of this expedition to guide and mentor.
My sincere thanks to the members of the ‘Expert Committee’ and ‘Expert Panel’ who have worked very hard for evaluating the submitted stories. Their contribution to the entire process is immense and is highly appreciated for the timely completion of the evaluation process.
As this is a partnership endeavor between DST and Vigyan Prasar, I am grateful to Dr. Akhilesh Gupta, Sci-G, DST and Dr. Nakul Parashar, Director, Vigyan Prasar for keeping our morale high and facilitate the entire process effectively and efficiently. All my colleagues in NCSTC Division, DST, and Vigyan Prasar who have helped and encouraged throughout and rendered their support and motivation are acknowledged. My sincere appreciation for Dr. K. B. Bhushan and Dr. Gaurav Jain, Vigyan Prasar, without these two pillars, this project could not be envisioned. Thanks to the AWSAR team, who have worked at the back end day and night to meet the deadlines. Last but not least, I thank media for being an extremely important part of this journey since its inception until the day AWSAR awards for popular science writing were conferred to Ph.D. Scholars and PDFs at Vigyan Bhawan in 2020 in the gracious presence of Hon’ble President of India.
Dr Rashmi Sharma
Scientist-E Department of Science and Technology Government of India
  

























































































   21   22   23   24   25