Royal Society of Chemistry, CSIR partner to promote chemistry in schools, universities

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and the Council for Industry and Scientific Research (CSIR) have come together to support an outreach programme designed to promote chemical sciences in schools and universities, the Ministry of Science and Technology said in a statement.

The two organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), committing to work together on the CSIR’s ‘Jigyasa programme,’ an India-wide outreach initiative aimed at school children and researchers. This MoU will be non-financial and time-bound for at least three years with an option of renewal.

As per the ministry, the programme will complement existing educational programmes in India. For example, the RSC-Jigyasa partnership will help to expand the RSC’s existing teacher training programme and chemistry camps. It will also be launching several online education initiatives.

As part of the launch for the Jigyasa programme, the collaboration has organised a global experiment including all the CSIR’s laboratories. At least 2,000 schoolchildren, 150 teachers, and 350 volunteers took part in the ‘RSC’s Global Coin experiment across 30 CSIR laboratories, in which participants were asked to compare batteries made from different types of coins.