Macmillan India is looking for future scientists

With an innovative initiative to encourage and develop scientific talent in schools across India, Macmillan is launching the annual accolade The Springer Nature Upcoming Scientist award, which aims to expand scientific literacy in India and promote research and innovation for sustainable development.

The announcement comes after an education conclave organized by Springer Nature in New Delhi in October to discuss strategies and evolve solutions to challenges in science education in the years ahead.  The new award intends to be a first step to encourage students to engage in scientific learning and follows reports which indicate that India could develop into a hub for scientific research and development if concomitant investments in educational infrastructure, resources and pedagogy were made. Although recent trends in students’ performance have been not been encouraging, India is showing improvements in the volume of high quality scientific research published and the Indian Government has recently indicated an increased commitment to both education and research and innovation. 

Entries for The Springer Nature Upcoming Scientist award will open on National Science Day (28 February 2017) which is held annually to mark the discovery of the Raman effect by Indian physicist Sir C. V. Raman.   The award will be open to all students in India from ages 12 to 16 years.

The award will be given to the student found to best exhibit intense curiosity and the application of scientific thinking in response to a real challenge (health, environment or resources) in the student’s own environment, for example finding a solution to discourage junk food consumption by school children, or reducing paper consumption in schools.