DST womens Scientist fellowship 2021
- Context: The Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) is an attempt to bring about gender balance in the institutions, the Consolidation of University Research for Innovation and Excellence in Women Universities (CURIE) targets to improve infrastructure in women-only universities and the Indo-U.S. Fellowship for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (WISTEMM) exposes women to some of the best international scientific institutions for boosting their capability and enthusiasm.
Analysis
Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI)
- The Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) was launched for mentoring of institutions for transforming them towards more inclusive and sensitive approach towards women and to promote gender equity in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) domains.
- It is intended to create a level-playing field for the meritorious girls in high school to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in their higher education.
- Ministries: Department of Science & Technology (DST)
CURIE initiative and KIRAN scheme
- The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is implementing ‘Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN)’ Scheme to provide various career opportunities for women scientists and technologists.
- DST womens Scientist fellowship 2021 is mainly aimed to bring gender parity in the Science & Technology sector by inducting more women talent in the research & development domain through various programs.
- CURIE & CURIE-AI facility of the Department under the KIRAN scheme, including other schemes, empowers women in science and technology.
- In the year 2008-09, DST took a special initiative, ‘CURIE (Consolidation of University Research for Innovation & Excellence in Women Universities),’ to support women universities for improving R&D infrastructure and enhance research facilities.
- CURIE support has been extended to 08 Women Universities (as on 25th Sep 2020) in the country namely:
- Avinashilingam Women University, Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu),
- Banasthali University, Rajasthan,
- SNDT Women University, Mumbai (Maharashtra),
- Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam, Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh),
- Mother Teresa Women University, Kodaikanal (Tamil Nadu),
- Karnataka State Women University, Bijapur (Karnataka),
- Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, Delhi (Delhi) and
- Rama Devi Women University, Bhubaneswar (Odisha).
- This year CURIE support is in the process to include 9th women university – Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya, Sonipat (Haryana).
- In the year 2019, DST established an Artificial Intelligence lab in 6 CURIE beneficiary universities with the goal of fostering AI innovations.
IBM-DST collaboration for girl students–Vigyan Jyoti and Engage with Science
- The Department of Science & Technology (DST) and IBM India announced collaborations to scale up two DST womens Scientist fellowship 2021 initiatives–Vigyan Jyoti and Engage with Science (Vigyan Prasar) to expand existing opportunities for meritorious girls to nurture their interest in Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
- DST and IBM India aim to create a robust STEM ecosystem that nurtures critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and next-generation innovators through Inspire Awards-MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge) – a program targeting to build one million ideas rooted in science from school students.
Vigyan Jyoti
- Vigyan Jyoti is an initiative that will create a level-playing field for the meritorious girls in high school to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in their higher education, especially from the top colleges in the areas where girls are hugely underrepresented.
- Ministries: Department of Science & Technology (DST)
- Eligibility: The Programme ‘Vigyan Jyoti’ aims to tap 100 girl students from grades 9 to 12 in 550 districts from 2020-2025.
- The students will be chosen based on their percentile.
Engage with Science
- In the other collaboration launched alongside, IBM will work with Vigyan Prasar – an autonomous body under the DST to help India’s science popularization agenda through several strategic initiatives, including ‘Engage with Science’.
- This is an interactive platform that will be built on top of the India Science Over-The-Top (OTT) platform to encourage and inspire high school students to pursue Science & Technology (S&T) for a career.