ISRO’s young scientist programme cancelled due to Covid-19

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO’s) young scientist programme titled ‘YUVIKA’, which was scheduled to be conducted between May 11 to May 22, 2020, has now been cancelled.

Registrations for the programme began in February. However, a nation-wide lockdown was announced on March 24th.

On April 20, a notification on ISRO’s website announced that YUVIKA 2020 had been postponed until further notice due to the pandemic.

“The Young Scientist programme (YUVIKA) was scheduled to be held during May 11-22, 2020. In connection with the measures taken in the wake of Covid-19, it has been decided to postpone the YUVIKA 2020 programme. The revised schedule of the programme will be informed subsequently,” it read.

However, ISRO now decided to cancel the programme altogether due to the pandemic and the organisational challenges that would emerge due to it.

“The Young Scientist Programme (YUVIKA) was scheduled to be held during May 11-22, 2020. In the wake of Covid-19 pandemic and the associated difficulties in organizing the programme, YUVIKA 2020 stands cancelled,” a recent notice from the space agency read.

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The initiative welcomed students who had completed 8th standard and were studying in 9th grade in the academic year of 2019-20.

The programme was expected to include interactive activities and sessions. Students would have interacted with ISRO scientists and attended lectures.

Three students from each state would have been short-listed for the programme.