At a time when engineering and management students usually get the major chunk of placements, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has set itself a novel task to bridge the gap between pure sciences and the industry.

This year, Samanway, the annual interactive meet at the IISc, aims to pave the way for students from the pure science background to get better opportunities and exposure to interact with prospective employers.

Organised by the Student Council of the IISc, the event will be divided into three parts – with first preference being given to pure science students (Physics, Chemistry and Biology).

The second and third parts of the meet will focus on other disciplines such as engineering, production and manufacturing.

On April 12, in the first part of the Samanway meet, pure science students will be provided with a platform to interact, make connections with and listen to representatives from various companies.

This is to ensure that students of pure sciences are not pushed to the periphery and regular recruiters from the more popular fields such as IT and engineering do not dominate the event.

“The event has been split into three distinct parts so that the focus is on each stream and particular companies do not overlap, thereby benefiting students in all streams.

The tentative dates for the second and third part of the event may be in August and November,” said Prapanch Nair, secretary (academic affairs), Student Council, IISc.

Companies such as Shell (analytical chemistry wing), Jubilant Biosys, a biotech company, Biocon and Sigma-Aldrich, a life science and high-technology company, have confirmed participation.

Ritupan Sarma, a post-doctoral student of Material Science at the IISc, said the initiative was “very good” as it gives people with a pure science background, like him, an opportunity to explore other opportunities besides academics.

“Pure sciences deal with finding out the root cause of a problem that takes longer. There are not many companies that may be interested in investing in such initiatives,” he said.

Sarma has been working on the problem of plastic deformation for the past seven years. “Although I like to teach, if a company is ready to provide me employment for the work that I am doing, I will not mind exploring the option. A number of people from my department also feel the same way,” he said.

Date: April 9th 2014

Source: DH News