SRINAGAR: In order to give impetus to CSIR Integrated Skill Initiative, a two-day workshop on Real-Time PCR for women researchers held at CSIR-IIIM branch, Srinagar on Wednesday and Thursday in which 10 women researchers participants on each day have undergone hands-on-training on RT-PCR.
An official statement said that the aim of the workshop is to encourage women researchers to pursue their academic and professional in Science and Technology which is indeed greatly required due to very less representation of women.
“On the first day, the workshop was attended by women faculty/researchers from Kashmir University, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST-K), Islamic University of Science & Technology (IUST) and the Central University of Kashmir,” said an official statement.
Dr Nazia Abbas, Scientist delivered a lecture on, “Principle and applications of Real-Time PCR”.
“This was followed by practical session and data analyses handled by Dr Nasheeman Ashraf. Thereafter, the participants from universities visited biotechnology and molecular biology labs at IIIM to get an idea about the modern and cutting edge research techniques,” said the statement.
The participants also interacted with the scientists and students at IIIM to get an overview of the research activities going on in the institute.
According to a statement on the second day, women faculty from different colleges and institutes like the National Institute of Technology (NIT), SKIMS and ICAR-CITH attended the workshop.
“After lectures and a technical session on the second day, a panel discussion was held regarding the inclusion of advanced technology-based practical courses in the curriculum of graduate and postgraduate students to boost scientific temper in them. Further, during the interactive session, all women participants expressed the need to have collaborative projects and students exchange programmes in order to enhance the inclination of younger generations towards science and research,” said the statement.
Earlier on day 1 of the workshop, Dr Nasheeman in her welcome address said that there is very less representation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) all over the world and the policymakers of science have to devise strategy and mechanism to attract more and more female students to pursue their career in STEM.
This workshop for women researchers was organized by Dr Nasheeman Ashraf and Dr Nazia Abbas, the two women scientists of CSIR-IIIM branch lab Srinagar, under the patronage of Dr D Srinivasa Reddy, Director CSIR-IIIM and under supervision of Er Abdul Rahim, Head PME division and Dr Zabeer Ahmed, Head branch laboratory Srinagar. The programme concluded with the distribution of certificates to the participants.
