NATIONAL SCIENCE DAY (NSD)
CELEBRATION – 2026

विज्ञान में महिलाएँ: विकसित भारत की उत्प्रेरक
Women in Science: Catalysing Viksit Bharat

National Science Day is celebrated in India on 28th February of each year to commemorate the discovery of the Raman Effect by Dr. C. V. Raman who was awarded Nobel Prize in Physics in the year 1930 and Bharat Ratna in 1954. RRCAT celebrated the National Science Day on 28th February and 1st March 2026 by holding an open house for the school and college students, teachers, family members and guests of RRCAT staff and invitees from public. The Government of India had declared the theme of this year's National Science Day as "Women is Science: Catalysing Viksit Bharat".

On Saturday, February 28, 2026, students of Class XI and teachers from various schools and colleges in Indore and surrounding cities were invited for full day visit to experience high-end research facilities. More than 1200 students and teachers from 82 schools of Indore and nearby places visited RRCAT. The program started with an address by Shri Viraj P. Bhanage, Director, RRCAT covering the basics of Raman Effect and working principle of Lasers. Shri Jishnu Dwivedi, Director, Technology Development & Support Group explained students about the concepts of Accelerators. The lucid explanation of laser and accelerator technologies in simple language was very much appreciated by the students and teachers. A few small movies depicting importance of hygiene and cleanliness were also shown to students and teachers under “Swachcha Bharat Abhiyaan”.

Special arrangements were made for the Hearing and Speech impaired students invited from special schools to participate in the celebrations accompanied by interpreter-teachers. Dr. Vinit Kumar, Associate Director, Proton Accelerator Group explained the concepts of lasers and accelerators in very simple manner to the Divyang (specially-abled) students with the help of interpreter-teachers. Director, RRCAT along with senior members of organizing committee interacted with more than 30 special students in interactive session and addressed their queries with the help of interpreter-teachers. The students participated in this interaction session with great enthusiasm and satisfied their curiosity through questions.

Subsequently all the students were taken to exhibit places at laboratories and RRCAT Convention Centre, in organized groups, under the guidance of RRCAT volunteers. About 40 exhibits related to technologies of accelerators, lasers, cryogenics, superconductivity, RF and Microwave, magnets, along with demonstration of Fire & Safety aspects were set up to explain the scientific and technical activities of RRCAT as well as to demonstrate concepts in basic sciences and engineering.

Photographs:   [1]  [2]  [3]  [4]  [5]  [6]  [7] 

The extensive demonstrations successfully translated complex scientific principles into captivating visual experiences, including:

Indus Accelerator Complex: A movie show and live CCTV views of India's premier Synchrotron Radiation sources Indus-1 & Indus-2.

Cutting-Edge Lasers: Live demonstration of industrial Nd:YAG laser cutting, Laser marking, CO2 laser air breakdown and Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) based 3D printing, Optical Tweezers and Agni-Rakshak (a smart fiber-optic sensor system for detecting fire over long distances).

Cryogenics and Materials: Experiments with Liquid Nitrogen, where students witnessed artificial cloud formation and observed how materials drastically change their properties at extremely low temperatures.

Advanced Engineering: A live working model of Maglev train that floats using magnetic induction principle, advanced manufacturing processes including high-pressure water jet machine capable of cutting solid materials using water pressurized to 4,000 bar.

To explain some basic concepts of science, special experiments were set up like Raman effect, Schilieren imaging, total internal reflection, laws of motion, gas laws, conservation of momentum etc. To explain some technology applications, live demonstration of Fibre Bragg Grating based multi-point temperature sensor system, precision machining, induction heating etc. were made. Videos on development of SCRF cavities, indigenous 10 MeV linear accelerator, thin film coated optics, detection of RF and Microwave signals were also shown.

The overall response of the students and teachers was very good, they all were enthusiastic and showed keen interest in the exhibits and had lively discussions with the RRCAT officials. Exhibits like demonstration of laser cutting, magnetic levitated train, artificial cloud creation by liquid nitrogen and live demonstration of latest fire fighting equipment like high-expansion foam generator discharging 2 lakh litres per minute and various fire-fighting patterns created a vivid impact on young minds and earned applause from students, teachers, family members of staff and guests.

To further stimulate their scientific temperament, "Prashna Manch" (Science Quiz) and "Ask-a-Scientist" desks were kept active. This provided an open forum for students to freely discuss topics ranging from basic physics to advanced engineering with senior scientists. The event also encouraged accompanying teachers to discuss their problems in teaching particular concepts of science. Participation prizes were also given to curious students.

All the students and accompanying teachers were offered refreshments and lunch in the morning and noon respectively. To commemorate the visit, Technical Brochure and NSD-2026 Souvenir Caps were distributed to all participating students and teachers. The overall response of the students was extremely enthusiastic as demonstrated by the number of queries they put in during the visits to the exhibits and at the “Ask-a-Question” event. They went back full of admiration for the scientific activities being pursued by DAE in general, and RRCAT in particular. They all enjoyed and appreciated the cleanliness, greenery and lakes in the RRCAT picturesque campus.

On Sunday, March 01, 2026, family members and guests of RRCAT staff, college students with teachers, and invitees were given opportunity to visit RRCAT laboratories.

Building on the advanced academic background of the college students, Dr. S. K. Rai, Senior Scientist delivered a highly engaging lecture titled "Demystifying Synchrotron Radiation and its applications". The lecture intricately detailed how synchrotron radiation is utilized across diverse disciplines, including Engineering Applications, Protein Crystallography, X-Ray Imaging, soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy, Small & Wide Angle X-ray Scattering, Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Nanomaterials, X-ray fluorescence and Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy.

More than 2800 persons including about 470 college students and teachers from 21 colleges visited the laboratories and expressed their happiness on getting an opportunity to learn about the important R & D activities being carried out at the Centre.

By opening its advanced laboratories to the youth over these two days, RRCAT aimed to bridge the gap between theoretical classroom learning and real-world advanced research. The entire mega event was seamlessly managed by the Organising Committee of NSD-2026 under the keen supervision of Shri Viraj P. Bhanage, Director RRCAT with Dr. Alpana Rajan, Associate Director, Technology Development & Support Group as the Chairperson and Dr. P. Ganesh Head, Metallurgical Characterization and Chemical Technology Section, DMTD as Convener for the event. The committee had made quite elaborate arrangements for the event with the help and enthusiastic cooperation of a large team of volunteers, exhibitors, administrative staff, RRCAT security and CISF staff. The event was covered by major national and state level newspapers and media houses.