SKAO reaches half-a-million minds in India

Impact
As an unprecedented mega-science project, SKAO has an unrivalled ability to inspire future generations

The SKAO not only connects its partner countries to cutting-edge research, it also engages young people by supporting a diverse array of career pathways.

This engagement with public and students is one of the pillars of science outreach and was embodied by SKAO’s leading role in India’s travelling exposition of global mega-science projects: Vigyan Samagam.

Translated from Hindi as ‘Confluence of Scientific Ideas’, Vigyan Samagam showcased the flagship projects India is involved to around 600,000 visitors.

Indias Largest Travelling Science Exhibition
The Vigyan Samagam exhibition toured India for 10 months.

The participation of the SKAO was facilitated by the SKA-India Consortium, the group responsible for overseeing SKAO activities in India. 

The exhibition featured lectures, panel discussions, interactive stalls, competitions, and live demonstrations by Indian scientists and engineers involved in the SKAO, its Indian pathfinder telescope uGMRT and other projects.

Organised by India’s Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Science and Technology and the National Centre for Science Museums, Vigyan Samagam toured four major cities of Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Delhi between May 2019 and March 2020.

SKAO delivered around 60 presentations and featured widely in national and local media coverage – popularising the Observatory in what will be the world’s most populated country by 2023.

Other exhibitors included:

·   European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)

·   Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR)

·   Neutrino Observatory

·   International Nuclear Fusion Project (ITER)

·   Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO)

·   Thirty Meter Telescope

The Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) is located at a site about 80 km north of Pune, Maharashtra. Consisting of 30 fully-steerable parabolic dishes of 45m diameter, it is one of the SKA pathfinder telescopes and is being used as a testbed to understand and develop new technology, and observational techniques related to the SKA telescopes
The Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) near Pune, India is one of the SKA pathfinder telescopes