USTM selected as Nodal centre by ISRO for START programme

Digital Desk: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has chosen the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) as a nodal centre for their special initiative called Space Science and Technology Awareness Training (START).

The programming will include a variety of space science topics, such as astronomy and astrophysics, heliophysics and the Sun-Earth interaction, instrumentation, and aeronautics. 

The training faculty would include scientists from Indian universities and ISRO centres.

Notably, USTM is the only centre in the northeastern region chosen by ISRO to run the START initiative, which encourages active participation in space science and technology research by postgraduate and final-year undergraduate students.

In this context, USTM vice chancellor Prof GD Sharma stated that the START course was part of ISRO's attempts to assist Indian students in becoming experts in space science and technology as the organization's space scientific exploration project expanded into new disciplines.

"Because the programme is online, we would like to accommodate interested students from the region in addition to our own students," Prof. Sharma explained.

Dr Nitu Borgohain, the coordinator of the USTM Nodal Centre for START and the head of the Department of Physics, stated that the course would run for 2 to 3 hours each day for two to three weeks in July and August 2023.

"We are pleased to announce that registration for the ISRO START programme participants is now open," Borgohain remarked.

ISRO provides the START programme free of charge. There are no registration or entrance fees. Registration for participants began on June 20, 2023, and will continue through July 15, 2023.

Physical Science and Technology students from the local area are eligible to participate in this three-week free digital programme after registering online.

The START initiative is an introductory-level awareness training in space science and technology, intended to be organized online to reach as many space enthusiasts as possible.

Although the study is mainly aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students of science and technology, it is designed to be suitable for any individual with basic, systematic science training up to the high school level.