Hyderabad: Students learn from the best at CCMB innovators program

On December 26, 2022, the CCMB had conducted a basic selection test for YIP 2023 and based on the performance, students from different schools were selected for the unique program.

Hyderabad: When Akshitha Reddy, a tenth standard student from Government Gurukul Residency School, Uppal, spotted a live bacterial colony through the high-powered microscope in a laboratory at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), she realised it was more interesting to pursue research in basic science than joining any professional course.

“I believe more such opportunities must be provided to school children, especially those in class 9 and 10 who are yet to make-up their mind over their future goals. I got an opportunity to learn about biology from the best researchers in the country. In just a span of a week, we got to interact with more than 20 senior scientists, which is a rare opportunity,” she says.

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Akshita is part of a group of 26 other students drawn from government and private schools in and around Hyderabad who are part of CCMB’s annual Young Innovators Program (YIP), being held between January 4 and 12.

Sai Lekhya, a class 10 student form ZPHS school in Mahabubabad, says the program helped her gain a lot of practical knowledge. “After spending over ten days at CCMB, I realised there is a lot of difference between theory and practical in a laboratory. I also got a rare opportunity to witness the actual shape of a coronavirus during the course of the innovators program,” she says.

On December 26, 2022, the CCMB had conducted a basic selection test for YIP 2023 and based on the performance, students from different schools were selected for the unique program.

“Apart from science research, the camp gave me an opportunity to learn a lot about communication skills. The program enabled me to interact with a diverse range of researchers which helped broaden the scope of my knowledge,” says Sara Tahoor, a class 9 student from MS Creative School, Muradnagar, Mehdipatnam.

The YIP program will conclude on January 13 with the student receiving participatory certificates from top researchers in the presence of their parents.