30 European Nobel laureates to visit India

The programme would be a part of the two-day conference on science to be attended by several ministers of European countries.

Thirty Nobel laureates from European countries will visit India at the invitation of the science and technology ministry to interact with researchers and students of science in New Delhi in February.

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"We have already started the invitation process and nearly 10 of these icons have already consented to visit New Delhi on Feb 7 and 8," Science and Technology Secretary T Ramasami said.

The Department of Science and Technology is taking the help of President APJ Abdul Kalam in sending special invites to these Nobel laureates.

"An interactive session for selected 500 doctoral research students from all over the country and another 500 school students from Delhi with the global icons have been planned on February 8," Ramasami added.

He said the interactive meet would also be "web casted" for a larger reach and benefit of thousands of students across the country.

"All these laureates would be our guest and all expenditure incurred thus would be taken care by us."

Though authorities refused to divulge any name of the visiting Nobel laureates, European countries boosts of names like Theodor W Hänsch, Germany (Physics) Yves Chauvin, France (Chemistry), John E Sulston, UK (Physiology and Medicine), Wolfgang Ketterle, Germany, (Physics).

The whole programme would be a part of the two-day high profile conference on science to be attended by several ministers of European countries.

"A high profile event of ministerial conference on science has been scheduled and over a dozen ministers from European countries will participate in the programme," Ramasami said.

The secretary said an interaction with the icons from science would help our students to develop a better understanding of the subject and "certainly a renewed interest."

He said many talented students are not being attracted to science and to woo students they have finalised a new project called Innovation for Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE).

Under the project the ministry would spend Rs 5 billion to attract about one million students in the 10-17 age group to take up science as a career.