IIT Delhi to Mentor 11th Standard School Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

IIT Delhi has launched a mentorship and training program for school  girls pursuing their 11th standard in India

IIT Delhi has launched Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) Mentorship Program for schoolgirls with an aim to encourage girls towards choosing science as their career. The primary objectives of the program, designed for Class 11th girl students, are to train young students to think creatively about science and innovation, to provide them novel hand-on experience in solving research problems, and to help them form a stronger knowledge foundation.

Under this initiative, each schoolgirl will be mentored by an IIT Delhi faculty along with his/ her research scholars. During the mentorship period, they will be exposed to foundational concepts in STEM disciplines, and also learn the experimental methods and techniques used in science labs.

Professor V Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi said: “STEM needs to have more women participation. Through the mentorship program initiated by IIT Delhi, schoolgirls will get exposure to some of the world class laboratories and research work going on here. I am hopeful that this mentorship at IIT Delhi will prove to be a turning point in their lives and they would be motivated to enter the world of science and technology and help society with their research work.”

How to IIT Delhi STEM Mentorship Program for Girls Works

There will be ten class 11th girl students of science stream in one batch, and this is going to be a three-level program:

• A two-week winter project, starting from the end of Dec 2021 and ending in early Jan 2022.
• An online lecture series, consisting of modules in Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Mathematics and some Engineering branches. These lectures will be delivered by IIT Delhi professors during the period between Feb and Apr 2022. During this period, the students will also be interacting constantly with their mentors on their specific projects.
• Summer project which will be held for 3 to 4 Weeks in May to June 2022, where the students will get hands on experience in labs, and finalize their project reports with their mentors.

The project areas of the students will cover different disciplines of science and engineering such as computer science, chemistry, mechanical engineering, physics, and biological sciences.

How to Apply for IIT Delhi STEM Mentorship Program for Girls

In the first batch, the ten students are from different Kendriya Vidyalayas in the Delhi region. In the future, there are plans to have participation from students from other regions in the country and turn the program into a residential one.                      

Schools may reach out to the Associate Dean, Academic Outreach & New Initiatives, IIT Delhi at e-mail adoni@iitd.ac.in or acadoutreach@iitd.ac.in to nominate their girl students for the mentorship program.