Summer School for Women in Physics

Want to take up physics as a career?

Designed to encourage women to take up physics as a career, the sessions will be centred on some simple experiments conducted by the students or demonstrations.

The discussions will focus on theoretical concepts motivated by the experiments and explore physical ideas and theories in an open-ended manner, so as to bring out the excitement and interconnectedness of the subject. There will also be problem solving sessions and special lectures by invited speakers.

The programme has been designed by an organising group from many institutions, and specific inputs from the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS), and Azim Premji University. 

Note: Participants will be required to stay on campus and attend the entire school to maximally benefit from the experience.

The school is open to women studying for a bachelor’s degree/​integrated master’s degree with physics as a subject, and are entering their second year. This is a residential school and the selected participants will be fully supported. No registration fee.

  • Ranjini Bandyopadhyay (Raman Research Institute, India) 
  • Mahua Ghosh (Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru, India)
  • Kripa Gowrishankar (Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, India) 
  • Sushan Konar (National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune, India)
  • Rema Krishnaswamy (Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, India)
  • P K Mohanty (IISER Kolkata, India)
  • Rajaram Nityananda (ICTS-TIFR, India) 
  • Shirish Pathare (HBCSE Mumbai, India) 
  • Sumathi Rao (ICTS-TIFR, India)

Day 1

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Registration

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Orientation by Shirish Pathare / Rajesh Gopakumar / Kripa G

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Venue: Physics Labs | Ice Breaker Lab Session

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Tea Break

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Venue: Physics Labs | Ice Breaker Lab Session

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Dinner

Day 2

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Theory: Working through problems by Anwesh Majumdar (HBCSE)

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Venue: Physics Labs

G1-G5: Expt 1 Fresnel-Fraunhofer Diffraction by Shirish G6-G10: Expt 2 Microscopes by Rema Krishnaswamy

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Tea Break

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Venue: Physics Labs

G1-G5: Expt 1 Fresnel-Fraunhofer Diffraction by Shirish G6-G10: Expt 2 Microscopes by Rema Krishnaswamy

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Dinner

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Problem solving in groups

Day 3

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Theory: Uncertainties by Shirish

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Venue: Physics Labs | G1-G5: Expt 2 Microscopes by Rema G6-G10: Expt 1 Fresnel-Fraunhofer by Shirish

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Tea Break

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Venure: Physics Labs | G1-G5: Expt 2 Microscopes by Rema G6-G10: Expt 1 Fresnel-Fraunhofer by Shirish

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Venue: Ray | Panel discussion: Career pathways for physics student

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Dinner

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Problem solving in groups

Day 4

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Theory: How Collatz conjecture reflects onto Physics by Jayanth Vyasanakere

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Theory: On certain paradoxes in Physics by Jayanth Vyasanakere

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Venue: Physics Labs | Tinkering (G1-G5 and G6-G10) by Akshara Yagnik (Jena)/ Ramakrishna Joshi (RK)/ Akhila Varma

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Tea Break

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Venue: Physics Labs | Tinkering (G1-G5 and G6-G10) by Akshara Yagnik(Jena)/ Ramakrishna Joshi(RK)/ Akhila Varma

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Talk: Why you shouldn't stand on a topological insulator to change a light bulb by Sumathi Rao

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Dinner

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Problem solving in groups

Day 5

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Theory: Scaling and dimensional reasoning by Sridhar K

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Group Presentations (Learnings Review)

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Tea Break

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Synthesis of Results

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Talk: Women in Physics: why so few? by Gita Chadha

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Dinner

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Problem solving in groups

Day 7

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Theory: Noise, Dissipation, and the Meaning of Temperature by Pradeep Kumar Mohanty(IISER Kolkata)

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Venue: Physics Labs |

G1-G5: Expt 3 Ripple tanks by Kripa G6-G10: Expt 4 Brownian motion by Pradeep Kumar Mohanty

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Tea Break

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Venue: Physics Labs |

G1-G5: Expt 3 Ripple tanks by Kripa G6-G10: Expt 4 Brownian motion by Pradeep Kumar Mohanty

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Talk: Undergrads can also do research by Akshara

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Dinner

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Problem solving in groups

Day 8

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Theory: Guess the solution by Disha Bhatia

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Venue: Physics Labs |

G1-G5: Expt 4 Brownian motion by Pradeep Kumar Mohanty G6-G10: Expt 3 Ripple tanks Kripa

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Tea Break

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Venue: Physics Labs |

G1-G5: Expt 4 Brownian motion by Pradeep Kumar Mohanty G6-G10: Expt 3 Ripple tanks Kripa

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Venue: Ray | Talk by Poonam Mehta

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Dinner

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Problem solving in groups

Day 9

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Theory: Is clay a solid or a liquid? by Ranjini Bandhopadhyay

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Venue: Hampi 005 | Talk: Collective Dynamics of Algal Cells by Prerna Sharma(IISc)

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Venue: Physics Labs |

G1-G5: Demo A Falling ball, Acoustics by Ikbal / Proteep G6-G10: Demo B Pendulum by RK/ Akhila

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Tea Break

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Venue: Physics Labs |

G1-G5: Demo B Pendulum by RK/ Akhila G6-G10: Demo A Falling ball, Acoustics by Ikbal / Proteep

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Venue: Ray | Open Mic / Cultural programme

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Dinner

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Problem solving in groups

Day 10

Venue: Hampi 005

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Group Presentations

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Final Synthesis of Results

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Exit Test

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Closing / Feedback

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