Bhubaneswar, Dec. 20: Students from schools in 17 districts of the state are getting hands-on experience from leading researchers of prestigious institutes of the country at the ongoing Science Movement here.

The event, which is organised by the International Academy of Science, is an opportunity for students to learn about sciences through interactive lectures, demonstrations, activities and experiments.

The five-day event also aims to address the problem of declining interest among students to pursue a career in research, which can be attributed primarily to the lack of awareness about career opportunities and nature of work involved in the field of science.

About 100 students of classes IX and X, who are in Bhubaneswar since December 17, had the chance to interact with more than 20 leading researchers from institutes, including Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, National Institute of Science Education and Research, the Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institute of Physics.

These researchers have been deliberating in various advanced concepts in the fields of applied physics, chemistry, astronomy, mathematics and biology.

"In-depth understanding can be imparted through experimental demonstrations, whereas scientific phenomena can introduced through practical demonstrations," said Jyoti Ranjan Tripathy, convener, Science Movement.

"The objective is to undertake initiatives to facilitate active interaction between school students, researchers and academicians. Besides encouraging students in the field of sciences, such initiatives aim to provide a platform for researchers to contribute at the grassroots level of learning by reaching out to school students," said Tripathy.

"It has been a lifetime experience for many of us. Many complicated theories of science were explained to us in a simple manner," said a school student.

"The discussions on topics such as Role of Chemistry in Human Life, World of Galaxies, The Measure of Time, Use of Geometry in Shreeyantra, Telescopes of the Future, Fundamental Misconceptions in Mathematics, Light Matter Interaction, Application of Laser and General Concepts of Virology were very interesting," said Subranshu Padhi, a participant.

These apart, there were demonstrations on applications of liquid nitrogen, hands-on mathematical origami and night sky observation using telescopes.

There were also panel discussions addressing general queries on career choices in sciences.

The hands-on educational approach during the event worked as an essential build-up exercise for the students to push their limits beyond the confines of books and develop an interest in pursuing careers in the sciences.