YUVIKA (Young Scientist Programme)
Why in News?
The YUVIKA (Yuva Vigyani Karyakram) / Young Scientist Programme is in the news because the Union Minister of State for Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh, recently presented a detailed update in the Lok Sabha.
Objective & Mission
- The report confirmed that the YUVIKA 2026 session was successfully executed from 11 May to 22 May 2026, expanding its reach to 456 students across 9 major ISRO centres.
- "Catch Them Young": Created by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to seed an early interest in space technology and space sciences among high schoolers.
- STEM Promotion: Designed to motivate young students to pursue higher education and research careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
Program Details & Eligibility
- Target Audience: Exclusively tailored for Class 9 students studying within any recognized school ecosystem in India.
- Structure: A intensive two-week fully residential training experience held annually during the summer break.
- Funding: Fully funded by the Department of Space; all costs for student travel, boarding, lodging, and materials are completely covered by ISRO.
- Merit-Based System: Candidates are selected automatically based on a weighted matrix of Class 8 academic scores, online quiz performance, and participation in science fairs, sports, or school clubs (NCC/Scouts).
- Rural Advantage: A 15% reservation/weightage bonus is purposefully allocated to children studying in rural and remote areas to ensure structural inclusivity.
Performance & Key Highlights from YUVIKA 2026
- Expanded Footprint: Scaled up to train 456 meritorious students from 28 States and 8 Union Territories, compared to 350 students in the previous batch.
- 9 Host ISRO Centres: Sessions were distributed across premium facilities like VSSC (Thiruvananthapuram), SDSC SHAR (Sriharikota), NRSC (Hyderabad), URSC (Bengaluru), SAC (Ahmedabad), IIRS (Dehradun), NE-SAC (Shillong), and two new additions—IPRC (Mahendragiri) and RRSC West (Jodhpur).
- Experiential Learning: Students assembled Chandrayaan-3 DIY kits, coded basic robotics, watched a live RH200 rocket launch, and conducted sky-gazing sessions.
- Global Interaction: Participants engaged in a live, direct virtual interaction with scientists stationed at India’s Bharati Station in Antarctica, alongside mentoring from senior scientists and Indian Gaganyaatris.
