WINGS Workshop – 2024: Day 1 Report
DAY – 1 Report of WINGS Workshop
Indian National Young Academy of Science (INYAS) under the aegis of Indian National Science Academy (INSA) in association with Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT B) concluded the inaugural session of WINGS (Work and Industry Neutral Growth Skills) 2024 Capacity Building Workshop at Victor Menezes Convention Centre (VMCC), IIT Bombay on 08 August 2024. The event was marked by the gracious presence of the Honourable Chief Guest, Dr. Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India.
The workshop initiated with an interactive Ice-breaking and Scene-setting session where the participants and organising committee members introduced themselves. Thereafter the pre-inaugural session themed ‘Connect Her’ was facilitated by Ms. Sukriti Somvanshi, Communications Lead at Shell Business Operations.
The day was also marked by the honorary presence of Dr. Archana Sharma, Director – Beam Technology Development Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre; Prof. Subeer Majumdar, Director General – Gujarat Biotechnology University; Prof. Ramanuj Narayan, Director – CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology and Dr. Tara Satyavathi, Director – ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research. The event initiated with the floral welcome of guests for the inaugural session. Moving ahead with the programme, Dr. Nishant Chakravorty, Chair – Indian National Young Academy of Science, highlighted the mission and vision of INYAS in the coming years. Dr. Chakravorty additionally mentioned the flagship events of INYAS, namely WiSDom, PRAYOJAN, Saransh and RuSETUP, which will be amplified in the 10th year anniversary celebration of INYAS in 2024. The event was moderated by Dr. Veda Krishnan, Secretary – INYAS and Convener WINGS-2024 along with Dr. Shobhna Kapoor, Convener WINGS-2024.
The dignitaries were then informed about the WINGS workshop, which aims to bridge the gender gap in STEAM and empower women academicians and industrialists to step up the ladder of leadership. To celebrate INYAS’s achievements in the Women in Scientific Domain (WiSDom) initiatives, the dignitaries released three publications. The first publication is a snapshot of WiSDom 2024 that highlights the four different activities under the banner, namely WINGS, NAARI, GIRL Programme and HER Story. The second publication was the WINGS brochure, which meticulously outlines the entire programme in a single handbook. The third publication was the report on last year’s WiSDom 2023 achievements.
The session began with an honorary address by Dr. Tara Satyavathi, who spoke about the significance of meticulous implementation, work-life balance and understanding the concept of action, reaction and emotion. Following this Prof. Ramanuj Narayan emphasised the importance of networking and connectivity. Dr. Archana Sharma then addressed the audience focusing on the necessity of consistency and execution as key factors for success. Prof. Subeer Majumdar followed by highlighting the necessity of improving ‘Women’s Agency’, as it is crucial for the economic and political upliftment of any nation.
Following this trajectory the WINGS 2024 participants then witnessed the honorary address of the Chief Guest for the inaugural session, Dr. Parvinder Maini. She spoke about the significance of emotional quotient being at par with the intelligence quotient in the working environment. She also highlighted the necessity of gender sensitivity in the science and policy ecosystem, along with the 3 R’s of effective leadership that she mentioned: Realization, Recognition and Repetition. Additionally, she addressed the concepts of ‘Imposter Syndrome’ and the ‘Leaky Pipeline Issue’ in the administrative domain, which pose enormous challenges to women in their professional journey. Towards the end, she exemplified the importance of utilizing the inherent skills of an individual.
Concluding the inaugural session, the dignitaries were then felicitated with tokens of gratitude by the Chair of INYAS, followed by a group photograph session with the participants and organizing committee members.
Following the inaugural session, the theme-based session talks were delivered by the invited resource person. The talk for the second session themed ‘Empower Her’ was delivered by Dr. Parul Ganju, Co-founder and CEO of Ahamune Biosciences Pvt. Ltd. Thereafter an interactive session was facilitated by Dr. Rohini Garg from Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence and Dr. Mudrika Khandelwal from Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad themed ‘Knowing Self’. Moving ahead the session themed ‘Power Up talk’ was resourced by Dr. Vandana Singh, Head WISE KIRAN Division Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. The trajectory of the event was then diverted towards the engaging panel discussion moderated by Prof. Subeer Majumdar; Director General Gujarat Biotechnology University themed ‘Fire-side Chat.’ Concluding the entire Day-1 of the WINGS 2024 workshop the Lift Off Lecture was delivered by Prof. Ramanuj Narayan, Director CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology. To wrap in all the Day-1 of the workshop was filled with vision, enthusiasm and productivity.
Report on 3 publications released during WINGS-2024
Indian National Young Academy of Science (INYAS) has always been instrumental in bridging the gender gap in the science & technology ecosystem. Through the WiSDom – Women in Scientific Domain Initiative INYAS initiates workshops, programmes and activities centric to women empowerment and upliftment. During the WINGS-2024 (Work and Industry Neutral Growth Skill) Capacity Building Workshop INYAS released three publications. The first publication is a culmination of 2024 goals under WiSDom – WINGS 2024, NAARI, GIRL and HER story. The WINGS 2024 is designed to empower future women leaders across academia and industry via interactive sessions and hands-on activities. The NAARI is a technical publication in association with SPRINGER. The GIRL programme is aimed at empowering rural girl students in their scientific careers. The last initiative of HER Story will spotlight inspiring women scientist stories for children in the form of a vibrant comic series. The second publication is the WINGS 2024 Brochure which is a compilation of the WINGS 2024 vision, mission, themes, facilitators, participants and sponsors profile. Concludingly the third publication is the report of the WiSDom initiative of 2023 named STEAM Gap at IIT Gandhinagar which encapsulates the discussions and deliberations that were on board. To summarize, INYAS released three vibrant publications intrinsic to women in the scientific diaspora.
