Students of IISER Pune Bag a Chance to Work on Prestigious US Project
For carrying out LIGO operations, a large number of the workforce will be required by 2020. Therefore, the LIGO team from the US has been touring India and holding negotiations with various scientific institutions.
Training on Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) is likely to be imparted in the fifth year of integrated bachelor's master's programme for the students of Physics at Indian Institute of Science Education & Research, Pune. LIGO's third advanced detector will be set up in India, and it is a significant project in the field of fundamental sciences.
Also read: - Student of Vijayawada Gets US Patent for Research on Brain-Computer Interface
For carrying out LIGO operations, a large number of the workforce will be required by 2020. Therefore, the LIGO team from the US has been touring India and holding negotiations with various scientific institutions. The discussions will take place on opportunities that are available in the field for Indian scientists and post-doctoral fellows. However, the setting up of the observatory is not yet confirmed.
According to sources, LIGO-India observatory will be set up as a joint scientific collaboration between: -
- Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore
- Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar
- Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Also read: - Anna University Gets a Grant of Rs. 23 Crores for Bio-Medical Research
Frederick Raab of LIGO Laboratory revealed that they need skilled and trained people from India by 2020 to commission complex instruments. Therefore, the major challenge for India is to train people who can use these instruments. He further added that they are visiting various scientific institutions in India to ensure the readiness of the Indian resources.
He clarified that post-doctoral fellows could also take up short duration training which vary between three and nine months. The training session will be held in LIGO observatories aboard, and the Indian candidates will return to India with operational knowledge. The students from IISER who attend the training will gain skills as they will work with experts and learn about research mechanism.
Sunil Mukhi, Professor of Physics at IISER expressed that it is a proud moment for the students pursuing research to grab an opportunity to get trained at LIGO.