Workshop on Sustainable Development at SRM University-AP
Sauri, the woman leadership and entrepreneurship student community of SRM University-AP, in association with the Directorate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation conducted a Workshop on Sustainable Development on March 01, 2023 to promote an insightful discourse on SDGs and develop strategies advocating green development. The workshop was an ideal platform facilitating knowledge and insight into the challenges on formulating a development plan that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Student presentations on the problem statements regarding Sustainable development were a major highlight of the workshop.
The Chief Guest of the workshop Mrs Ramya Krishna Burisetty gave a brief description and a presentation regarding her startup venture and sustainable development. She also gave a comprehensive overview on her journey, background work, ideology behind her startup, ways to build start-ups and the technology of fortifying foods. Being a women entrepreneur, she also motivated students by providing them with guidelines for the funding sources available for women entrepreneurs.
The workshop was attended by 350+ students from various colleges. Students from VVIT, VIT-AP, VR Siddhartha Engineering College, NRI Institute Of Technology and KL University actively participated in multiple activities organised as part of the workshop. A quiz was conducted as well as presentations based on their ideas on the given problem statements. Mr Dinesh and team from VVIT bagged the first prize and Ms Sindhuja from SRM AP took home the second prize in the quiz competition. The third prize was awarded to two teams, Mr Eeshwar from NRIIT and Ms Ridhi from SRM AP. The students gained knowledge about how to build a startup keeping in mind the goals of Sustainable development. The top five participants with high scores and accuracy were also awarded with deserving prizes.
- Published in Departmental News, IDEA NEWS, IDEA Workshop, News, Workshop
Symposium on Cell and Molecular Biology (SCMB-2023)
Cell and molecular biology is a vast field that encompasses many different areas of research, from genetics to immunology, from biochemistry to the study of single-cell sequencing. In order to emphasise the on-going research in cell and molecular biology, The Department of Biological Sciences organised a two-day Symposium on Cell and Molecular biology (SCMB-2023) from February 16 to 17, 2023, at SRM University-AP. The symposium consisted of insightful talks by eminent speakers from different parts of India and abroad, including the Hebrew University (Israel), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (Israel), Biological Research Centre (Hungary), Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), The AMR Insights (The Netherlands), Indian Institute of Science, IIT-Jodhpur, CSIR- Institute for Microbial Technology, IIIT-Delhi and more. A pre-symposium workshop on computational handling of biological data was another highlight of the convention.
Pre-symposium Workshop
In the past decade, the use of computational tools and algorithms to analyze data or use of artificial intelligence to model biological systems and predict how they will behave under different conditions have increased extensively. With an aim to give the basic knowledge of how this computational approach works, the Department of Biological Sciences invited Dr Gaurav Ahuja and Miss Aayushi Mittal to have a hands on session on:
- Building Machine Learning models leveraging biological datasets in R-programming.
- Using AutoML techniques for building classification and regression models (Biological datasets)
- Case study with Metabo Killer Python Package (Mittal et al. 2022, Nature Chemical Biology).
Symposium talks
Among all the eminent speakers the keynote speakers for the symposium were Prof. Orna Amster-Choder, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and Prof. Motti Choder, Technion- Israel Institute of Technology who gave an insight on gene expressions. With all the hot topics of cell and molecular biology starting right from ribosomal role in diseases, protein quality control in neurodegeneration and its therapy, the speakers also spoke about different model system and techniques, for instance bacterial nanotubes in intercellular interactions, use of Caenorhabditis elegans for host pathogen interaction, CRISPR-Cas3 systems for large-scale genome manipulation and gene discovery and Pseudouridine RNA modification. These insightful talks on data analytics and cell and its regulation not only provided the participants with brainstorming sessions, it also provided a platform to discuss and channelise new thoughts.
The conference was jointly convened by Prof. Jayaseelan Murugaiyan, Head of the Department of Biological Sciences, SRM University-AP, India and Dr Sutharsan Govindarajan, India Alliance Early Career Fellow and Assistant Professor at SRM University-AP. The symposium was held in a hybrid mode aimed to reach more budding scientists and established researchers. The target audience of the symposium included undergraduate students, postgraduate students, doctoral and post-doctoral scholars and researchers across the world. Participants from over nine institutes took part in the offline mode with a majority being undergrad students, whereas online participation witnessed registration from 327 institutes. The symposium had 120 offline participants and 572 online participants from 19 countries; 26 states and 3 union territories within India.
- Published in Biology News, Departmental News, News, Sympossium
Alignment 360-The Leadership Workshop
SRM University-AP conducted the first-ever three-day leadership workshop with the theme Alignment 360 to help individuals at the university align their values, goals, and behaviours holistically. 57 leadership team members from academic, non-academic, top management and the President’s office participated in the event held from March 17 to 19, 2023, at Riviera Beach Resort, Chirala. The workshop aimed to enable individuals and teams to clarify their core values and goals and develop an action plan to align their behaviour and decision-making with these values and goals.
Honourable Pro-Chancellor of SRM University-AP, Dr P Sathyanarayanan, expressed how glad he is over the workshop’s theme and put forth his vision and mission to locate SRM University-AP as the number one higher education institution in the upcoming years. Prof. Manoj K Arora, Vice Chancellor of SRM University-AP, kick-started the workshop by welcoming all and introducing the purpose of the workshop. He gave the task to the leadership team to formulate the next five years’ Strategic Goals and Operational goals.
The programme covered various aspects of alignment, including personal values, organisational culture, communication, leadership, and strategy. Through interactive exercises, discussions, and self-reflection, participants learn how to identify their values and goals, assess their current alignment, and develop strategies to improve alignment. The ultimate goal was to help individuals and organisations become more effective and efficient by aligning their behaviour with their core values and goals. By creating a shared understanding of values and goals, teams can work together more cohesively and make decisions that are consistent with their overarching mission and purpose. This, in turn, can lead to increased productivity, better morale, and improved outcomes.
Mr Chand and Mr Harish from Hum Consulting conducted the workshop and kept the audience enthralled and involved through various activities. Team building, Leadership roles, Target achievements, Conflict management and other activities were completed. The workshop concluded with a gala dinner and entertainment evening at the beach with the theme, Unwinding by the sea.
Workshop on Financial Education Conducted by NISM
The management precinct of SRM University-AP, The Paari School of Business strives to generate young entrepreneurs, bankers and business leaders who are financially capable and independent citizens of the nation. The school has conducted a “Financial Literacy Programme for Young Citizens” (CSR Project of Kotak Securities ). The 10-hour programme held from March 01 to 03, 2023, was organised to provide practical training for students of management on the following concepts:-
- Importance of Investments and Financial Investment Opportunities
- Introduction to Securities Market ( Process and Prerequisites to invest in Securities Market)
- Precautions while investing in the Securities Market.
- Investor Protection and Grievance Redressal Mechanism
This Financial Education for young citizens endeavours to impart them with the following objectives:-
- Deeper awareness about the career opportunities available in the Securities Market and Financial Services
- Deeper awareness about Entrepreneurial Opportunities available in the Securities Market
- Empowering students to face interviews in the financial services industry
- Creating awareness about the personal finance framework
- Creating awareness about the prerequisites of investing in the Securities Market
- Creating awareness about the risks involved while investing in the Securities Market
- Capability Building for Evaluation of Investment Opportunities in the Securities Market
- A better understanding of the Securities Market
E-certificates were issued to all students who participated and scored above 60% marks.
- Published in Departmental News, News, Paari Current Happenings, Workshop
Workshop on Water Resources in India: Challenges and Hazards
The availability of water as an elixir of life depends on several factors, including land and climate. The Department of Environmental Science and Engineering organised a 2-Day workshop on “How interactions between climate and land use/land cover changes can affect water resources” on March 27 and 28, 2023, in affiliation with the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Kentucky, USA. The workshop was inaugurated by Vice Chancellor Prof. Manoj K Arora. Distinguished academician and researcher, Prof. Alan Ernest Fryar, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Kentucky, was the resource person for the session.
The workshop was conducted with the aim of providing an overview of water resources in India, water resource challenges and hazards, climate change and projected effects, and mitigation and adaptation strategies. Prof. Fryar also explained the groundwater status across India and regional approaches to exploring it as a drinking water resource. He also explained the impact of climate change on groundwater as a fresh drinking water resource and adaptation strategies.
The workshop saw the participation of over 60 faculty, PhD Scholars and UG students from various educational institutions across the district. UG students from the Department of Geology, Hindu College and Chalapathi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Guntur, participated in the session and interacted with Prof. Fryar.
A field visit to the Krishna Riverbank in Amaravati, Guntur, was also conducted as part of the workshop on March 28, where Prof. Fryar interacted with the research scholars and emphasised the importance of field visits and the scientific and systematic way of sample collection from the field. In addition, Prof. Fryar conducted hands-on training on the field instrument (multi-parameter probe, Hanna) for real-time data collection from the river water and groundwater sources in the field.
- Published in Departmental News, ENVS News, News, Workshop