My Experience with IISc Openday 2024

Posted Apr 6, 2024 Updated Jun 16, 2024

By Sanath N U 7 min read

Introduction

So, I’m gonna be honest, I’m kind of a science freak, I get very much excited about cool things that are explained. I remember the fun when I used to watch Vsauce , Smarter Everyday, Veritasium and the cool science that they used to explain. In the recent years starting my undergrad journey, I found that the annual IISc Open day events to be incredibly awesome. Imagine if one of India’s brightest minds just out there explaining some cool physics and science things, and you can absorb as much as you can? Count me in! I call it a festival for nerds lol. But damn if it doesn’t bring in huge crowds from across the blustering city of Bengaluru, Karnataka! 2024’s open day website is here, but don’t expect it to be working if you are looking at this in the year 2027. I went to visit this “festival for celebration of science” this year, and here are my thoughts and learning’s from this year.

Kinda disclaimer

Also, from the past year’s experience , I realized that not everything can be covered with complete attention in a single day. You can’t walk through 440 acres and expect to keep your mental curiosity up in the grueling heat. So, I made a priority list of departments to visit (which I ultimately don’t follow completely anyways). Also, I’m not a big fan of photos? So, I don’t have to be the man of the event. I’ve just posted whatever seems fair to be the topic of discussion. This is more of a technical discussion on which topics I found awesome in IISC, and hence not much on the people or departments. I just wanted to tell the vibe of this place! All opinions are my own, and I would like to give credit to all researchers who presented on this day. I thank you for your wonderful contribution to the advancement of science.

I have tried to link all the department websites I visited to, but couldn’t link some departments because Jekyll doesn’t allow links to HTTP websites which some of the department websites still run on.

IISc Map

Well, take a lot at their bigass campus!

Day’s Story

According to the official rules, the entire campus was supposed to be open from 9AM to 5PM. Me, thinking I was being clever, exactly decided to step into the campus at 9AM. When I reached the campus a little while early, I saw that other smart people had arrived exactly before me, and everyone was rushing in. What, a bummer, but eh, I moved on.
The first department to walk into was the Aerospace Department. It didn’t seem like the best logical decision, but I knew that people will wind up later during the day (somewhere around 10-12? ) and I didn’t want to be caught up with the sweating sweltering crowd. It would have been more like a magic show rather than a curious exploration into physics of things that soar the skies. There were some really nice demos in the Shockwave field of the Aerospace department and I was reminded of how awesome it is, that we are breaking The speed of sound to study shockwaves. Pretty rad.
Moved next onto CeNSE department. Spent some considerable time in there, but didn’t go the clean room session.
Didn’t enter the Physics and Chemistry department as it was crowded with school kids. Whole armadas of various kids, just having a day outing were there. Though I was able to visit the Biological Sciences Department and damn… they were waay more well organized that the Aerospace department (maybe because I went in too early) . There were various posters all around advanced and simple concepts in biochemistry, virology and bacteriology. Especially there was this one presentation of DNA translation and transcription that brought back the pleasures of learning biology back in high school! Scooted for lunch after this.
Visited the JRD library and was surprised by the amount of knowledge there. I was so incredibly fascinated, I felt like being in a library like Princeton Uni, where you could come upon the next world changing idea. It is so serene and peaceful, you couldn’t ask for more. In a thriving boisterous city like Bengaluru, I still couldn’t imagine serenity at such a pace.
Then, we moved on to the department of Computer Science and Automation. You could tell this building was very old. This was one of the most important and informative hours that I could have during that month where years of training and concepts were being poured into my brain!
The final destination was the Math and CDS departments. Both were damn impressive. Math, I dunno, I kinda have a grand intellectual liking towards it. They talked about the Monty Hall problem and Penrose tiling’s and for a moment, I could understand these complex structures that came out of the ingenious mind of man.
By this time, it was already past 5 and they were closing down every one of the department so, we did leave. We caught a nice sunset view tho!

Thoughts

It’s always been a big tradition for me to science things out. I’ve been an ardent lover of science for as far as I can remember. And this is one of my rituals that I’ve been following for the past few years to satisfy my innate urge to see some cool stuff. And I’m always glad it works! Throughout the entire day, as fascinating as everything was, I couldn’t make time for every department. Kinda felt sad, that I couldn’t make it to the Physics and the Science department . I know, I have to make do with it, but it felt a little sad to leave out some of the integral sciences which helps us understand the world.

The nature of scientific research

The Bio department was visually very interesting. Various high level concepts of were being discussed and with such enthusiasm, it melted my heart. Like how the military-industrial complex is designed to get people into a liking the military, these valiant practitioners of science could have great effect on aspiring young minds.
I know that being in the science field gives you a lot of clout and respect from society, but I think that a huge percentage of the scientists, should be driven by curiosity, raw and powerful. I know there’s a lot of criticism and real life that comes when determining the practical problems in scientific research, but at it’s heart, it’s driven by curiosity and innate urge for understanding.

The beauty of the Library

The JRD tata memorial library was one of the most interesting parts of the tour. The library is so serene, it exactly gave me the thoughts of the scene from A Beautiful Mind and how it would be like to study in Princeton or something.
There were books and journals from the 80s! These were old translated journals of the Soviet era. I was happy to read a Soviet journal entry about hardening materials using lasers to reconstruct materials. Obscurity is the nature of science, whatever the thoughts of physicists in the 80s were either completely overturned by a clever paradigm shift. This is what I’m expecting when I plan to read the book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions next year.

The vibe of Bengaluru

Despite its reputation for congestion and traffic woes, Bengaluru holds a special place in my heart as a place I have lived and grown in. However, within the confines of IISC, one can escape the chaos and appreciate the city’s beauty. It’s akin to a secluded garden, offering a glimpse of Bengaluru’s past charm amidst its modern landscape.