Chandigarh,May 31 ( Harbans Singh)
A 6-day bridge course on ‘Biological Tools and Techniques’, organised by the Departments of Zoology and Botany at Mehr Chand Mahajan DAV College for Women, Chandigarh, culminated here today. The aim of the course was to develop scientific curiosity among students by educating them about the recent trends in the field of life sciences. On the valedictory day, Principal Dr. Nisha Bhargava, along with the participants and faculty of both the departments, planted saplings in order to raise awareness about the pressing issue of global warming. Dr. Bhargava gave away certificates to the participants and motivated them to take up a career in academic research in different upcoming fields of Biology.
The course was designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the various research tools and techniques used by the Biologists. On the first day, Ms. Srishti, Research Scholar under Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF), IISER Mohali, conducted an intensive hands-on training session focused on essential laboratory skills and knowledge. Day 2 commenced with a hands-on training session titled ‘Histopathological Techniques’ by Dr. Sandeep Kaur. The aim of this session was to provide a complete overview of fundamental principle, techniques and applications of Histopathology to the participants. On Day 3, lecture cum demo on the techniques used in the propagation of plants was conducted by Dr. Ruby Singh for both indoor and outdoor air purifying plants including Syngonium, Pothos, Snake Plant and others. Day 4 was dedicated to the topics of Molecular techniques and Bioinformatics, wherein Dr. Divya Sharma shed light on solution preparation for molecular biology experiments, DNA extraction, Electrophoresis and Polymerase Chain Reaction. On day 5, Dr. Jasleen Kaur conducted two sessions, the first relating to Taxonomy of a few common Flowering Plants of Chandigarh and the second on Herbarium Techniques (Plant Collection, preservation and preparation of Herbarium). To further enhance the participants’ knowledge and enrich their learning experience, a short video related to the topic was also shown. On day 6, a quiz was conducted to evaluate the knowledge gained by the participants throughout the course and feedback was taken for further improvisation. The participants expressed gratitude to the institution for opening up new vistas of learning and exploring for them.
