Remote lab access for aspiring scientists

Graduate and undergraduate college and university students in India can now access state-of-the-art labs across 12 premier instructions online, as a new virtual lab is launched under the National Mission in Education through ICT.

Some 89 virtual laboratories are now in place, which are divided into two types, simulation and remote triggered. The software contains over 800 experiments across nine disciplines of science and engineering, providing open access to otherwise costly laboratory facilities.

Dr Ranjan Bose, of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) in the Delhi faculty commented in the Times of India that: "The wireless lab on Aakash is the flagship lab of this project. For remote triggered labs, students can book slots. Theory part they can prepare offline and do the experiment online. These labs will now going to facilitate 20 times more experiments."

Students will also be able to submit the results of their lab activities to the IIT faculties for evaluation. The complete package enables students to get experience of the science and engineering behind the experiments, as well as allowing those in rural areas perform tests that they would not otherwise be able to access.

Posted by Lauren Steadman