Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad is conducting the fifth season of its residential science camp in memory of late Prof. M. C. Valsakumar, former Professor of Physics and Dean Student Affairs at IIT Palakkad. Prof. Valsakumar, Valsa to his friends, was an excellent researcher, an extraordinary teacher, and above all a humanist. Spreading his passion for science is our way of continuing the journey with him. The programme is supported by a corpus fund established by Professor Valsa's family and friends.
IIT Palakkad will select the students for the camp from schools across Kerala and Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu. The goal of the camp is to instill a spirit of inquiry, critical thinking, and love for science and mathematics in students. This camp would also provide a platform for interactions between students from various parts of Kerala and researchers at IIT Palakkad. There will be interactive sessions on various topics in science, engineering, and mathematics, and several hands-on sessions in labs where scientific concepts will be introduced through experiments. Students will be awarded a small stipend and some travel allowance.
The camp will run uninterrupted from May 19 - 28, 2025.
Food and accommodation will be provided in the IIT hostels which are inside the campus.
Programme Highlights
Lectures, demonstrations, hands-on workshops, puzzles and lot more!
Eligibility and Application Process
Students should be currently studying in Class XI (Eleven) in Kerala or Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu and should be in one of the science streams. The application is to be submitted online at https://squest.iitpkd.ac.in/. It has to be accompanied by scanned copy of the 10th standard mark list. Selected students will be asked to submit a bonafide certificate from the Principal in the form that can be downloaded from the same link. Incomplete applications will not be considered. The last date for receipt of applications is April 10, 2025. The list of selected students will be published on the institute's website by April 21, 2025.
Important Dates
| Last date of receipt of online applications |
April 10, 2025 |
| Announcement of list of selected students |
May 1, 2025 |
| Dates of the science camp | May 19 - 28, 2025 |
Final list of Selected Candidates for the Science Quest 2025
About IIT Palakkad
Established in 2015, the Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad is dedicated to creating an environment that enables students and faculty to engage in the pursuit of knowledge, to dream, think, and innovate thereby becoming change agents for a better world. Having begun with just 120 students in July 2015, IIT Palakkad has since grown into an establishment that is more than 1200 students strong and with the best manpower in key positions. IIT Palakkad operates from its beautiful campus at Kanjikode. IIT Palakkad is fully residential with separate hostels for girls and boys.
Contact: For further queries please send a mail to sciencequest@iitpkd.ac.in or call 0491-2091410
About Valsa
Prof. M. C. Valsakumar ( 1952:2019 )
Prof. M. C. Valsakumar was born in Pinarayi, Kannur district in Kerala. He was an alumnus of Government. Brennen College, Thalassery and Department of Physics, University of Calicut. Soon after his M.Sc (1975- with gold medal) he joined BARC Training School, Mumbai. Since then he worked at IGCAR, Kalpakkam till he superannuated as Outstanding Scientist and Head of Materials Physics Division, IGCAR in 2012. Soon after he retired from IGCAR he was invited as a Distinguished Professor at School of Materials Engineering/Science, University of Hyderabad. In June 2015 he accepted the invitation to join IIT Palakkad where he served until March 2018. Prof. Valsakumar was a versatile researcher. He published more than 160 research articles in reputed journals. Many scientists and various university students completed their PhD under his able guidance. Some of his seminal works on open quantum systems and statistical mechanics became landmarks in those areas. His research interests spanned across quantum field theory and computational materials science. He was also an expert in high performance computing and was instrumental in developing dedicated computational facilities at IGCAR.
Prof. Valsakumar was an inspiring teacher with a deep understanding across various disciplines. He was adored by his students.