When Darshana Joshi, a farmer’s daughter from a village in Uttarakhand, was mentored to earn her PhD in Physics from Cambridge University, she vowed to do the same for other promising but economically backward girls across India. Darshana Joshi loved science, but her academic interests were fueled by a chance meeting with Prof. Shobhana Narasimhan, a prominent physicist, and she went on to earn her PhD.

Having achieved her dream, she then teamed up with her husband and other passionate volunteers to launch VigyanShaala, for nurturing grassroot level talent. VigyanShaala conducted workshops in more than 200 schools across India to grasp the challenges of STEM education. STEM focuses on integrating the four disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics to enable real-world problem solving. Instead of studying these subjects in isolation, an integrated approach helps students in critical thinking and fosters innovation.

Programs like ‘She for STEM’ inspired young girls to focus on STEM learning and helped them connect with global mentors. Another program, ‘Rural STEM Champions’ reached out to the young minds in the remote villages of India. Under this program, students conducted STEM experiments and received career guidance.

By providing STEM education to the deserving girls, VigyanShaala has helped them reach their dream destination in organisations like ISRO and NASA.