COVID-19 Lockdown: IIT Gandhinagar students follow Isaac Newton

NEW DELHI: What did Sir Isaac Newton do when the Great Plague of London locked him down in 1665?

Newton did not fall into despair. He developed some of his profoundest discoveries, including his most famous theory of gravity.

Through ‘Project Isaac’, IIT Gandhinagar is tapping the latent potential of its students during the COVID-19 lockdown, making them emulate what Newton did 350 years ago.

The premier engineering institute wants students “to dream ambitiously” and create their own “years of wonder”.

An NDTV report quoted IITGN director Sudhir K Jain as saying: ''Project Isaac takes inspiration from Isaac Newton's stellar example as a student during the Great Plague of London in 1665 to motivate our students, who are today similarly confined as Newton was 355 years ago, to undertake ambitious and wondrous things even in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic.

More than 40 percent of IITGN have joined the voluntary projects. “We want to emerge from this difficult period stronger and better both as individuals and as a community," Jain added.

Through ‘Project Isaac’ IITGN wants the students to engage themselves in productive activities like cultivating or honing new skills in writing, coding, painting, creative expression, etc. These are critical skills necessary for professional success.

The projects can also be in areas such as script writing, fiction/non-fiction/poetry, sketch/cartoon/painting/digital graphic, music, video or other artistic performance and any other intellectual expression.

The students have to submit their creative products for Project Isaac Showcase, to be held when the institute re-opens. The winners will be awarded cash prizes ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000.

The IITGN website said: “The Project Isaac Showcase will culminate in a massive talent contest once students return to campus to showcase their creative work-products developed during this period.”

Only projects generated from March 15 to 30 are eligible to be showcased.

Also read:

• CBSE to teachers: ‘Make the quarantine productive’
• COVID19 Lockdown: UGC promotes online courses for students, teachers

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