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We are delighted to announce PTTS program is revived after a gap. PTTS program for B.Sc. students will be held in Chanakya University, Bengaluru, from 09 -19 June, 2025.

About PTTS

Physics Training and Talent Search (PTTS) is a training program designed to nurture motivated undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as teachers, through active learning methodologies. Our goal is to identify talented individuals and provide them with the skills, guidance, and exposure needed to pursue research careers in physics or excel in teaching roles.

Since its inception in 2015, PTTS has successfully conducted flagship programs, mini-programs, and teacher training workshops, despite interruptions in 2020 and limited funding in 2023–24. The program's unique methods aim to transform participants' approach to learning and teaching physics, benefiting their academic and professional journeys.

Our Vision

India's educational landscape is at a pivotal moment. While there are islands of excellence at the school and university levels, there remains a critical need to empower students and teachers in under-resourced institutions, particularly in rural areas. PTTS aims to bridge this gap by offering training programs that focus on critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and experimental physics.

We focus on higher education as it directly influences the quality of school teachers, researchers, and professionals who shape the nation's future. Our programs target college and university students, fostering intellectual growth at a stage where it can have the most significant impact.

Key Features of Our Programs

  1. Interactive Theory Classes: Classes emphasize active participation, where students are encouraged to ask and answer questions.
  2. Collaborative Tutorials: Students solve problems in groups, with tutors guiding them to explore concepts critically.
  3. Innovative Experiments: Participants design, build, and execute physics experiments within a challenging budget of Rs. 300, encouraging creative problem-solving.
  4. Diversity: The programs are designed to include participants from rural areas, women, and underrepresented groups, fostering an inclusive environment.

Past Activities

  1. Physics Training and Talent Search (PTTS): A three-week intensive training program for B.Sc. and M.Sc. students, often in collaboration with the Infosys Science Foundation.
  2. Mini-PTTS: Regional training programs tailored for specific states or institutions.
  3. Workshops for Teachers: Training educators in active-learning methodologies, including a notable online workshop featuring Nobel Laureate Prof. Carl Wieman.
  4. Discussion Meetings: Meetings on innovative pedagogies, such as the one hosted by IISER Pune, focusing on experimental physics.

Special Initiatives

  • Women in Physics: We take extra care to encourage women participants, particularly those from rural areas. Seats are reserved for women with a break in their academic careers.
  • Rural Outreach: PTTS prioritizes participants from colleges and universities in rural areas, promoting upward academic mobility and fostering a sense of community.
  • Internship Opportunities: Exceptional participants have been offered internships to further their academic and research careers.

Program Pedagogy

Our teaching approach emphasizes 'learning how to learn' rather than rote memorization. For theory, we employ interactive, question-driven lectures, while tutorials foster peer collaboration. The experimental physics course challenges students to think like experimentalists—proposing, designing, and executing experiments using limited resources.

This methodology has consistently received positive feedback from participants, who report significant improvements in their understanding, problem-solving abilities, and confidence in pursuing academic or research careers.

Impact and Outcomes

Since 2015, PTTS has mentored students and teachers from diverse backgrounds, many of whom are now pursuing research or teaching careers in premier institutions across India and abroad. Alumni feedback highlights the program’s role in their academic growth and career trajectory.

Support and Partnerships

We gratefully acknowledge support from organizations like the Infosys Science Foundation, IISER Pune, and ICTS Bengaluru, among others. Institutions interested in partnering with PTTS to host programs or fund initiatives are encouraged to contact us. These collaborations can serve as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR) activities.

Contact Us

For inquiries or partnerships, please reach out:

EARLIER PROGRAMMES

The first programme was held from December 18 to 30, 2015, at Kuvempu University, Karnataka, for around 50 B.Sc. III-year students selected from across India. This highly successful programme was funded by several research institutes and national science academies, motivating us to continue it annually. Since then, multiple programmes have been conducted at different venues.

  • PTTS-2015: Kuvempu University, Karnataka (B.Sc. III year students)
  • PTTS-2016: Regional Institute of Education, Mysore (B.Sc. III year students)
  • PTTS-2017: Loyola College, Chennai (M.Sc. I year students)
  • PTTS-2018: National Institute of Technology, Surathkal (B.Sc. II year and M.Sc. I year students)
  • PTTS-2019: Manipal Institute of Technology, Mangalore (B.Sc. II year and M.Sc. I year students)
  • PTTS-2021: Online, Ahmedabad University (B.Sc. II year and M.Sc. I year students)

OBJECTIVES

To provide a platform for motivated students to interact with peers and experts in the field.
To identify talented students and nurture their talent for a research career in Physics.

Main Features

Active learning is increasingly gaining recognition in western countries. For an insightful perspective, check the Interview with Carl Wieman, Nobel Laureate in Physics.

In this programme, teaching will adopt an interactive approach to encourage students to think critically, ask questions, and apply their understanding. Unlike traditional lecture formats, classes will not follow a conventional "chalk and talk" style. Instead:

  • Interactive Lectures: Students will be actively engaged through questions and discussions. They will also be encouraged to ask questions, fostering a two-way dialogue.
  • Collaborative Tutorials: Tutorials will promote group discussions among students, with teachers serving as facilitators to guide problem-solving efforts.

The experimental physics course is designed to push students to:

  • Propose and design experiments independently.
  • Identify and address errors in data collection and interpretation.

Instead of pre-designed experiments, students will create and conduct their experiments from scratch.

While the course content remains largely traditional, the overarching goal is to train students to think like physicists.

To emphasize this innovative teaching methodology:

  • A set of guidelines has been prepared for both theory and experimental courses. These guidelines will be shared with resource persons involved in the programme.
  • This approach aims to influence not only students but also reshape physics education and pedagogy beyond PTTS.

 

GUIDELINES FOR TEACHERS IN THEORY COURSES

During the class:

 

 

  1. NO Power point presentation of lectures, but only blackboard presentation.

 

  1. Classes have to be interactive. Conventional continuous lecturing should not be more than 10-15 minutes at a stretch.

 

Pause, by asking students for suggestions as to how to proceed further, giving hints if needed. Ask simple questions to check if they understood what was said.

 

WE DO NOT COMPROMISE ON THIS ASPECT.

NO LECTURING FOR THE FULL DURATION WITHOUT INTERACTION WITH STUDENTS AT REGULAR INTERVALS

 

 

  1. Care should be taken, so that we do not end with bright students alone answering with not so sharp or shy students not answering. Possible ways to avoid this include:
    • Ask everyone individually what they think
    • Ask other students if another student’s answer is correct.
    • Ask them to vote for different answers

 

The following has to be emphasized in the course of lectures:

  • Emphasize the Importance of notation: like arrows for vectors,
  • Don’t compartmentalize subjects: teaching course A, how concepts/techniques appear/change in other courses B,C.. must be pointed
  • Train them to  taking limits, qualitatively first guess the answer.

 

  1. Students should develop the spirit of They should be encouraged to ask and

answer “why, why not” kind of questions at every stage.If they dont, you ask them such questions.

 

e)We would like the teacher and tutor to attend the other courses at the same level. Coordinators will also be attending the classes.

We encourage any teacher attending the class to ask a potential good question which you expect a student must ask. Students must observe a mature question asked and learn to ask such questions in future.

 

SUGGESTIONS ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION OF LECTURES

 

  1. Usually one proves some general result and then illustrates it in several

See if it can be reversed it by working simple examples and then making students see the general result for themselves? This should give them a thrill of discovery.

  1. Students can be trained to ask questions which can be critical or

Critical questions: Something new is taught, how does it agree/not agree with what is already known?

Creative questions: If some result is shown in a given situation, envisage a different situation or add some complication and ask how the result is modified?

Such questions can be prepared when preparing the course. Feynman lectures has such approach.

  1. Students must learn to ponder over a problem/puzzle for a while and to arrive at a solution after thinking hard about it. This can be achieved by giving quiz/puzzle questions to be answered the next

TUTORIALS

Tutorial problems can have the following components, wherever possible:

  1. Critically examine concepts
  2. application of concept/technique 
  3. numerical problems to get feel for numbers
  4. prove some results.

Problems can be of increasing difficulty.

 In tutorials , participants will be asked formed in groups. Once problem sheet is given, they will be asked to discuss among themselves as to how to start the problem.

They should not jump to start writing without discussing. Each group has to be check with the tutors, if their approach is correct. Tutors will be more facilitators to help them come with their solution.

GUIDELINES FOR EXPERIMENTAL COURSE

  1. Pose as a question what to investigate/prove.

 

Example: Show experimentally a)Force  is a vector, b) does diffraction depend on the state of polarization.?

 Example: Find a method of measuring the instantaneous velocity of a moving object.  Can involve circuits, which they can come up with.

 

2) Also it can be a problem posed to have  a controlled study and there should be scope for student to give qualitative theory to explain what they find.

Example: Measure damping constant of a damped oscillator as a function of temperature/concentration /pressure and find the behavior. Explain why such a behavior is seen.

Measure terminal velocity of any object and investigate how it depends on temperature/pressure/density of liquid. Give a theory to explain.

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  1. Students should NOT be given any instructions as how to do the experiment.
  2. Students look around and use any available equipment/apparatus. Since we provide

very minimal equipment, students will have to fabricate their own equipment. The

budget constraint of Rs. 200 per student forces them to be innovative.

We sometimes give only empty room/empty lab .

  1. There should be scope for making measurements.
  2. Experimental error analysis: 1) identify sources of errors due to limitations of the

measurement process 2) identify sources of error due to mismatch between theoretical

idealization and experimental conditions.

There should a lecture on error analysis on the first few days

 

Past Programs

PTTS -2015      at Kuvempu University

PTTS 2016     at   Regional Institute of education

PTTS-2017  Loyola College  

PTTS-2018   National Institute of technology , Surathkal

PTTS-2019  Manipal Institute of Technology, Udipi

PTTS-2020 Cancelled due to the pandemic

PTTS-2021 Ahmedabad University(online

 

 

How to Apply