National Initiative on Undergraduate Science (NIUS)
Teachers’ Camp for Chemistry Faculty
September 21 – 26, 2026
Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) is a National Centre of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. The broad goals of the Centre are to promote equity and excellence in science and mathematics education from primary school to undergraduate (college) level.
The National Initiative on Undergraduate Science (NIUS), a major initiative of HBCSE (TIFR) concerning tertiary science education in India, promotes undergraduate (UG) research and learning. The NIUS programme in chemistry has a focus on training students and teachers in theoretical and experimental science, preparation of pedagogical material and R&D in chemistry education/laboratory training.
We are happy to invite applications from teachers teaching chemistry at UG level for the NIUS Teachers’ Camp to be held from September 21 – 26, 2026 (6 days) at HBCSE, Mumbai. Teachers employed in colleges in India recognized by state or the central government are eligible to apply.
The forthcoming camp is aimed at sharing our learnings and help gain enriched experience through interactions during the camp. The camp will consist of experimental and theoretical sessions in chemistry along with discussions on their pedagogical dimensions. The participating teachers will be performing experiments from different domains of chemistry and explore how learning can be enhanced by implementing alternative pedagogical tools (e.g., pre-/post-lab questions, investigatory approach, etc.) without significantly increasing the material requirements of the experiments. The sessions will be multidisciplinary in nature and would bring components from different domains of chemistry (participants should be prepared to engage with domains of chemistry different from their domain of specialization). For example, a teacher teaching organic chemistry may also perform a physical chemistry experiment and vice versa, but the focus shall remain on the pedagogy.
There will be problem solving sessions using problems from standard books and also chemistry olympiad problems. Some theory problems will be sent to the participating teachers beforehand. It is important that participants go through the sent problems and each participant tries to solve at least one problem prior to the camp. It is equally important that participants reflect about the pedagogical aspects of the problem. During the camp, we would discuss participants’ reflections about the problems, both from content and pedagogical perspectives. With learning from the camp, participants may want to adapt similar approach for assessment in their own classroom, to the extent possible. There would also be session on framing of questions, chemistry pedagogy, and using history of chemistry in teaching.
Interested teachers can apply here by filling the application form available by July 15, 2026.
The list of selected teacher participants will be uploaded under announcements on the NIUS and HBCSE websites on July 24, 2026.
A non-refundable registration fees of INR 1000 will have to be paid by selected participants.
Selected participants will be reimbursed to and fro travel fare as per their entitlement (maximum II-AC train fare). Food and accommodation in the HBCSE Guest House will be provided to all participants.
If you are travelling by air, kindly purchase air tickets only directly from IRCTC or through M/s Balmer & Lawrie. Please DO NOT use other travel portals like makemytrip, cleartrip, yatra, goibibo, ixigo etc. Even if you are travelling by air, only II-AC fare would be reimbursed, but only on producing travel ticket by appropriate agency and boarding passes.
Food and accommodation in the HBCSE Guest House will be provided to all participants. Kindly note that due to the limited availability, accommodation is provided only for the duration of the camp, and only for the participants and not for any accompanying family members.
In case of any query related to this camp, you can email us at: niuschem@gmail.com