Science Day 2026

About National Science Day

Throughout India, February 28th is celebrated as National Science Day. National Centre for Radio Astrophysics - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Pune (NCRA-TIFR) celebrates Science Day by organising 2 days' Science festival at its GMRT campus in Khodad, which is one of the biggest Science festivals in the country.

This Science festival attracts around 20,000 to 25000 visitors, including students from various schools (5th to 10th grade), colleges (BSc, MSc, Engineering), teachers, software professionals, major science research organisations, scientists and research scholars throughout the state/country.

Every year the government organizations like National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), National Institute of Virology (NIV), National Centre for Cell Sciences (NCCS), National Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Pune, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO, SAC), Ahmedabad, Institute of Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, TIFR Balloon Facility Hyderabad as well as non-profit organisations like Pune FOSS User Group, Free Software Community of India, Debian India, Mozilla India and 20 other organizations participate in the GMRT Science Exhibition.

About NCRA and GMRT

National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), a center of the school of natural sciences of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India has set up a unique facility for radio astronomical research using the metre wavelengths range of the radio spectrum, known as the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). It is the world`s largest Radio telescope of its kind. It is located at a site about 80 km north of Pune. GMRT consists of 30 fully steerable gigantic parabolic dishes of 45m diameter each spread over distances of upto 25 km. GMRT is one of the most challenging experimental programmes in basic sciences undertaken by Indian scientists and engineers. GMRT is a very versatile instrument for investigating a variety of radio astrophysical problems ranging from nearby Solar system to the edge of observable Universe.

What Pune FOSS User Group will do at Science Day

The Pune FOSS User Group (PFUG) wants to use this opportunity (by setting its stall) to showcase the importance of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and its use in everyday life. We intend to promote FOSS such as Debian, Raspbian on Raspberry Pi, Mobian, CentOS, Diaspora (an alternative to social media platform based on FOSS principles), OpenJDK, Python, Moodle, git, Trac, LaTeX, Emacs, etc., and awareness about its philosophy among students, teachers, software professionals, researchers, and the general public. Additionally, our focus is also on creating awareness about digital literacy, privacy, and technical debt-related issues.

Request for Sponsorship

We humbly request your support in sponsoring our efforts to promote Free and Open Source Software and Debian. Pune FOSS User Group engages solely in voluntary FOSS promotions and does not participate in any commercial activities. Your generous contribution can help us bring the FOSS community together and ensure the success of the events organised by us.

To arrange promotional items such as Flex, Banners, FOSS Stickers, Posters, T-Shirt printing, DVDs/Pendrives of Debian, Rented Monitors and Computers, and to cover some operational expenses, we require funds. The funds raised for any event will be solely used for that purpose, and any remaining surplus will be utilized for funding future Free and Open Source Software related activities under the banner of Pune FOSS User Group.

These activities include organizing Science Day in subsequent years, FOSS Meetups, sponsoring Free Software Code Contributions, Debian Packaging BootCamps, and raising awareness for Digital Security/Privacy among individuals, especially students.

Your contribution is a strong signal of appreciation for the hard work and dedication of our volunteers. Sponsoring PFUG for this event will create goodwill in the Free Software community at large, and events can also serve as an excellent opportunity to get in touch with qualified and interested candidates in the field of Free and Open Source Software for recruitment and contact-building purposes. Our sponsors have also engaged in similar activities in previous events.

For more details please refer our Sponsorhip Brochure

Event Brochure

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Sponsorship Brochure

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