Gorakhpur University, 23-24 November 2002

Participants: 100 M.Sc. students and faculty from the chemistry department of Gorakhpur University and other colleges in Gorakhpur.

Speakers: R.P. Rastogi (UP Council of Sci. & Tech, Lucknow); N. Sathyamurthy, S. Sarkar, Y.D. Vankar, and P.K. Bharadwaj, all of IIT, Kanpur

Topics covered: Beyond equilibrium, thermodynamics of steady states, bistability; transition state; chemistry of rare metals like Mo and W in diverse life processes, supramolecular chemistry; carbohydrates: computer modelling and simulation.

Mathematics/Statistics

St. Joseph's College, Irinjalakuda

4_6 Dec. 2002

Participants: 65 participants from colleges from several cities in Kerala, such as Kannur, Pudukkad, Thrissur, Aluva, Vellanikkara, Cochin, Irinjalakuda, Mala, P. Vemballur, Nattika, Pala, Mannarkad, Kollam, Kanhangad.

Speakers: K.R. Parthasarathy (ISI, New Delhi), V. Kannan (Univ. of Hyderabad); A. Sitaram, G. Misra, M. Delampady, and S. Ramasubramanian (all of ISI, Bangalore).

Topics covered: Mathematics of quantum computing; many ways of measuring chaos; fourier series; the spectral theorem; basics of Bayesian statistical inference; Bayesian computing; reflected Brownian motion and queueing theory.

13_14 Dec. 2002

Participants: About 160 students and faculty from colleges and the university in Madurai.

Speakers: S. Chandrasekaran and Uday Maitra of IISc, Bangalore; M. Periasamy (University of Hyderabad) and K.K. Balasubramanian (Shasun Pharmaceuticals, Chennai).

Topics covered: Catalytic asymmetric synthesis; revisiting nucleophilic substitution reactions; synthesis of strained molecules; importance and relevance of stereochemistry; borane reagents in organic synthesis; ionic liquids — a potential medium for organic chemical reactions; transition metal reagents in organic synthesis.