Caption: USP science students with Dean of the Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment, Dr Anjeela Jokhan at the World Science Conference in Jerusalem. Photo: SUPPLIED.
September 23, 2015. For the first-time ever, three students of The University of the South Pacific (USP) represented the Pacific region at the World Science Conference last month.
Karishma Kuar, Josateki Nailati and Shivneel Kumar were part of around 400 science students from over 70 countries who attended the conference in Jerusalem.
The three students are completing their undergraduate programmes from the USP Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment. Karishma and Josateki are second-year students studying Chemistry and Biology while Shivneel is a third-year Engineering student.
While sharing their experiences with their fellow peers from USP, Karishma, Josateki and Shivneel described their participation at the conference as an opportunity of a lifetime. The students shared about the new places they visited and some of the latest scientific innovations and technology that they encountered during their stay in Jerusalem.
Josateki said he was fascinated with Israel’s inventions which are largely from science-based knowledge. He added that the conference helped changed his perspective of science.
In explaining the need to be creative as future scientists, Josateki made reference to a quote by Albert Einstein that was engraved on the medals the students received during the conference. The quote read: “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”
“The main thing that the conference drove home for us was that we should question everything and not only settle for what is, but look forward to what we can become,” he added.
For Karishma, the World Science Conference was her first trip out of the country.
“I learnt about the new inventions happening at Israel, some of which I was not aware of until I went to the conference,” she said.
During the conference, students got to meet and listen to the experiences of 15 Nobel laureates.
According to Shivneel, one of the biggest challenges was to stand Jerusalem’s heat which on certain days would rise up to 46 degree Celsius. Despite the heat, Shivneel says that he enjoyed the experience.
He said that the conference gave them an opportunity to meet and learn from other fellow science students from all over the world.
Leading up to the conference, the participants were required to produce a short film about themselves and about their countries and universities. The video produced by Karishma, Josateki and Shivneel with some professional help from friends was ranked third out of the enteries submitted by students from over 70 countries.
The conference was organised by the Government of Israel and funded by the Prime Minister’s Office and Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.
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