IISF 2025 hugely popular amongst the youth: 10,000+ students visit the country’s biggest science festival in Haryana

Panchkula, December 8, 2025: The India International Science Festival (IISF) 2025, inaugurated on December 6, by Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister (I/C) of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences (MoES), has witnessed huge participation from over ten thousand students, signifying its immense popularity amongst the country's young. Students were invited to engage with the Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh, in an open forum on a wide variety of topics, ranging from societally beneficial innovations, careers, and the government’s vision and priorities, especially for the youth.

Across all sessions, students were observed engaging one-on-one with scientists and innovators, drawn to specific attractions such as the S&T village, Science Safari, Science on a Sphere, and exhibitions that showcased virtual reality tours and live experiments. The students’ excitement upon meeting India’s IAF test pilot, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, was unparalleled. The young minds also had the opportunity to participate in talks on futuristic thematic areas, such as Bio-Economy, Blue Economy, Waste to Wealth, Start-Ups, New Age Technologies, Gene Editing, and Quantum.

The attractions at IISF 2025 aimed to ignite curiosity and enhance interest in science and technology. The S&T village helped connect students with scientists, technologists, and innovators, inspiring them to engage with real-world science. Science on a Sphere was a sci-fi movie-like experience, featuring a rotating globe-shaped exhibit that showcased high-definition visuals of Earth's climate and processes, such as hurricanes and tectonic plate movements, in real-time. Science Safari was a unique way of disseminating information to kids on scientific concepts through STEM toys, games, hands-on workshops, and teacher training sessions.

Of impactful interest were exhibits from science departments and ministries of the Government of India. The live science quizzes at DST, ICMR, and DBT pavilions, live experiments and display of novel products (e.g. millet burger, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics from lavender) at the CSIR pavilion, engaging tech demonstrations at CSIR, IUCAA and NIF pavilions, fossils’ exhibit of the GSI (Ministry of Mines), and the Virtual Reality Tour of India’s Antarctic Research Station at the NCPOR (National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research) pavilion under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, were big hits with hundreds of walk-ins every day.

The India International Science Festival is taking place at Dusshera Ground in Panchkula, Haryana, from December 6 to 9. It is an annual event organised by India's scientific ministries and departments (CSIR, DST, DBT, and MoES) to promote scientific temper and for public outreach and engagement on advancements in science, technology, and innovation.