Research Programs for School Students in Pune (2027 Guide)

Pune school students can get close to research through IISER Pune's Science Activity Centre and campus visits, IUCAA's science outreach programme, CSIR's Jigyasa program at labs such as NCL, and science fairs including the Western India Science Fair and the IRIS National Fair. For a research paper of their own, Pune students apply to RSI-India at IISc or work one-on-one with a mentor toward publication in an IEEE, Springer or Elsevier venue.

Pune is home to IISER, IUCAA and NCL, so it is easy to assume a school student can simply walk into a lab. This guide explains what is open to school students, what each option leads to, and how to turn interest into a published result. For the national overview, read Best Research Programs for High School Students in India.

Pune research options at a glance

Option	Who it is for	What the student gets
IISER Pune Science Activity Centre	Students and teachers	Hands-on science activities, workshops, online lecture-demonstrations
IISER Pune campus visits	School and junior college groups	A 3 to 4 hour visit to labs, often with a faculty talk
IUCAA SciPOP	Students, teachers, amateur astronomers	Campus visits, sky sessions, telescope-making workshops
CSIR Jigyasa (NCL and other CSIR labs)	Mainly Kendriya Vidyalaya students	Lab-based learning with CSIR scientists
Western India Science Fair	Students selected through the state	Exhibiting a project at a zonal fair
IRIS National Fair	Classes 5 to 12	A judged project and a path to ISEF
RSI-India at IISc, Bengaluru	Class 11 Indian citizens, 32 seats	Six weeks of free mentored research
Online one-on-one mentorship (YRI Fellowship)	Any motivated student	A first-author paper submitted to IEEE, Springer or Elsevier

IISER Pune: hands-on science and campus visits

Science Activity Centre. The Smt. Indrani Balan Science Activity Centre at IISER Pune, set up under CoESME at IISER Pune, develops low-cost interactive science toys and hands-on activities that students can build and experiment with. Since August 2017 it has run workshops, demonstrations and hands-on sessions for students, teachers and the public. It also runs a long-running online lecture and demonstration series; episode 99, "Black Holes to AI: A Scientist's Journey," is scheduled for November 6, 2026.

Campus visits. IISER Pune welcomes student groups from schools and junior colleges. Visits last 3 to 4 hours, are held on working Wednesdays for school and junior college groups, and include an introduction to the institute, a campus tour, visits to specific labs and instrument facilities, and, depending on availability, a talk or interaction with a faculty member. IISER asks schools to request a visit at least 4 to 6 weeks in advance. Ask your school to book one.

These are excellent introductions. They are built for groups and for learning, not for an individual student's research project.

IUCAA: astronomy for school students

The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics on the Savitribai Phule Pune University campus runs SciPOP, its Scientific Public Outreach Programme. SciPOP offers campus visits to meet scientists and engineers, public lectures, Friday sky sessions, planetarium shows and telescope-making workshops, with a science centre, hands-on labs and an array of telescopes. SciPOP also runs National Science Day events.

For a student interested in astronomy or astrophysics, SciPOP is the best way to see how professionals work. Turning that interest into research means a project built on data, which astronomy has in large public archives, and a mentor to guide the analysis.

NCL and CSIR's Jigyasa program

CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) is a CSIR laboratory in Pune focused on chemistry. CSIR runs Jigyasa, its student-scientist connect program with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, which aims to extend classroom learning with planned, laboratory-based learning at CSIR labs. Kendriya Vidyalaya students have the most direct access. Students at other schools who want time at NCL or a similar lab usually need to write to an individual scientist with a specific question.

Science fairs: Western India Science Fair, NCSC and IRIS

Western India Science Fair. Organised at Nehru Science Centre in Mumbai, a unit of the National Council of Science Museums, the Western India Science Fair is an exhibition of selected student projects and teaching aids from Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The most recent edition listed on the centre's site ran February 1 to 3, 2023, with about 10,000 visitors.

National Children's Science Congress. NCSC is a Department of Science and Technology program for children aged 10 to 17 (Junior Group 10 to 14, Senior Group above 14 and up to 17). Two students and a guide teacher work on a local problem and move through district, state and national rounds. The 2026 theme was "Science and Innovation for Sustainability."

IRIS National Fair. IRIS is India's ISEF-affiliated national fair, run by the ExSTEMplar Education Linkers Foundation and recognised by Society for Science. It is open to students of Indian origin living in India in Classes 5 to 12, individually or in teams of two. For 2026-27, submissions ran from August 1 to October 13, 2026, and are closed. The National Fair is typically held in Bengaluru in January or February, and top finalists form Team India at ISEF. More than 385 Indian students have gone to ISEF through IRIS since 2006. Read How to Win the IRIS National Fair before you start a project.

National programs: RSI-India and INSPIRE

RSI-India. The free six-week RSI-India program at IISc in Bengaluru, run by the Center for Excellence in Education, selects 32 students for June 6 to July 17, 2027. Applications close December 14, 2026. It is open to Indian citizens who have completed Class 10 and are currently in Class 11. Each student completes an individual project with an IISc mentor and presents a paper.

INSPIRE and the end of KVPY. The KVPY test was discontinued from 2022 and folded into DST's INSPIRE programme. At school level, INSPIRE offers INSPIRE-MANAK for Classes 6 to 12 (schools nominate ideas) and INSPIRE Internship camps for Class 11 science students. These reward talent and ideas; they do not include a mentored project.

Research internships for Class 11 students in Pune

Pune parents often expect that with IISER, IUCAA and NCL in the city, a Class 11 internship should be easy to find. In practice, formal lab internships for students under 18 are rare, because labs must manage supervision and safety. A Class 11 student in Pune has three practical routes: RSI-India, a personal arrangement with a researcher, or one-on-one mentorship with publication as the goal.

What a Pune student's research can look like

Research does not have to happen in a wet lab. Many strong student papers use public data and computational methods, which suits Pune's strengths in chemistry, astronomy and agriculture.

Naitik Gupta, an 11th grader at MM Public School in Ghaziabad interested in chemistry and clean water, built a dataset of 289 experiments from 49 studies and an explainable machine learning model to predict how well metal-organic frameworks remove heavy metals from water. His first-author paper was accepted at an IEEE conference (read his story).
Arham Sethi, who had presented at Young Scientist India but had no peer-reviewed publication, built a framework that maps where weeds are likely to emerge before they appear, validated with experienced farmers and 30 soil samples. His paper was accepted at IEEE CIBCB 2026 in Greece (read his story).

A Pune student interested in NCL-style chemistry or Maharashtra's farms could follow the same path.

How to publish a research paper as a school student in India

Pick a narrow, testable question.
Work with a mentor who has published in the field.
Use sound data and methods, and report limitations honestly.
Write in the venue's format.
Submit to a legitimate peer-reviewed venue and respond to reviewers.

Steer clear of journals that promise acceptance for a fee. How to Publish in IEEE as a High School Student explains venues, review and timelines.

Why research matters for US college applications

A first-author paper with a DOI is something a US admissions reader can verify, unlike a board percentage they cannot easily compare. It gives the student a specific story for essays and interviews and a mentor who can write a detailed letter. YRI Fellows have been admitted to Brown, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Caltech and Harvard.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can school students visit IISER Pune? Yes. School and junior college groups can visit on working Wednesdays for 3 to 4 hours. IISER asks for requests at least 4 to 6 weeks ahead.

Does IUCAA run programs for school students? Yes. Its SciPOP outreach programme offers campus visits, sky sessions, public lectures and telescope-making workshops.

Are there research internships for Class 11 students in Pune? Formal ones are rare. Most Class 11 students who do research use RSI-India, a personal arrangement with a scientist, or one-on-one mentorship.

Which science fair should a Pune student enter? IRIS for the ISEF route, NCSC for a team project on a local problem, and the Western India Science Fair through the state selection process.

When does RSI-India close? December 14, 2026, for the 2027 session.

How the YRI Fellowship helps Pune students

The YRI Fellowship turns a Pune student's interest into a research result without waiting for a lab placement. Each student works one-on-one with a PhD mentor in weekly online sessions for 10 weeks, spending 5 to 8 hours a week. An editing team reviews every draft, and a publishing team takes the paper to IEEE, Springer or Elsevier journals and conferences, with free help until it is published. Fellows get ISEF and JSHS preparation, which carries straight into IRIS, and a letter of recommendation from their mentor.

87% of Fellows publish and 73% place at science competitions. More than 1,000 students from 50+ countries have taken part, with a network of 1,000+ PhD mentors. No research experience is needed, and decisions come within 48 hours.

Tuition is $2,997, or 3 payments of $999, with scholarships considered case by case. See pricing, and apply to the YRI Fellowship.

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