Organized by the National Science and Technology Commission (NASTEC), the 8th Annual Research Symposium of the Young Scientist Forum (YSF) was held on 30th January 2019 at the at the Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDA) auditorium.
Prof. L.D.B.Sooriyagoda from University of Peradeniya delivered the key note speech
The YSF was established in NASTEC in year 2000 according to an emanated from the World Conference on Science for the 21st Century, held in Budapest, Hungary, from 26th June to 01st July, 1999, with the objective of providing an opportunity for young scientists in Sri Lanka to voice their opinion on S&T related issues.
And also with the help of NASTEC, YSF organizes skills development workshops for young scientists. One of the main activities of the forum, the YSF Symposium was initiated in year 2012 and it has become a popular event as a forum that gives an opportunity for young scientists to present their research work to the scientist community.
At present the YSF has more than 600 members and the activities are coordinated by a steering committee elected at the YSF annual general meeting.
Commencing the inauguration session of the symposium YSF Chairperson, Dr. Usha Hettiaratchi delivered the welcome address and also gave a brief introduction on YSF activities during the year 2019. Her speech was followed by the speech by the Acting Director of NASTEC Dr. Ananda Namal.
Prof. L.D.B.Sooriyagoda from University of Peradeniya delivered the key note speech titled ” “Tips to kick-start your scientific career “. During his speech Prof. Soriyagoda highlighted key points of a scientific research and also pointed our where we should be more careful in doing a scientific research. At the same time, he emphasized the importance of publishing a research in a journal and pointed out the factors we should look for when we select a good journal for publishing the research.
Prof. Udith K. Jayasinghe-Mudalige, Professor, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka was felicitated for his contribution in establishing the Young Scientists Forum
During the inauguration session a special felicitation to honor Prof. Udith K. Jayasinghe-Mudalige, Professor, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka for his contribution in establishing the Young Scientists Forum way back in 2012. Speaking at the event Prof Udith Jayasinghe described this felicitation as an honor to the entire team behind the initiation of YSF in 2012.
Young Scientists Forum select a young Sri Lankan scientist for the impressive research contributions to the Sri Lankan Scientific Research. This year the award was won by Dr. Meththika Withanage for her outstanding contributions in research during the year 2018. The award was presented to Dr. Meththika by the acting director of NASTEC dr. Ananda Namal.
After the inauguration session, 42 selected research work were presented under 6 different themes during the two technical sessions.
