Pranav Sharma

Pranav Sharma (प्रणव शर्मा) is an Indian science communicator and astronomer[1] who curated India's first private Space Museum.[2][3][4] He won REX Karmaveer Award[5][6] for his work on the museum and the Indian space history. He is considered one of the youngest science museum curators in Asia.[7] He is currently working as Science Historian at The French Institute in India, New Delhi.

Pranav Sharma

Indian Science Communicator
Pranav Sharma during Winter School on Astronomy 2020 (Hyderabad, India).
Born1993 (age 27–28)
Agra, India
NationalityIndian
CitizenshipIndia
OccupationScience Historian & Astronomer
Years active2015 -
Known forIndian Space History and Astronomy Education
Notable work
Space Museum, History of Indian Space Program

Family background

He was born on 15 April 1993 in Agra. He hails from a Rajasthani Brahmin family. During colonial times, his family was one of the renowned zamindar's of the state of Bharatpur, Rajasthan. His great great grandfather donated most of the ancestral property to become a sadhu before the Independence of India. His maternal grandfather, also from a zamindar family, was an ardent follower and scholar of Vajrayana Tantra. He was a Sadhu and a mystic. Pranav's philosophical inclinations are deeply rooted in Indian traditions and texts.

Education and career

Pranav went to Army School, Agra where he got a holistic learning experience and his old school conduct. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Engineering and a Master's in Physics. He spent most of his teenage years with Prof. Yash Pal, who inspired him to focus on astronomy and popularization of science. His long time mentor is Biman Basu, is a nationally acclaimed science communicator and science writer.

Pranav Sharma with Mrs. Nirmala Birla during the first official tour of the Space Museum at BM Birla Science Centre.

He was an undergraduate visiting student at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western University, Canada in 2015. He visited the university again in 2017 as a graduate student to work on a book with Prof. Shantanu Basu. This co-authored book is being published by the Institute of Physics, London. In 2019, he was a visiting Fellow at the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, Japan where Nobel Laureate, Prof. Takaaki Kajita was his host.

He joined B M Birla Science Centre in 2017 where he worked as Curator of the Space Museum[8] and Scientific Officer until March 2020. He has also served as the Local Chair and Organizing Secretary for several national and international physics and astronomy conferences. His major contribution, apart from Space Museum, is his work on providing a learning platform for students in the field of astronomy. He started Winter School on Astronomy[9][10] in collaboration with Prof. Shantanu Basu in 2016[11][12] which has been running successfully for the past five years.[13][14] Several noted astronomers and bright students from various parts of the world have attended the program.

He curated an exhibition on astronomy and history of ISRO for the Pilikula Regional Science Centre (PRSC) at Pilikula, Mangaluru.[15] He also curated two major historical exhibitions on Indo-French partnership in space sciences in collaboration with Alliance Française of Hyderabad,[16] French Institute in India, and CNES.[17] The exhibition received national and international praise.[18][19][20]

Pranav Sharma with Samuel Berthet (Director, Alliance Francaise of Hyderabad) and Jayesh Ranjan (IT Secretary, Govt. of Telangana) during an exhibition on Indo-French partnership in space at WINGS-India 2020.

He serves as a science advisor to ARC Ventures, a venture capital firm. He has also served as science advisor to an Indo–Japanese venture fund for science and technology-based start-ups. The program is called ArcNest. It is an Indian extension of the 'Leave the Nest' program with ARC Ventures.[21][22]

He currently serves as the Science Historian at The French Institute in India, New Delhi.

Art and culture

He was the editor of the Taj Literature Festival held in Agra in 2013. He is also the co-founder of Agra Book Club. He has acted in several plays and has been part of Ranglok Theatre.[23] He is a poet who writes in Urdu, Hindi, and English. He is widely regarded for his interdisciplinary work on astronomy and poetry which can also be seen in the Space Museum curated by him in Hyderabad.[24] He is currently curating a poetry anthology on astronomy and space sciences.

References
  1. Thatipalli, Mallik (2020-02-24). "Science as a way of life". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  2. "Space Museum opened at Hyderabad with ISRO Collaboration - ISRO". www.isro.gov.in. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  3. Somasekhar, M. "India's first space museum inaugurated in Hyderabad". @businessline. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  4. Jul 27, TNN / TNN /; 2019; Ist, 04:05. "City welcomes India's first private space museum | Hyderabad News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2020-09-10.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. & (2019-12-06). "Birla Science Centre's Pranav Sharma gets REX Karmaveer Award". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-09-09.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. SGI (2020-01-13). "Mr. Pranav Sharma (Alumni of SGI) awarded with REX Karmaveer Award - Sharda Campus Live". Sharda News Express | Sharda Group of Institutions (SGI). Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  7. "A space traveller's tale". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  8. Geetanath, V. (2019-09-10). "Catch a glimpse of Indian space journey at Birla Science Centre". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  9. Sharma, Pranav. "Opening Boundaries in Astronomy". Astronomy & Geophysics. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  10. Monterroza, Moses (2016-03-24). "Astronomy students experience life in India". Gazette Projects. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  11. "Astronomy @ Taj Workshop, Agra, India, February 2016". www.eaubergine.com. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  12. "Astronomy at Taj 2016". www.astro.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  13. "These 60 kids are falling in love with astronomy at BMBSC. Do you know how?". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  14. "Home". Astrowin20. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  15. "Pilikula to host full dome film festival, planetarium conference". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 2019-11-01. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-09-27.CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. Hyderabad, Alliance Française. "STA #5 Online : India and France in Space : A Common History – Pranav Sharma | Alliance Française Hyderabad". Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  17. "India & France in Space". French Institute in India. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  18. "Unique online exhibition to showcase Indo-French space cooperation". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  19. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (2020-09-15). "APPLE on a bullock cart and other stories". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  20. "Tracing history in space". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  21. "Launch of ArcNest to Address India's Air and Water Pollution Problems". Leave a Nest. 2019-11-27. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  22. "Arc Ventures, Japan's Leave A Nest Team Up To Back Startups Solving India's Pollution Woes". Inc42 Media. 2019-12-10. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  23. TEAMHOH. "Cosmos, culinary and couplets – Humans Of Hyderabad". Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  24. "Ummeed for Urdu". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
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