Capacity Building Training On Life Skills Education
Date: 25/08/2023, 26/08/2023 & 28/08/2023
The Department of Life Sciences organised Capacity Building Training on Life Skills Education for I year PG Life Science students from 25th to 28th August 2023. The emphasis of the training programme was to inculcate the students through the ten pivotal life skills namely Self-awareness, Empathy, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Communication, Interpersonal Relations, Coping with Emotions, and Coping with Stress. All the skills were activity based involving students’ participation through various games, discussion, skit, debates and other fun-filled ideas. These skills are essential for holistic development of the individual students. It also equips a person with professional competencies.

Capacity Building Training On Life Skills Education Ay 2023-2024
The Department of Life Sciences organised Capacity Building Training on Life Skills Education for I year UG Life Science students from 09th to 11th August 2023. The focus of the training programme was to take the students through the ten pivotal life skills namely Self-awareness, Empathy, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Communication, Interpersonal Relations, Coping with Emotions, and Coping with Stress. All the skills were activity based involving students’ participation through various games, debates and other fun-filled ideas. These skills are essential for a holistic and purpose-driven life. It also equips a person with professional competencies.

Life Skill Training- UG Programme (2022-2023)
The Inauguration of Life Skill Education for the 1st year B.Sc. was held on 10th August 2022 by Prof. A. Jonas Richard. He introduced the Ten Core Life Skills promoted by World Health Organization (WHO) and handled session on Introduction to Life Skills. In these latter sessions the students were introduced to the ten core life skills and their importance in their day to day life by faculty of Department of Life Sciences. The resource persons adopted Activity Based Learning (ABL) method for training on Life Skills. The sessions were interactive and effective.

Wellness Talk on Depression: A Silent Pandemic
“The beauty of life does not depend on how happy you are but also how happy others are because of you.”

In order to be adaptive during these trying times, the Department of Life Sciences, Kristu Jayanti College, organized a wellness talk for the post graduate and under graduate students on 19th December 2020. The event commenced with a silent prayer followed by a welcome speech by Dr M. Sonia Angeline, Faculty, Department of Life Science. The Guest speaker for the session was Dr Karun Saathveeg Sam, Casualty Medical Officer, Christian Mission Hospital, Madurai.

During his lecture, Dr Karun spoke on the topic Depression- A silent pandemic. Dr Karun highlighted that globally over 264 million people suffer depression and it is high time to educate people about the same. He mentioned that understanding and overcoming stigma through strategic communications and social mobilizations are crucial steps towards strengthening mental health. He pointed out that there are numerous ways to effectively treat mental illness and one can live a normal life by learning how to properly manage mental disorder symptoms. He added that by talking about mental health openly, more people may be encouraged to seek professional help. Moreover, he mentioned that diet also plays a key role in the overall wellbeing of individuals.

The objective of the talk was to create an awareness among students regarding the importance of mental health and how to cope up with the same. Almost 180 students participated in the lecture with a positive concern. The last session of interaction with students was quite informative and knowledgeable. The session concluded with vote of thanks by Miss Lovis S of III M. Sc. Biotechnology.

Skill Enrichment Program on STEM CELLS: THE LATEST MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH
Date: 28th November 2020
A Skill Enrichment Program on STEM CELLS: THE LATEST MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH was conducted on 28th November 2020 through the Zoom platform. A total of 170 participants attended the same. The webinar began with a cheerful welcome and a brief introduction of the resource person Dr. D. Avinash Gandhi. Post this, the session was handed over to Dr. D. Avinash Gandhi who then gave a compendious introduction about his institution (Mother Cell Regenerative Centre, Tamil Nadu).

Dr. D. Avinash Gandhi threw light on how mythology can be taken into research. He addressed on new approaches available in regenerative medicine which include the microchip implant, Biopen, 3D arteries and Educator therapy. He also spoke about the progress taking place in regenerative medicine. He discussed about various stem cell therapies and the success rates of the same. Sir, concluded his talk by sharing the correlation between bench side, bed side and institutions. Post which an interactive Q & A session ignited the inquisitiveness of participants. The informative webinar culminated with a vote of thanks proposed by one of the students.

Career Orientation TalkSharpen The Saw: Enhancing Employability Skills
As a part of the Skill enrichment programme, Department of Life Sciences conducted a guest webinar session through Zoom platform on 17th October, 2020. The resource person for the session was Mr. Yuvaraj Ragunath Singh, Placement Coordinator & Head, Department of Microbiology, MGR college, Hosur, on the topic “Sharpen the saw : Enhancing employability skills”. The session was conducted for the benefit of final year undergraduate and postgraduate students of the department and was attended by Dean of Science, Head, Rev. Fr. Deepu and all the faculty members of the Life Science Department.

The session was moderated by Dr. Sangeetha Menon, Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences who welcomed the resource person, the dignitaries and the audience. Mr. Yuvaraj highlighted the uncertainties faced by today’s youth about their future after completion of their degree. He stressed on the fact that Life Sciences has ample opportunities and avenues open unlike few decades ago and interest in life science is now renewed owing to immense knowledge transfer and ongoing pandemic. So it is pertinent to choose the right job suitably. Mr. Yuvaraj highlighted important attitude and character building measures using simple and lively examples to enhance skills, grow as a better individual and also utilize the best of resources available. Mr. Yuvaraj stressed on to be proactive, confident and flexible in our life to adapt to any situation.

The session was really inspiring and motivated all the students to do better in life. The session was loaded with numerous queries, doubts from the audience and Mr.Yuvaraj sir gladly answered and put all the uncertainties revolving in the students’ mind to rest. The program ended on a positive note with a vote of thanks by Ms. Benita, V Sem B.Sc MBG.

Skill Enrichment Programme on How To Carve Yourself For What Lies Ahead? - A Dive Into Future Skills And Career Path
As a part of Skill enrichment programme, Department of Life Sciences conducted a guest webinar session through Zoom platform on 26th September, 2020. The resource person for the session was Mrs. Kuppulakshmi Krishnamoorthy, Global Head, ZOHO for Startups on the topic “How to carve yourself for what lies ahead? - A dive into future skills and career path”. The session was conducted for the benefit of final year undergraduate and postgraduate students of the department and was also attended by Dean of Science, Head and all the faculty members of the Life Science Department.

The session was moderated by Dr. Sangeetha Menon, Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences who welcomed the resource person, the dignitaries and the audience. After a formal introduction of the resource person, Ms. Kuppulakshmi enlightened the audience about concepts of soft skills, its types and importance, emotional intelligence (EQ), other important life skills required for profession like experiential learning, negotiating, problem solving, critical thinking, etc. The speaker also shared important anecdotes of her own life which were the turning points in her life that catapulted her to a global position. Her personal experiences, professional expertise and lively attitude inspired and engaged the audience in her talk. The session was loaded with numerous queries, doubts from the audience and Ms. Kuppulakshmi gladly answered and put all the uncertainties revolving in a student’s mind to rest. The program ended on a positive note with a vote of thanks, leaving the audience with a true inspiration and opening up new perspectives about future.

Soft Skills and Interview Etiquettes
The Soft skill enrichment programme was organised by the Department of Life Sciences to equip the students and help them improve their skills. On 19th September 2020, a skill enrichment programme was conducted on “Soft skills and Interview Etiquettes”, the resource person was Mr. Sudhir Udhayakanth, founder and CEO of Edge Academy that trains corporate professionals in soft skills and he is the founder of Ishara C2C- a soft skills company focusing on only educational institutes, teachers, counselling and smart parenting. He discussed a lot on visual presentation with regards to appearing for interviews. Due to the pandemic most interviews are conducted online so he customized the tips and tricks to be used during these interviews, as walk- in interviews are a bit rare these days.

He discussed points that will make a candidate stand out amongst other applicants. He provided us with insider information on what a company looks for in a candidate and the professionalism required. The points he made included speech and tone, physical appearance, body language and response to the most frequently asked interview questions. The session was delightful and the students were thoroughly engaged as many queries were raised and they were addressed by the speaker. The seminar was light and interactive with a lot of information required for the final years.