VigyanShaala, a non-profit organization that aims at democratizing education in science, was initiated by the passion of two physicists who held the opinion that curiosity must also be made accessible to everyone. Darshana Joshi and Vijay Venugipalan began the organization as a small organization headed by volunteers, but it has evolved into a game-changer in transforming the underprivileged youth in rural India.
A significant breakthrough was the work when VigyanShaala won the Nakkei Asia Award in December 2025 by Nakkei Inc. This recognition highlights their realization of creating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) opportunities for people generally marginalized in general education, and with a specific and intense focus on empowering girls.
Long-term roadmap
The founders of it have a track record of conflicting backgrounds, which also helped in their one-fold mission. They used their winter holidays to go all over India, from West Bengal to Tamil Nadu, and hold their workshops aimed at creating wonder. Among their most famous techniques was the “egg and shock” experiment, in which an egg was cooked with alcohol, rather than heat, to show the protection of protein. It was a simple but deep exercise that enabled students to relate laboratory concepts to real-world phenomena such as cataracts.
They served 10,000 students in ten states from 2015 to 2018 with a network of 250 volunteers. It is also in this period that Joshi became the first South Asian woman to be elected into a student union at Cambridge. It was this introduction to the long-term educational planning of the board of trustees of the university that had persuaded her that they had to come up with a transient burst rather than a long-term one.
Bridging the gap and partnership
The founders went back to India with the savings and started a charitable trust at the end of 2018. Their study in rural Uttarakhand found one shocking fact: about 75% of girls were leaving mathematics at Class 9 due to an exit door offered in home science. The girls were practically denied a future career in STEM without a base in mathematics.
Though India has the highest number of 43% of women in undergraduate STEM programs, it experiences a decline in enrollment to 15% at postgraduate and less than 14% in the labor force. VigyanShaala discovered that although most efforts emphasized primary schools, the worst drop-off was in rural colleges. They chose to turn these distant colleges into local research centers capable of benefiting their communities as the fine international institutions do.
To overcome these challenges, the organization came up with two flagship programs. The Rural STEM Champions Programme is run in Uttarakhand and involves high-performing college students who are fellows. These colleagues receive training in higher mathematics, science communication, and digital literacy. Then they go to schools in their neighborhoods to make experiments, becoming bhaiyas and didis to younger children, which creates trust and motivational feelings in the community.
The second program, Kalpana She For STEM, was conceived due to the fact that girls just stayed quiet in the mixed-gender classrooms. The organizers experienced an astonishing change in energy and engagement by establishing distinct areas. The program is called the Kalpana Chawla program and offers career exploration, networking, and mentorship with industry executives such as Jaya Jagadish of AMD India. So far, 14,000 girls in more than 500 colleges have been a part of this program.
VigyanShaala is a startup-level organization that leverages technology to amplify its effectiveness. The pandemic made them shift their programs online, which enabled them to reach students in 330 districts. They are also introducing Curie Bot, an AI-based career guidance platform that will help eliminate gender bias.
The organization has also developed effective state alliances with Telangana and Uttarakhand, where its curriculum is incorporated in dozens of government colleges. It is a holistic solution that has transformed low-performing colleges into institutions of excellence. The life-changing nature of such paths is evidenced by success stories such as those of Diksha Nagarkoti, a fellow who transitioned through a rural college to a master’s degree in conservation practice at one of the most prestigious universities.
Conclusion
Already serving over 30,000 students, VigyanShaala has an active team and an expanding group of over 1,000 global mentors. The founders consider this to be just the start. They are planning to reach one million lives by 2030 by empowering their Kalpana girls to become leaders in their respective societies. VigyanShaala is not merely providing rural girls with science; it is preparing them by overcoming the cultural and systemic challenges that keep rural girls out of the lab, so that they will become a generation of thinkers and leaders who will transform the future of science in India. They are working hard and innovating to prove that even the most distant village can serve as a launch point towards a trip to the stars.
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