The Theme for the Technical Sessions of the faculty of Science this year is “Progressive Research in Science for a Sustainable Future”.

The opening talk will be delivered by Prof. SUK Ekeratne, a former Director of the Staff Development Centre, University of Colombo. He is well versed in the fields of both Science and Education.

We have received a total of 33 abstracts cutting across many disciplines of science. The technical sessions will commence at 9 a.m. in the Faculty of Science premises.

Prof. Suki Ekarathne

Theme: ‘Progressive Research in Science for a Sustainable Future’
Date: 17 November 2022
Time: 9 a.m. onwards
Venue: Chemistry Lecture Theater (CLT)

The Technical Sessions of the Faculty of Science, organized as part of the Annual Research Symposium of the University of Colombo, was successfully held on the 17 th November 2022, under the theme ‘Progressive Research in Science for a Sustainable Future’. The sessions commenced with the welcome address by the Director Postgraduate Studies, Professor Mayuri Wijesinghe. She said that, since the Faculty of Science focuses heavily on research, many initiatives to improve the quality and quantity of the postgraduate programs have been implemented. This was followed by a talk by Prof. Upul Sonnadara, Dean Faculty of Science. He enlightened the audience on the status of postgraduate programs of the faculty and highlighted some of the achievements of the faculty in terms of research – two academics ranked within the 2% of Scientists of the world, high level of research publications and citations, the patents secured, and the high number of PhD. degrees we produced. He also stated that the Covid Pandemic provided the faculty with a great opportunity to expand our horizons in terms offering postgraduate degrees more effectively and to a wider fraction of the society.

This was then followed by a talk by Professor SUK Ekaratne who spoke on “Approaches that mitigate learning challenges in preparing for progressive science research in higher education’. Being well versed in the fields of Science, Research and Education, he explained how the principles of education could be used for effectively training young research students in the field of science. The session ended with Dr Dilushan Jayasundara proposing the vote of thanks. He invited the participants for tea and a time of fellowship.

The technical sessions commenced after tea, and were held as two parallel sessions (Sessions I & II and Sessions III & IV) at which a total of 32 abstracts from the seven departments were presented. The sessions were well attended and included both academics and postgraduate students. Two presenters, one from each parallel session, was selected for the Best Presenter Award – Sessions I & II – S. Pathmaperuma and Sessions III & IV – TD Gamage, each of whom will be presented with a certificate and a cash award. The sessions ended with lunch.