Uttarakhand State Science & Technology Congress (USSTC)

What is the Uttarakhand State Science & Technology Congress?

Uttarakhand State Science & Technology Congress (USSTC) is the state's annual science conference, organised by the Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology (UCOST), an autonomous body of the Government of Uttarakhand under the Department of Information Science and Technology. UCOST is headquartered at Vigyan Dham, Vigyan Sadan Block, Dehradun 248007.

The Congress is described by UCOST as the state's premier platform for advancing science, technology and innovation. Its purpose is to give researchers working inside Uttarakhand a state-level forum to present findings, to build interdisciplinary collaboration across institutions that would otherwise never meet, and to identify and encourage emerging scientists. Uttarakhand runs it annually; the 20th edition (USSTC-2025) was organised in collaboration with Graphic Era (Deemed to be University), Dehradun, from 28 to 30 November 2025.

USSTC is not a grant scheme and not a welfare benefit. It is an academic event with a competitive selection process and an award component. Readers looking for money in hand should treat this page as a description of an opportunity to present and be recognised, not of a transfer.

What happens at the Congress?

The 2025 edition combined three things:

• Technical sessions across 12 thematic areas: agricultural sciences; biotechnology and microbiology; environmental science and forestry; chemical sciences; earth sciences and geology; engineering and material science; health and nutrition; mathematics and computer science; medical and pharmaceutical sciences; physical sciences; rural sciences; and zoology and veterinary sciences.
• Oral and poster presentations. USSTC-2025 received 146 oral presentations and 49 poster presentations, which gives a realistic sense of the scale a first-time presenter is walking into.
• A co-hosted summit. The 20th Congress was held alongside the World Summit on Disaster Management (WSDM-2025), extending the programme to disaster resilience and climate adaptation, a theme with obvious weight in a Himalayan state.

The stated emphasis of the 2025 Congress was on strengthening scientific temper, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and promoting evidence-based development.

Who is eligible to present at USSTC?

You can participate if:

• You are an individual researcher at a research institute in Uttarakhand.
• You are a student or research scholar at a university, college or institution in the state, with your supervisor's or institution's endorsement.
• You are a startup innovator with a technology or product with a demonstrable scientific basis.
• You are a farmer with a field innovation or documented practice worth presenting, the Congress explicitly names farmers among its participants.
• You represent an NGO based in Uttarakhand working on science, environment, health or rural technology.
• Your abstract clears expert screening for that year's Congress.

You cannot apply / are not eligible if:

• You are looking for a cash grant or welfare payment. USSTC has no citizen benefit component.
• You are not based in or working in Uttarakhand, since USSTC is a state congress. Outside experts do attend, but as invited speakers rather than through the open call.
• Your abstract is not selected by the expert screening panel. Submission does not guarantee a presentation slot.
• You are over the age ceiling fixed by UCOST for the Young Scientist award in that edition. You may still present; you cannot compete for that award.

What awards does the Congress carry?

The Congress confers Young Scientist recognition on researchers judged to have made outstanding and innovative contributions in their field. The 20th edition additionally carried a Young Women Scientist Award for exceptional contributions by women researchers in science and technology.

UCOST fixes the award amounts, the age ceiling and the number of awards per discipline for each edition and publishes them in that year's brochure and guidelines. Those figures are not fixed permanently in a policy document, so an applicant should read the current brochure on ucost.uk.gov.in rather than rely on an earlier year's numbers. The documents required for an award are, in UCOST's own words, those prescribed in its guidelines for the award.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Science Congress

Application is online, through the registration and abstract submission link UCOST publishes for each edition.

1. Watch ucost.uk.gov.in and UCOST's social media channels from around August each year for the announcement of that edition's Congress, its theme, dates, venue and abstract deadline.
2. Download the brochure and guidelines for the edition. They carry the abstract format, word limit, thematic area list, award categories, age ceiling and any registration fee.
3. Choose your thematic area from the list. The 2025 edition offered 12 — and write the abstract to the prescribed format.
4. Register and submit the abstract online through the link given on the UCOST website. Save the confirmation and the reference number.
5. Wait for expert screening. Submitted abstracts are screened by subject experts, and selected authors are informed whether they will present orally or as a poster.
6. Prepare the full paper or poster to the specification given in the acceptance communication, and register your attendance for the Congress dates.
7. Present at the Congress before the evaluation panel of subject experts. The Young Scientist and Young Women Scientist awards are decided on this evaluation.

How do I check my submission status?

1. Keep the reference number issued on online submission: every follow-up uses it.
2. Check the email address you registered with, since UCOST communicates acceptance and session allotment by email.
3. Look at the Science Congress section of ucost.uk.gov.in, where the Council posts the programme and the list of accepted presentations for the edition.
4. Call UCOST on 0135-2976266 or email ucost@ucost.in with your reference number if you have heard nothing after the announced screening date.

Common reasons a submission is turned down

• Abstract outside the 12 thematic areas notified for that edition.
• Abstract does not follow the prescribed format or exceeds the word limit in the brochure.
• Submitted after the deadline. The Congress runs to fixed dates and the abstract window closes well before them.
• No institutional affiliation or endorsement, which makes verification impossible.
• Work already published elsewhere, where the edition's guidelines require original unpublished work.
• Age ceiling exceeded for the Young Scientist award, which does not stop you presenting but does rule out the award.

Where do I get help?

• Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology (UCOST): Vigyan Dham, Vigyan Sadan Block, Dehradun 248007, Uttarakhand.
• Phone: +91-135-2976266
• Email: ucost@ucost.in
• Website: ucost.uk.gov.in; Science Congress section
• Uttarakhand CM Helpline: 1905

UCOST also runs a wider science-communication and popularisation programme, and a researcher who misses one edition of the Congress will usually find other UCOST calls open during the year. Dates, venues, award amounts and deadlines change with each edition, so the current brochure on ucost.uk.gov.in is always the authority.