The EdTalk Post
Our Newsletter
  • Announcements
    • Ministry of Education
    • State Govt. News
    • Notices Circulars
    • International
    • Development Agencies
    • CSR
  • Education
    • K-12 School
    • Higher Education
      • UGC
      • University
    • Training & Development
      • Entrepreneurship Development
      • Livelihood Development
      • Upskills Learning
    • Admissions
    • Course Updates
    • Online Learning
    • Overseas Education
    • Exams
    • Scholarships
  • Topics
    • Analysis
    • Articles
    • Awards & Recognitions
    • Books & Reviews
    • Health
    • Interviews
    • Movers
    • Opinion
    • Politics
    • Research
    • Sports
    • Stories
  • Associates
    • Business Wire India
    • PR Newswire
  • Career
    • Career Highlights
    • Jobs
    • Placements
  • Events
  • Other
    • FAQ’s
    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions
Reading: Drug Discovery Hackathon 2020 Jointly launched by MHRD & Health Ministry
Share
Search
The EdTalk PostThe EdTalk Post
Font ResizerAa
  • The EdTalk
  • What’s Your Story
  • Advertise With Us
  • Work For Us
  • Jobs
  • FAQ’s
  • T&C
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
Search
  • Announcements
    • Ministry of Education
    • State Govt. News
    • Notices Circulars
    • International
    • Development Agencies
    • CSR
  • Education
    • K-12 School
    • Higher Education
    • Training & Development
    • Admissions
    • Course Updates
    • Online Learning
    • Overseas Education
    • Exams
    • Scholarships
  • Topics
    • Analysis
    • Articles
    • Awards & Recognitions
    • Books & Reviews
    • Health
    • Interviews
    • Movers
    • Opinion
    • Politics
    • Research
    • Sports
    • Stories
  • Associates
    • Business Wire India
    • PR Newswire
  • Career
    • Career Highlights
    • Jobs
    • Placements
  • Events
  • Other
    • FAQ’s
    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2013 - 2025 copyright TheEdTalk.in. All Rights Reserved. Design & Developed by RedactIndia.com.
The EdTalk Post > Blog > Career Highlights > Competitions > Drug Discovery Hackathon 2020 Jointly launched by MHRD & Health Ministry
CompetitionsCOVID19HealthMinistry of Education

Drug Discovery Hackathon 2020 Jointly launched by MHRD & Health Ministry

The EdTalk Post
Last updated: July 4, 2020 10:02 am
Last updated: July 4, 2020 8 Min Read
Share
Drug Discovery Hackathon 2020 Jointly launched by MHRD & Health Ministry
SHARE
Union HRD Minister and Union Health Minister jointly launch the Drug Discovery Hackathon 2020

NEW DELHI, INDIA:

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’,  and,  Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Science and Technology  Dr. Harsh Vardhan today launched Drug Discovery Hackathon in the presence of MoS Shri Sanjay Dhotre through online platform. This Drug Discovery Hackathon is a joint initiative of MHRD, AICTE and CSIR and supported by partners like CDAC, MyGov, Schrodinger and ChemAxon.

Launching #DrugDiscoveryHackathon 2020' along with my colleague, Union Minister of MoHFW and MoST Shri @drharshvardhan ji and MoS for MHRD Shri @SanjayDhotreMP ji via video conferencing today. @PrinSciAdvGoI @PMOIndia @HMOIndia @DDNewslive https://t.co/IoEKJpFBqv

— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) July 2, 2020

Speaking on the occasion Shri Pokhriyal said that this hackathon is first of its kind national initiative for supporting drug discovery process. The minister further disclosed that to attract international talent, the hackathon will be open to participation from across the globe from professionals, faculty, researchers and students from varied fields like computer science, chemistry, Pharmacy, medical sciences, basic sciences and biotechnology. He further said that MHRD and AICTE have vast experience in organizing Hackathons but for the first time, we are using hackathon model for tackling a great scientific challenge. More importantly, this initiative is open for researchers/faculty across the globe as we are keen on attracting international talent to join and support our efforts.

While addressing the participants    Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister for S&T said, “we need to establish the culture of computational drug discovery in our country. In this initiative, MHRD’s Innovation cell and AICTE will focus on identifying potential drug molecules through the Hackathon while CSIR will take these identified molecules forward for synthesis and laboratory testing for efficacy, toxicity, sensitivity and specificity.”  He said, “the objective is to identify drug candidates against SARS-CoV-2 by in-silico drug discovery through the hackathon and follow up by chemical synthesis and biological testing”.  Pointed out that drug discovery is a complex, expensive, and arduous process, taking more than 10 years to develop a new drug, Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “while we pursue clinical trials of few repurposed drugs for Covid-19, as they are faster and can quickly be launched, it is also important that we find other suitable repurposed drugs and also on new drug discovery to develop specific drugs against Covid-19”. He said, “in-silico drug discovery which utilizes computational methods such as machine learning, AI and big data will help in accelerating this process”.

Minister of State, HRD Shri Sanjay Dhotre also appreciated the concept and said that government has kick-started Hackathon culture in this country which is very critical for challenging our youngsters to solve some of the daunting problems faced by our nation.

Prof. Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor, Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman AICTE, Dr. Shekhar Mande, DG CSIR, Dr. Rajive Kumar, Secretary AICTE, Prof. B Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India and Dr. Abhay Jere, Chief Innovation Officer, MHRD were also present during the online launch program.

Prof K. VijayRaghavan, PSA, Govt. of India & Chairman of the organizing committeesaid that this Hackathon will help India establish new model for expediting drug discovery process. It will have three phases of three months each and the whole exercise is projected to be completed by April-May 2021. At the end of each phase, successful teams will be rewarded. The ‘lead’ compounds identified at the end of phase 3 will be taken forward for experimental level at CSIR and other interested organizations.

Hackathon will primarily focus on computational aspects of drug discovery and will have three Tracks. Track-1 will deal with computational modelling for drug design or identifying ‘lead’ compounds from existing databases that may have the potential to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 while Track-2 will encourage participants to develop new tools and algorithms using data analytics and AI/ML approach for predicting drug-like compounds with minimal toxicity and maximal specificity and selectivity. A third track, named Track 3 is a Moon-shot approach which will only deal with novel and out-of-the-box ideas in this field.

The first phase of the three-phase competition is being launched today. The hackathon consists of challenges that are posted as problem statements and, are based on specific drug discovery topics which, are open to the participants to solve. The competition is open to all Indian students and researchers from India and abroad. Hope that thousands of students will participate in the competition. It is an online competition and anybody anywhere in the country or world can participate. The winners will be given prizes and the best entries will be taken into stage 2 of the competition. The best of stage 2 will go to stage 3. The plan is that at the end of the stage 3 competition the best solutions such as drug molecules or drug targets will be taken to the experimental level and validated for their predictions by either CSIR labs or start-ups.

During the launch function, Dr. Abhay Jere, Chief Innovation Officer explained the concept of Drug Discovery Hackathon, while Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe extended all the support from AICTE side and appealed all technical institutions to participate in this initiative in big number. Prof. Sahasrabudhe also expressed gratitude to all the experts for supporthe ting development of Problem statements.

Background Information and Methodology of Hackathon:

·         The hackathon consists of challenges that are posted as problem statements and, are based on specific drug discovery topics which, are open to the participants to solve.

·         My Gov portal is being used and any Indian student can participate.

·         Professionals and researchers from anywhere in the world can participate.

·         Two kinds of challenges problem statements (PS) are being offered and a total of 29 have been identified.

·       Track 1 will primarily deal with drug design for anti-COVID-19 hit/lead generation: this is done using tools such as molecular modeling, pharmacophore optimization, molecular docking, hit/lead optimization, etc.

·         Track 2 will deal with designing/optimizing new tools and algorithms which will have an immense impact on expediting the process of in silico drug discovery

·         There is also a third track called “Moon shot “which allows for working on problems which are ‘out of the box’ nature.

FeaturedDrug Discovery Hackathon 2020
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Email Copy Link Print
Leave a Comment Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign up to receive our weekly research email

Our selection of the week's biggest research news and features sent directly to your inbox. Enter your email address, confirm you're happy to receive our emails.

Subscribe my Newsletter for new blog posts, tips & new photos. Let's stay updated!

News & Research

Comment: Universities must embrace accountability or lose public confidence

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated…

Education News December 21, 2024

How studying abroad could save you £50,000

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated…

Education News December 21, 2024

Clearing 2017: how to find last minute accommodation

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated…

Education News December 21, 2024

Study engineering at university if you want to become a billionaire

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated…

Education News December 21, 2024

E-Books

Prolongation of Knowledge
Find out about the ocean of great topics to learn and enhance your knowledge. Read the book's digitally.
Read Now

Follow US on Socials

Information for

  • Jobs
  • Media
  • Term dates
  • Prospective students
  • Partners and business
  • Conference organisers

Top links

  • Library
  • Visit Academy
  • Foxiz and the EU
  • Outlook 365 web access

Students

  • Students
  • College Union
  • Student Hub
  • Careers Service
  • Graduation

Staff

  • Staff
  • HR Procedures
  • Salaries
  • Research Support
  • Information for New Staff

Quick Link

  • My Bookmark
  • Interests
  • Contact Us
  • Blog Index
  • Complaint
  • Advertise

The EdTalk

The Business Centre 132, My Street Kingston, New York 12401 United States
Tel: +1-541-234-3010

EdTalk Forum >

Follow Foxiz

  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Notice
  • Sitemap
  • Use of Cookies
  • © 2025 The EdTalk Group. Digital Edu Platform. All Rights Reserved.
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?