Lodha Genius Programme 2025: Curious Young Minds Explore Bold Ideas

The month-long Lodha Genius Programme (LGP) 2025 concluded on June 15th, with 278 shortlisted students completing the campus experience at Ashoka University. This edition saw several eminent figures in the science and arts community come together and contribute to making it a success.

Several new courses were introduced this year, which not only brought range to the programme, but added a lot of depth with the quality of experts and the state-of-the-art facility at Ashoka University.

The students gained hands-on experience by engaging with experts in classrooms and laboratories, which helped them gain a deeper understanding of the topics they were studying. From Synthetic Biology to Neuroscience and Design Thinking, the learning curve was nothing short of a steep, transformative journey, which was packed with insights that reshaped the way students think, create and explore the world around them.

The Great Ideas Seminar (GIS) series brought together eleven speakers, two of whom were Nobel Laureates, namely Paul Nurse and Brian Schmidt, who received Nobels for discovering protein molecules and the ever-expanding state of the universe, respectively. Students were mesmerised by Mossi Traore, one of the most prominent fashion designers and curators from the Paris Fashion Week, who spoke about sustainable fashion. Brigitte Godard, a flight surgeon at the European Space Agency and Sharmila Bhattacharya, who is the principal investigator at the Biomedical Performance Laboratory at the AMES Research Centre at NASA, helped students understand how biomedical research can lead to pathways in space science.

Students thoroughly enjoyed the session with Arvind Gupta, a Padma Shri awardee who mesmerised everyone with his science toys, explaining scientific concepts. He invigorated the spirit of curiosity and innovation, showing how simple, everyday materials could unlock complex scientific ideas in the most playful and accessible ways.

The programme encourages students to step beyond their comfort zones and explore different subjects and fields. The curriculum is designed in a way that lets children engage deeply with their senses and emotions. Through active participation, they are better able to retain information, understand phenomena thoroughly and apply this knowledge to practical solutions.

The Lodha Genius Programme offered a phenomenal experience to the shortlisted cohort. It was not just an academic program. Rather, it served as a catalyst for curiosity, creativity and a bold reimagining of what young minds can achieve when inspired by the best.