ISLAMABAD, Aug 24: The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) will take initiatives to groom talent in the field of science, said the PAEC chairman Parvez Butt here on Sunday.

He was speaking at a ceremony to give away cash prizes on behalf of President General Pervez Musharraf to the winners of 7th National Physics Talent Contest (NPTC), an activity undertaken by PAEC every year for popularizing science among the youth.

These prizes of Rs100,000, Rs50,000 and Rs25,000 to the students securing Ist, 2nd and 3rd positions respectively were awarded by the president in addition to the cash prizes which the PAEC had earmarked for the winners of the scientific contest.

President Musharraf had announced these awards on the occasion of a special session of the 28th International Nathiagali Summer College on July 7.

The president also granted an endowment of Rs10 million at PIEAS Convocation last year to sustain the National Physics Talent Contest activities.

Talking to the parents of the winners of 7th and 8th NPTC, Mr Butt said the scientists and engineers of the existing generation have risen to the occasion by providing security and scientific infrastructure for the country despite heavy odds in their way, by forsaking attractive careers abroad.

He urged the youth to come up with similar sacrifices by choosing to work for their country after completion of their studies. The government will offer them creative jobs according to their talent when they come back from abroad, he added.

About the significance of the merit, Mr Butt said the PAEC owes its success entirely to merit and growth of its scientists and engineers. The national progress and prosperity depends upon brilliant work of its scientists, he added.

The PAEC chairman told the gathering that apart from the NPTC, the commission had undertaken another similar activity whereby it selected eight young scientists on merit and arranged their meeting with Nobel Laureates in Germany last month where they made their mark and had been offered research positions in various centres of the world.

The participants of the 7th National Physics Talent Contest were selected after nationwide screening test and several experimental camps where they were trained and tested by eminent scientists for participation in the 34th International Physics Olympiad held in Taiwan last month.—APP