Paris, June 22 {No.2000-61} - Jordan was chosen to host a major scientific research and training centre, the International Centre for Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications for the Middle East (SESAME), during a meeting of its governing body, the Interim Council of the SESAME Project, in Amman yesterday, in the presence of King Abdullah of Jordan.

UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura welcomed the decision and declared: "As a world-class international centre of science and technology, the facility will have major practical benefits for the region. It will promote scientific collaboration between participating countries and serve as a major channel of international scientific co-operation with the region. Its use by a broad range of scientists from different disciplines, as well as engineers and technical experts interested in working with synchrotron-light, will promote inter-disciplinary collaboration. SESAME member countries will benefit from advanced training of engineers and technicians in state-of-the-art fields and techniques." He further stressed that "Jordan has also guaranteed open access to the facility to all interested scientists world-wide.
The UNESCO-initiated project for an international research centre for the Middle East and Mediterranean region, will be built around the BESSY I synchrotron-light source facility which has been decommissioned in Berlin at the end of 1999 and which Germany is willing to donate. The value of BESSY I components is estimated at about US$30 million but a total of $50 to $60 million will have to raised to cover the cost of a building and support facilities for BESSY I which will also have to be upgraded to bring it to modern performance levels. Eleven members have joined the project: Armenia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, the Palestinian Authority and Turkey. It was officially launched at a meeting in Paris a year ago.

The synchrotron-light source will form the core of SESAME, an international centre of excellence providing training and research for Middle Eastern scientists in structural biology, environmental and materials science, including medical and other applications. The operating costs of SESAME have been estimated at US$5 million yearly and Jordan has pledged to provide US$ 1 million per annum over five years.

There are about 45 synchrotron-light sources in use around the world today. They operate by whirling particles, generally electrons, around a ring at a tremendous speed. Synchrotron-light covers a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum (infrared to hard x-rays). It is the best available source of x-rays, providing a valuable source of information for scientists working in many fields, making it a uniquely multidisciplinary facility. The project aims to advance research in the Middle East while fostering peaceful co-operation among the region's scientific communities. Mr Matsuura described research co-operation as "important for the social and economic development of the region" and as "an excellent tool for peace-building.
Pledging his support and calling on "all Middle East countries not yet members to join the SESAME project", Mr Matsuura declared: "By encouraging close working relationships between individuals and institutions, scientific co-operation offers concrete experience of the benefits of tolerance, solidarity and understanding. For the young scientists and PhD students who will use SESAME, the Middle East has always been synonymous with conflict and war. Through their scientific rapprochement they will be in the vanguard of the political rapprochement that this region so badly needs."

UNESCO is assisting the Interim Council in its work and provides a forum and framework for consultations between the countries interested in collaborating in the project. In his address to the Council - which draws on the expertise of world-renowned scientists from the Middle East and other regions - yesterday, Mr Matsuura stressed that SESAME "will work against the brain-drain by attracting scientists based in the Middle East and also those originally from the region who now work abroad."