Organisation Internationale de Recherche sur la Cellule
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International
Cell Research Organization Organisation Internationale de Recherche sur la Cellule |
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The
Executive Committee of the INTERNATIONAL CELL RESEARCH ORGANIZATION
(ICRO) is happy to welcome you on this site. |
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MISSION
ORIGINS The Auger report (Pierre Auger 1961 "Current Trends in Scientific Research" Unesco, Paris pp. 224-225) recommended cell and molecular biology as one of the priority fields for international scientific cooperation. Two main features of the biological sciences justified this choice. First, this field did not seem to imply economic or political rivalries that could jeopardize cooperative efforts, particularly between East and West. Second, it was in a stage of rapid development, so the need for rapid diffusion of recent knowledge was strongly felt, both by scientists and by those in charge of science policy internationally. Since UNESCO's mission is to promote international understanding and peace by means of education, science and culture, it welcomed the consensus on biological sciences as an opportunity to start an intensive program of cooperation with the help of the relevant segment of the international scientific community. The International Cell Research Organization was founded on 22 June 1962 in UNESCO House as a non-governmental organization specifically designed to assist UNESCO in the implementation of its cell biology program. ICRO-UNESCO COOPERATION UNESCO put its headquarters facilities at ICRO's disposal and its cell and molecular biology program was carried out in close cooperation with ICRO. ICRO's foothold in the scientific community, together with UNESCO's international authority and prestige, succeed in mobilizing concerned institutions and scientists. ICRO, with its plead of scientists, was in a position to assess the prevailing trends and promise of cell research as well as the best methods for its dissemination. UNESCO in turn worked out planning mechanisms based on its awareness of the needs of Member States. This collaboration insured the success and the high standards of this program. Above all UNESCO's primary stable funding, sometimes only of catalytic size, gave maximal returns due to ICRO's flexibility of operation as a non-governmental organization. The cooperation between ICRO and UNESCO has been repeatedly quoted at several of Unesco's recent General Conferences as an example of efficient interaction with a non-governmental organization. ASSOCIATION WITH ICSU In 1985 ICRO became a scientific associate of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), a world-wide non-governmental umbrella organization founded in 1931 and including at present 20 International Scientific Unions in the basic sciences and some 75 National Members and Associates represented by scientific academies and other national scientific bodies. ICSU has a longstanding, close cooperation with Unesco, including a number of joint programs, as well as with other UN agencies. Over the years ICRO has actively collaborated with ICSU within several scientific programs in the biological disciplines. Its formal association with ICSU will further promote this collaboration and, at the same time, it will strengthen ICRO's position as a non-governmental organization adhering to the principle of the universality of science without regard to race, religion, political philosophy, ethnic origin, citizenship, sex or language. SCIENCE POLICY ICRO has adopted a flexible and pragmatic approach without sacrificing its ideals of truly universal international scientific endeavour. It tends to maintain a balance between training courses directed at dissemination of the methods and results of advanced fundamental research, and those directed at problem-solving. In all cases, the interests of developing countries receive top priority. The participation of developing countries in the two types of ICRO activities provide complementary advantages. The attendance of some of their young scientists in high level "sophisticated" training courses, side by side with colleagues of wealthier countries helps assimilate them into the scientific community. At the same time, holding a course in their own country tends to boost local scientific activity and to reinforce the prestige - and hopefully the funding - of the host institution. It is important to abolish the gap between instructors and trainees and stimulate the participation of all biologists, especially those far from the main centers of the industrialized world. By so doing, ICRO courses contribute to the training and maintenance of a pool of competent people in those countries, who are ready to help solve great problems of scientific, agricultural, economic or sanitary development. ICRO-UNESCO TRAINING COURSE Early in its history, ICRO decided to devote a large part of its effort to advanced experimental training of younger cell biologists. The means chosen was the training course which offers intensive experience in the laboratory to the young worker. This choice was made at the expense of symposia and congresses, which are more beneficial to established or mature researchers than to beginners, are more expensive in terms of travel costs and have potentially a greater variety of financial resources, including participation fees. These meetings are extremely useful for updating scientific information and entertaining international contacts. However, by comparison intensive training courses provide more opportunities to make long-lasting friendships through the daily sharing of life at the bench for several weeks with colleagues and instructors. Instructors in these courses are generally pioneers in their respective fields and as a result, course participants learn to carry out experimental work under conditions as similar as possible to those in real life. The typical ICRO/UNESCO course is designed for young scientists who have completed their academic training and are beginning their careers in research, but occasionally more mature workers, who desire to learn a new technique or to approach a new field, can also profit by attending. Course subjects include molecular biology, microbiology developmental biology, in-vivo and in-vitro cell differentiation, immunology, cellular and molecular genetics, regulatory mechanisms, bioenergetics, virology, neurobiology at the cellular level and modern plant cell biology, with special emphasis on potential applications in biotechnology. CHOICE OF HOST LABORATORIES ICRO courses are selected on the occasion of the Executive Committee or Council meetings upon recommendation of ICRO Panels. Proposals are often initiated by ICRO members, thanks to their perception of trends and needs and their ability to identify locations where facilities, expertise and motivation are optimal for action. The host laboratory should be directed by a local organizer who is interested by the subject matter, should include a local nucleus of scientists and technicians who can play the role of supporting personnel, should possess the basic equipment necessary for the program, should be within easy reach of interested people and should be able to rely on a favorable attitude among local authorities. The increasing reputation of ICRO courses has resulted in an increasing number of proposals from scientists who volunteer to serve as course organizers. ORGANIZATION OF TRAINING COURSES ICRO created a tradition by avoiding in these courses the formation of a majority national group: participants from the host country are limited to one-third of the total. In a typical course a teaching team of 5-10 members instructs 15-30 students. Instructors and students work full-time for 2-4 weeks in the laboratory. They take their meals together and if possible are housed together. Social activities sufficient to indicate warm hospitality are encouraged. The scientific program often starts with one day of refresher lectures to update the scientific background and to alleviate difficulties inherent in the heterogeneity of the audience. Following this, lectures introducing experiments alternate with lectures of a wider scope to integrate the topic into a more general framework. Discussions about the experiments are complemented with seminars given by participants on their research results and projects. Students are selected by the teaching staff on the basis of their scientific qualifications and on the basis of their perspectives to utilize their newly acquired knowledge. Accepted candidates are provided with board and lodging and with partial or total travel support according to needs and availability of budget. At the end of the course, students receive a certificate and are requested to fill in a questionnaire to evaluate course quality. The language of most courses has been English. A special effort has been made to offer Spanish-speaking courses in Latin America, and French-speaking courses in Africa. Nevertheless, due to the presence of the local supporting personnel, many English speaking courses have in reality been bilingual. Course teachers generally hand out a course manual, which is highly appreciated by the students and used by them and their colleagues, once they are back in their home laboratories. A few course organizers have made a special effort to issue the course manual as a book, but the extra effort involved by the authors is large and this practice did not gain general acceptance. The funding by UNESCO covers as a rule only a fraction of the costs of a course. Course organizers and ICRO Executive Members usually raise the rest by addressing various sponsors. Occasionally ICRO co-sponsors courses originating from other initiatives, provided that the scientific criteria and the international character of the courses are in conformity with ICRO standards. IMPACT OF TRAINING COURSES In several instances ICRO has had the great satisfaction of receiving proposals for the organization of an ICRO course from scientists who, several years earlier, took an ICRO course and found it beneficial. In most instances, however, course follow-up is an ambition awaiting fulfillment. The best means to reach this goal would be the creation of a fellowship scheme offered to one or two selected students of each course, allowing them to receive long-term research training in the laboratory of a member of the teaching team. The criteria applied for such selections are superior to those of most other fellowship schemes and the institution of such a scheme would be a powerful stimulus for teachers and students alike. PLANNING OF ACTIVITIES Most of the work in the field, which consists of identifying the most suitable or most timely topics for training courses and identifying the right host institution, organizer and teachers, is accomplished by specialized Working Panels. Besides future planning, they can assist in advising the organizers of training courses already approved. The present list of Working Panels is as follows:
STRUCTURE OF ICRO ICRO is officially incorporated under Belgian law. Its governing body is a Council which meet every four years. Between Council meetings, activities are carried out by an Executive Committee elected from the Council. The Executive Committee is composed of the Officers and the Panel Conveners, and two Members at large. The Council consists of the Executive Committee and the members of the Panels). ICRO members as individuals are scientists internationally known for competence in their fields of cell research, who share the aim of both ICRO and Unesco to give young scientists from every country equal chances to contribute by creative research to the progress of science and to become full members of the scientific community. They put at ICRO's disposal their educational experience, their connections in the scientific world and often also the hospitality of their own institutes for the organization of courses. The main source for the enlargement of ICRO membership is the teaching staff of various training courses. Other members are appointed according to their positions in newly emerging fields of research, or in order to improve the representation of hitherto under-represented regions of the world. THE PRESENT RECORD By
the end of 2003 ICRO has organized a total of 465 training courses which
took place in 80 countries, with the participation of about 12,000 students
from all over the world. ICRO-UNESCO TRAINING COURSES: see the list If you think that your research institution and the young generation of scientists around could benefit from the holding of an ICRO-UNESCO TRAINING COURSE timely
subject matter of cell research, Please complete the Organizer Application Form The decision of ICRO will be forthcoming in less than a year and can result in financial support. Prof. Georges N. Cohen, Executive Secretary |