|
|
|
   
|
Contributions to this Newsletter may be sent to: wcs-newsletter@unesco.org Fax: (33)1 45 68 58 23 |
|
|
|
|
|
Contributions to this Newsletter may be sent to: wcs-newsletter@unesco.org Fax: (33)1 45 68 58 23 |
30 November 2000 - Confronted with widespread, frequent fog over the past two winters which has thoroughly disrupted all human activities over an area of 1,500 km in northern India and Pakistan, the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) has decided to intensify this year’s collection of fog samples as part of an in-depth investigation into the chemistry of the fog and its dispersion pattern. The problem this region is facing is further evidence – if such were needed – that environmental pollution knows no frontiers. And if industrial emissions continue to grow over the coming decades, so will the fog. Monitoring of the area last year revealed excessively high sulphate concentrations during the fog, varying from 49.8 ug/m3 to as much as 98.9 ug/m3. The stepping-up of environmental monitoring in northern India and Pakistan by SUPARCO comes as welcome news a year after the World Conference of Science recommended strengthening national, regional and global environmental monitoring. Other recommendations included making monitored data widely available to ensure the effectiveness of monitoring programmes and cooperation between neighbouring countries to identify solutions to common environmental problems (paras. 29 and 30, Science Agenda). As part of its commitment to sustainable development, SUPARCO also conducts studies related to the upper atmosphere and uses satellite remote sensing technology for resource development studies. Data acquired from Landsat, SPOT and NOAA satellites by SUPARCO’s satellite ground station near Islamabad were used recently to estimate cotton crop acreage and production for planners and decision makers; and to map and monitor flood-protective embankments along the Indus River to ascertain whether the embankments had withstood the passage of devastating floods. Source: Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of Pakistan |
||
22 November 2000 - The electronic dissemination of primary scientific literature – the learned journals – is about to come under the microscope at a Second Conference on Electronic Publishing organized by UNESCO and ICSU Press. Some 250 experts from around the world representing all links in the science information chain – publishers, librarians, scientists, copyright specialists, etc. – will be meeting in UNESCO Headquarters from 20 to 23 February 2001 to take stock of developments in electronic publishing in science since the first conference was held in 1996 and to prepare guidelines for best practices that will range from standardization of citation through peer review and integrity to archiving of the scientific record. UNESCO and ICSU Press are organizing this second conference in the face of pressing economic, legal and ethical concerns. As Roger Elliott, Chairman of ICSU Press, and Howard Moore of UNESCO explain, ‘The new developments provide enormous potential benefits for the scientific information chain and hence for the progress of science, but there are real difficulties in developing a new paradigm that meets the needs of science in an effective way’. Topics under discussion will include the impact on science of new legislation governing copyright and databases, economic models for the electronic publishing of scientific journals, the role non-profit organizations can play, referencing and retrieval of scientific articles and ethical and privacy issues affecting the biomedical sciences among others. Central to discussion will be the potential offered by the new technologies for improving the two-way exchange of information between North and South, and between countries of the South. The Conference will wind up on the Friday morning with the submission of reports from the ‘breakout sessions’ and consideration of Conference recommendations. For the final presentation, a scientist and a publisher will each be invited to answer a question which will have been on everyone’s lips, ‘Is electronic publishing being used in the best interests of science?’ Source: confsci@unesco.org |
||
14 November 2000 - Hungary has set itself an ambitious agenda in a national action plan for science and technology policy published recently. Priorities include doubling national spending on research and development (R&D) to 1.5% of gross domestic product and a significant increase in government investment in science and technology, the full extent of which will only be known upon conclusion of a Parliamentary debate later this month. Another key objective is to raise the private sector’s share of R&D from 37.7% to 50%, a proportion closer to that of developed countries. Science and Technology Policy 2000 gives an overview of the present situation and the tasks the research community, government and industry need to tackle to attain common goals in five overlapping areas: human resources; institutional structure; financing; infrastructure; and international relations. Key objectives are a substantial increase in the amount of funds for R&D available on a competitive basis and the launch of a new national R&D programme. In the area of human resources, priority is being given to raising the salaries of researchers and college/university faculty and to creating a career model for researchers and teaching staff. The government action plan takes into account the recommendations of the World Conference on Science hosted by Hungary’s capital; it also bears in mind the priorities of the European Union’s Research, Technology, Develoment and Demonstration Framework Programme, its White Paper 2000, the OECD guidelines and documents on a European Research Area. Hungary’s ambition may be measured against the fortunes of gross domestic expenditure on R&D over the past decade. In 1989, Hungary and the European Union both devoted some 2% of gross domestic product to R&D. While the European Union’s R&D effort has remained stable, Hungary’s share fell steadily during the first difficult years of transition to a market economy before stabilizing around the 0.7% mark in 1996. For further information, go to www.om.hu or contact the Hungarian Ministry of Education at sandor.toth@om.hu |
||
9 November 2000 - Sri Lanka has chosen Science and Technology for National Development as the theme of its first biennial conference on science and technology. This interdisciplinary conference examining major issues in agriculture, industry, environment, education, information technology and health has proved remarkable from a number of perspectives. Firstly, the three-day Conference (24-27 August 2000) involved a wide spectrum of stakeholder groups in science and technology. Invitations were extended not only to scientific personnel from research and development institutes and universities, but also to representatives from industry, senior administrators, entrepreneurs and representatives of non-governmental organizations. Some 120 delegates from around the country attended the event, which was convened by the National Science and Technology Commission. Secondly, the Conference adopted a two-tiers programme. Plenary sessions at which scientists presented background material were succeeded by concurrent working groups. The latter recommended the development of a Science and Technology Agenda for National Development (STAND), an Agenda which is to be presented to the Minister of Science and Technology for implementation. Thirdly, the Conference innovated by inviting the Young Scientists Forum (WCS Newsletter, 8 November 2000) to make a presentation to the Conference on the themes of a research performance evaluation and foresight initiative designed to anticipate the cutting-edge requirements of future science. Source: National Science and Technology Commission, Ministry of Science and Technology, nastec@itmin.com |
||
8 November 2000 - Desirous
to know the views of young scientists on the development of science
and technology in Sri Lanka, the National Science and Technology Commission,
a department of the Ministry of Science and Technology, has established
a Young Scientists Forum. Participants spoke of the need for a self-assessment scheme to monitor career progression and of the importance of foresight to sustain research. Key recommendations included a call for research to be prioritized according to the country’s needs and for the development of policies to conserve biodiversity and promote basic research in specialized areas determined by national needs. Source: National Science and Technology Commission, Ministry of Science and Technology, nastec@itmin.com |
||
2 November 2000 - In a letter to UNESCO dated 26 October 2000, the University of Lebanon has confirmed its participation in a virtual campus scheduled to ‘open its doors’ in January 2001. The Avicenna campus, involving a consortium of 15 Mediterranean universities, is being supported jointly by UNESCO and the European Commission. The campus is named after Ibn Sina (981-1037 A.D.), the most famous physician, philosopher, encyclopedist, mathematician and astronomer of his time. Known in the West by the name of Avicenna, Ibn Sina is perhaps best remembered for his famous work in medical science, Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb, known as the Canon in the West. In choosing the great Muslim intellectual, participating institutions mean to underline the project’s humanist perspective and the contribution of the Mediterranean region to the promotion of intercultural exchanges over the ages. The Avicenna campus aims to construct a network capable of transfering knowledge between entry points in each participating country known as Avicenna Knowledge Centres. This implies that all the Centres respect a common norm with regard to technology. Each country has already identified its own Knowledge Centre. Besides the University of Lebanon, these are the Philadelphia University in Amman (Jordan), University of Lifelong Learning (Algeria), University of Cairo (Egypt), Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Informatique et d’Analyse des Systèmes in Rabat (Morocco), Damascus University (Syria), Higher Institute of education and Lifelong Learning in Tunis (Tunisia), the Centre national d’enseignement à distance (CNED, France), Al Quds Open University (Palestine), Middle East Technical University (Turkey) and the Mediterranean Network of Engineering Schools (RMEI), the regional Université euro-méditerraneene sans murs, Open University (United Kingdom), University of Cyprus and Council for Science and Technology (Malta). Students stand to benefit from the Avicenna network in some original ways. For example, Avicenna will include an educational virtual library. ‘Cross-fertilization’ of the different contents made available by participating universities will be encouraged. Students are also sure to appreciate the possibility of having credits gained from one Centre acknowledged by other participating universities. Nor has Avicenna overlooked the staff training component. Officers in charge of the knowledge centres will receive instruction in administration and in the pedagogy of distance learning, knowledge officers will be trained to interact with the media engineers and professors, while tutors will be shown how to interact with students for a given course. Contact: UNESCO Science Analysis and Policies Division, m.miloudi@unesco.org |
||
|
|
||
|
||
|
Contact:
|
||
|
