2YEAR 2011VOL.23 NO.2

Published with the support of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences

newsletterTWASNEWSLETTER OF THE ACADEMY OF SC IENCES FOR THE DEVELOP ING WORLD

ISSN

222-7369

CONTENTS 2 SHARING MATTERS 5 SUSTAINABLITY IN AFRICA

12 IN BRIEF 16 ROMAIN MURENZI ON TWAS 22 CLIMATE RESEARCH

29 ICTs IN KOSOVO 35 FUN WITH NUMBERS 42 FISHING FOR A FUTURE

50PEOPLE, PLACES, EVENTS

TWAS NEWSLETTERPublished quarterly

with the support of theKuwait Foundation for the

Advancement of Sciences (KFAS)by TWAS, the academy of sciences for

the developing worldICTP Campus, Strada Costiera 11

34151 Trieste, Italytel: +39 040 2240327fax: +39 040 224559e-mail: info@twas.orgwebsite: www.twas.org

TWAS COUNCIL

PresidentJacob Palis

Immediate Past PresidentC.N.R. Rao

Vice-PresidentsFayzah M.A. Al-Kharafi

Bai ChunliFrancisco J. Barrantes

Romain MurenziAtta-ur-Rahman

Secretary GeneralD. Balasubramanian

TreasurerMohamed H.A. Hassan

Council MembersAdel E.T. El-Beltagy

Reza MansouriKeto E. MshigeniHarold RamkissoonAbdul H. Zakri

TWAS EXECUTIVE DIRECTORRomain Murenzi

EDITORDaniel Schaffer

MANAGING EDITORGisela Isten

ASSISTANT EDITORSTasia AsakawaCristina Serra

CONTRIBUTING WRITERLinda Nordling

DESIGN & ART DIRECTIONSandra Zorzetti, Rado Jagodic

www.studio-link.it

PRINTINGStella Arti Grafiche, Trieste

Cover image:Flickr/wetwebwork:Keyboard and Cress

Unless otherwise indicated,the text is written by the editorsand may be reproduced freelywith due credit to the source.

MAKE IT FREE TO MAKE IT PAY. THAT CONTRADICTORY NOTION SEEMED TO

BE THE OVERARCHING THEME AT THE US NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ’

(NAS) MEETING, ‘THE CASE FOR INTERNATIONAL SHARING OF DATA: A

FOCUS ON DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ’ , HELD AT NAS’S HEADQUARTERS IN

WASHINGTON, DC, ON 18-19 APRIL.

T he meeting was organized in collaboration with the US Committee on Data for Science

and Technology, which is part of the NAS Board on Research Data and Information, and

the International Council for Science (ICSU) Committee on Freedom and Responsibility in

the Conduct of Science (CFRS).

Farouk El-Baz (TWAS Fellow 1985), research professor and director of the Center for

Remote Sensing at Boston University, USA, and adjunct professor at Ain Shams University in

Cairo, Egypt, explained in the symposium’s opening session that for years the Landsat pro-

gramme, launched in 1972 and jointly managed by the US National Aeronautical and Space

Administration (NASA) and the US Geological Survey (USGS), charged fees for access to

its data.

As El-Baz also noted, it’s not as if the data

remained filed away in largely unused archives.

Each year, a broad range of users, both in the

United States and across the globe, agreed to pay the required fees to gain access to Landsat’s

database, which consists largely of images of Earth from space that offer a unique portrait of

global changes in agriculture, forestry, urban development, wetlands, and soil and water

resources.

But the fees generated just USD5 to USD10 million a year in revenues, while the project

itself has cost some USD5 to USD10 billion to build and maintain over the past 40 years.

“There was no chance that the Landsat programme would ever generate sufficient revenues

to pay for itself,” noted Curtis E. Woodcock, professor of geography and environment at

Boston University, USA.

Then, in 2008, NASA and USGS agreed to provide free and open access to Landsat’s data-

base. Usage increased 100-fold the following year. “For the first time,” Woodcock observed,

“we are finally getting our money’s worth.” The investment, in short, was paying off in much

higher levels of use.

Sharing Matters

EDITORIAL

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2011Open access to data, like that provided by the

Landsat programme, has obvious benefits for scien-

tists in the developing world. “It levels the playing

field for researchers regardless of the country in

which they live. And it contributes to economic

development as well,” noted Roberta Balstad, co-

chair of the US National Research Council Board

on Research Data and Information. Yet, as Michael

Kahn, research fellow at the National Research

Foundation (NRF) in South Africa, observed: in too

many instances, large gaps have separated “acade-

mic hunters” in developed countries from “data

gatherers” in developing countries.

To create a more level playing field and narrow

the research divide between ‘hunters’ and ‘gather-

ers’, a growing number of national and internation-

al organizations, including the World Meteorologi-

cal Organization (WMO), the United Nations Edu-

cational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO), the European Union (EU), the US

National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Organ-

ization for Economic Cooperation and Development

(OECD), to name just a few, have voiced strong support for open access. The goal is to make

the enormous volume of data, now totalling some 1,250 billion Gigabytes and increasing at

a pace of more than 50% a year, readily available to all researchers.

Over the past several years, the roster of open access participants has expanded in both

the public and private sectors, ranging from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s

(MIT) Open Source Initiative, to India’s Open Source Drug Discovery (OSSD) programme, to

the Beijing Genome Institute (BGI).

But, as participants at the symposium asserted, open access to data is by no means free,

and there are significant barriers that continue to stand in the way of progress, especially for

developing countries.

For example, there are issues related to finances and training. Satellites and broad band-

width cables used to gather and transmit the data are expensive to build and maintain. In

addition, data analysis and interpretation is a labour-intensive exercise that calls for highly

educated and skilled researchers, statisticians and computer scientists.

Recent developments, including the installation of three submarine cables along the coast

of Africa in just the past year, have boosted data speeds fourfold and reduced prices by 90%.

This suggests that the ‘hardware’ challenge is increasingly being met and will likely be over-

come in the years ahead.

Yet, as Atta-ur-Rahman (TWAS Fellow 1985 and Vice President for Central and South Asia),

who is a former minister of science and technology and federal commissioner of higher education

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2011 in Pakistan, noted: “Many developing countries continue to lack a critical mass of researchers to

utilize the growing volume of data and information that is now available.“

There are also regulatory and policy issues related to intellectual property rights and pri-

vacy, especially for data collected by private-sector firms used to acquire international

patents.

In addition, there are issues related to security.

Advocates of open access, noted Balstad, are not

proposing that institutions allow unfettered access

to sensitive data that could place a nation’s or glob-

al security at risk.

And there are issues related to culture – both

within societies and professions. Some countries

and professions, noted Elaine Collier, assistant

director for clinical research at the US National

Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Center for

Research Resources, are more open than others and

all governments – not to mention private firms – hesitate to give free access to data and

information that cost hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars to acquire and manage.

Meanwhile, the intensely competitive world in which scientists work sometimes make

researchers reluctant to share data for fear of not receiving their due for their accomplish-

ments.

Despite these obstacles, participants at the symposium saw reason for optimism. For

example, Yang Huanming, co-founder and president of the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI),

outlined the contributions that his institution has made to the sequencing of the genomes of

rice, chickens, silkworms, pandas, cucumbers, maize, soybeans and an expanding list of

micro-organisms.

Such success stories bode well for the future, suggesting that not only the volume and

range of data, but also the number of scientists in developing countries utilizing this data,

will continue to increase – although not as quickly as advocates would like. As Yang observed

in remarks designed to highlight the benefits of sharing: “The entire world has benefitted

from China’s initiatives, but it has been Chinese scientists who have benefitted the most.”

“When you make data available, it can make a huge difference in the quality of peoples’

lives,” noted El-Baz. “The benefits derived from data-based analysis and policies are likely to

be most acutely experienced by people in developing countries. That’s why it’s so important to

continue to expand free and open access to scientific data.” �

> An abbreviated version of this article has been published atwww.scidev.net/en/features

> For additional information about the NAS meeting,‘The Case for International Sharing of Data: A Focus on Developing Countries’,

see sites.nationalacademies.org/PGA/biso/PGA_061353.

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COMMENTARY

MENT ION AFR I CA , AND D IV ERS I T Y I S NOT THE F I R S T WORD THAT COMES TO

MIND. YET, AFRICA IS A LARGE AND DIVERSE CONTINENT THAT DEFIES S IMPLE

DESCRIPT IONS .

SUSTAINABLEWELL-BEING IN AFRICA

People from outside Africa often seeit as a place that lends itself to sim-ple, straightforward and often un-flattering characterizations. Fromthe outside looking in, the only clearline of division in Africa lies betweenNorth Africa and sub-SaharanAfrica. Otherwise, the continent isusually seen as one. The true por-trait is quite different, however.

A frica consists of 53 countries.In contrast, South America has

12 countries, North America 23,Europe 47 and Asia 50. How simi-lar are Sudan and South Africa?Liberia and Lesotho? Mauritaniaand Madagascar?

But it’s not just geographicaland political boundaries that re-flect the continent’s diversity.Africa’s varied ecology and vasttreasure trove of resources alsospeak to the continent’s wide-rang-ing diversity. It has, for instance,

14 ecological zones ranging fromdry desert to humid rain forest andit is rich in diamonds, oil, gold andcopper.

THE POVERTY LINEYet Africa is also a continent thathas been persistently overbur-dened by poverty.

Poverty, in fact, remains Africa’schronic affliction defying a broadrange of remedies that have beenpursued by governments at homeand by funding agencies fromabroad. According to the WorldBank, no fewer than 43 of the con-tinent’s countries are low-incomecountries and, according to the UNConference on Trade and Develop-ment (UNCTAD), no fewer than 35of the continent’s countries areleast developed countries (LDCs).

Poverty, in short, is the charac-teristic that makes many observersconclude that Africa lacks diversity.

In their eyes, Africa is simply poorand no more.

Aggregate statistics and globaleconomic rankings, of course, arealso mirrored in the low incomesand chronic social ills that afflictthe people who live there. Morethan 70% of all Africans live onless than USD2 a day. More than26 million Africans are infectedwith HIV and an estimated 2.5 mil-lion Africans die each year of AIDS.Nearly 1 million Africans fall vic-tim to malaria. Over 40% of allAfricans do not have access to safedrinking water.

WHAT HAPPENS IN AFRICA...What happens in Africa is, no doubt,of consequence first and foremost tothe people of Africa. Yet what hap-pens to Africa is also of consequenceto the rest of the world.

That’s because Africa is hometo nearly 1 billion people or nearly

15% of the world’s population. Thepopulation is currently experienc-ing an annual growth rate of 2.5%,which makes it the world’s fastestgrowing continent. Its population,in fact, could double by 2050.

Africa, moreover, is also com-prised of a huge landmass coveringmore than 30 million hectares.Only Asia is larger. Indeed Africa’slandmass is 2 million hectareslarger than Europe, the USA andAustralia combined.

CHALLENGES, CHALLENGESAfrica is not only economically chal-lenged. Not surprisingly, it is alsoscientifically challenged. Africancountries spend on average just0.3% of their gross domestic prod-uct (GDP) on research and develop-ment (R&D) compared to a globalaverage of 1.7%. Africa has just 164researchers per one million popula-tion compared to a global averageof nearly 1,100 researchers per onemillion population.

Put another way, with nearly15% of the world’s population,Africa has just 2.2% of the world’sresearchers. Each year, not surpris-ingly, it produces just 1.5% of thepeer-reviewed scientific publica-tions.

When it comes to patents, thesituation is even more trouble-some. The World Intellectual Prop-erty Organization’s 2008 WorldPatent Report noted that only 26 ofAfrica’s 53 countries filed patentsin 2007 and in 20 of those coun-tries the number of patents filedwas fewer than four.

Less than five decades ago,South Korea was an impoverishedcountry with a per capita GDP ofUSD1,630 and it had virtually noscientific infrastructure. Today,South Korea has a per capita GDPthat exceeds USD20,000. It spends2.3% of GDP on research and de-velopment (with plans to spend5% of GDP by 2012) and has morethan 3,000 researchers per onemillion population. A country withonly 50 million people, South Ko-rea is far outdistancing every coun-try in Africa – and indeed the con-tinent in the aggregate – in bothscientific capacity and economicgrowth.

ALL IS NOT BLEAKYet, while troubles abound, all isnot bleak in Africa. In fact, somerecent trends have been encourag-ing. For example, in the five yearspreceding the international finan-

cial meltdown in 2008, GDP inAfrica grew at an annual rate ofmore than 5%, and over the pasttwo years many countries in Africahave been able to weather theshockwaves of the global down-turn better than many northerncountries, including the UnitedStates.

Meanwhile, the number ofAfrican countries that have takensignificant steps to strengthen theirscientific capacity has continued torise.

Nigeria, for example, has in-vested in space technology to im-prove its ability to monitor changesin its environment. South Africa,meanwhile, has invested significantresources in nanotechnology to en-hance its capabilities in providingaccess to safe drinking water and toadvance its efforts in promoting re-newable energy.

IMPEDING PROGRESSBut a host of intractable issues con-tinue to stand in the way of what-ever progress has been made.Africa may be slowly movingahead but strong headwinds con-tinue to hold back the continent’sefforts to embark on an enduringpath for economic development.

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Among the compelling ques-tions that Africa faces are these: Isthe progress that has been made,however commendable and en-couraging, commensurate with thescope of the problems? Are themeasures sustainable? Will the ad-vances ultimately be shared by allAfrican countries or confined tothe continent’s larger and rela-tively more prosperous countries?Will Africa follow a path towardscience-based sustainable develop-ment similar to the one that has re-cently unfolded in Asia, whereChina and India have led the wayand where other countries in cen-tral and southern Asia have beenbuoyed by their success? Or, will itestablish its own, uniquely African,paradigm for growth?

STEP BY STEPWhere should Africa start in itsquest for sustainable economic de-velopment? In many ways, it al-ready has. For nearly a decade, ef-forts to create a pathway for sus-tainable growth have focused onfundamental issues that were con-cisely articulated at the WorldSummit on Sustainable Develop-ment (WSSD) held in Johannes-burg, South Africa, in 2002. Thesechallenges, presented under theacronym WEHAB, include water,energy, health, agriculture and bio-diversity. Since then, climatechange has been added to the list.

The key issues facing Africa, asit seeks to improve the economicand social well-being of its peo-ple, may be clear and straightfor-ward. But how to best addressthese issues is not. In other words,

identifying the issues, in manyways, has been the easy part,while effectively doing somethingabout them has been another,more troublesome, matter.

That’s because the challengesthat Africa faces are complex andoften interwoven. Answers, more-over, lie not only in science but alsoin a broad range of intractable so-cial and economic challenges thatmust be addressed in the politicalarena as much as in the laboratory.

Take, for example, the issue ofbiodiversity. Experts in developedcountries tend to view the issue ofbiodiversity as a question ofspecies survival and landscape pro-tection with long-term implicationsfor economic and social well-being.

In Africa, however, biodiversityis a more immediate concern sinceso many people depend on theirenvironment and nearby naturalresources for their survival.

Put another way, in Africa,when it comes to biodiversity (andso many other issues), the focus islocal and the timeframe immedi-ate.

In terms of global warming, theinternational community tends toworry about questions concerningthe ability of societies to adapt towarmer climates or the impact thatrising sea levels and more intensestorms will likely have on heavilypopulated coastal areas.

Again, for Africa, the impact ismore immediate. Warming tem-peratures could pose critical risksto agricultural productivity andundermine efforts to promotefood security. Indeed, according to

most experts, Africa is the conti-nent most vulnerable to climatechange due to its fragile ecosys-tems and its lack of capacity toadapt to the changes that will ac-company significant modificationsin climate.

For example, as temperaturesrise and rainfall decreases, thesandy soils found in Africa’s dryand semi-dry regions are morelikely to be transported from theircurrent locations and carried awayto distant places. Indeed soil ex-perts have concluded that Africacurrently exports 50 million tons ofsoil and dust particles each year.

Robbing Africa of its topsoil willhave direct, on-the-ground conse-quences for Africa. However, asthese soil and dust particles arecarried air-borne to Europe andSouth America, they will also bringenvironmental problems to peopleliving there. In today’s world, dis-tinctions between local and globalimpacts are becoming increasinglyblurred.

A number of other fundamentalsocietal challenges are also mostacute in Africa, including access tosafe drinking water and the abilityto connect to reliable sources ofenergy.

All of these issues require in-digenous capacities in science andtechnology if they are to be ad-dressed effectively. Yet the conti-nent’s current levels of scientificknowledge and technical skills areexceedingly weak and its financialresources scarce.

Some 3 billion people world-wide use coal, charcoal, firewood,agricultural waste and dung to

cook – and over 20% of these peo-ple reside in Africa. More than 1.5billion people worldwide live with-out access to electricity – nearly40% of whom are in Africa.

The use of traditional energysources poses risks to public healthrelated to indoor air pollution andfire hazards. And a lack of accessto electricity, of course, limits edu-cational and economic opportuni-ties – and places significant con-straints on the quality of life.

GAP CLOSINGThe 2010 UNESCO World ScienceReport concludes that the gap inscientific and technological capac-ity between the developed and thedeveloping world is closing. For ex-ample, the developing world’sshare of articles in science, medi-cine and engineering rose from30% in 2002 to 38% in 2010.

Nevertheless, as these percent-ages also suggest, the gap remainssignificant (three-quarters of theworld’s population continues togenerate just one-quarter of its sci-entific knowledge). The gap, more-over, remains particularly acute inAfrica, the world’s most scientifi-cally lagging continent.

Only four of the top 20 coun-tries that the Institute for ScientificInformation (ISI) lists as the pre-eminent producers of peer-reviewed articles in science andengineering are classified as devel-oping or, more accurately, as coun-tries with emerging economies.These countries are China, India,Brazil and Turkey. South Korea andTaiwan, which rank among theworld’s wealthiest and most scien-

tifically capable countries, are alsoon the list. Indeed, the presence ofthe latter two countries, both ofwhich were poor, countries untilrecently, illustrates just howquickly investments in science andtechnology can reduce poverty andpropel efforts for sustainable eco-nomic development. The lessonsconveyed by these countries offerhope for Africa.

Yet, at the same time, it couldbe argued that the gap in scienceand technology is not only widen-ing between African countries anddeveloped countries, but that it isalso widening between Africancountries and other developingcountries. Advances in scientificand technological capacity in theSouth are being led – indeed, inmany ways, monopolized – by justa few countries, including China,India, Brazil, South Africa andTurkey as well as Argentina, Chile,Mexico and Malaysia.

In 1994, China produced some1% of the articles published inpeer-reviewed international jour-nals – a third less than Switzer-land, which had just 7 million peo-ple (compared to 1.2 billion peoplein China). Yet, by 2007, China ac-counted for more than 7.5% of theworld’s articles published in inter-national peer-reviewed scientificjournals. That moved China intosecond place behind only theUnited States, which producednearly 26% of the world’s peer-re-viewed articles in 2007.

Meanwhile, Africa was produc-ing just 1.5% of the world’s scien-tific publications in 2007. SouthAfrica, the continent’s indisputable

leader in science, accounted formore than one-quarter of thissmall percentage and nearly half ofall the scientific publications insub-Saharan Africa. Egypt, whichranked second in publications inAfrica, accounted for nearly one-fifth of the continent’s scientific ar-ticles.

The sad truth is that 30 ofAfrica’s 53 countries were togetherresponsible for just 0.08% of theglobal output of peer-reviewed sci-entific publications – a paltryamount confirming that mostAfrican countries had virtually nopresence in the global scientificcommunity.

STEMMING BRAIN DRAINWhile Africa has not been entirelyleft out of the positive economictrends that have taken placeamong developing countries overthe past decade, it has nonethelessnot kept pace with developmentsin science and technology in Asiaand South America (or, for thatmatter and not surprisingly, eco-nomic growth rates in either ofthese two continents).

Brain drain remains a more se-rious problem in Africa than any-where else both because of thesmall size of its S&T workforce andthe willingness – indeed eagerness– of its scientists and other edu-cated professionals to move out ofAfrica for better pay and workingconditions.

The continent, in short, contin-ues to lose its top scientists and en-gineers, whose presence and con-tributions it needs most to providescience- and technology-based so-

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lutions to its most fundamental so-cial and economic challenges.

Six of the top ten countrieswith the highest percentage of em-igrated educated citizens are inAfrica. More medical doctors ofEthiopian origin practice medicinein Chicago, Illinois, USA, than inEthiopia itself. There are moreMalawian medical doctors livingand working in Manchester, UK,than in all of Malawi. According toa recent survey, 60% of all Africanpostgraduate students currently at-tending school in the UK have nointention of returning to Africa.

REVERSAL IN FORTUNESSo, what is to be done?

Commitments must be fulfilledboth by the governments in Africaand governments and interna-tional aid agencies outside ofAfrica.

Calls for African countries tospend at least 1% of their gross do-mestic product (GDP) on researchand development date back to theVienna Programme of Action in1979. Since then, the same callshave been echoed repeatedly atconferences focusing on scienceand economic development inAfrica, most recently at the AU

summit in 2007. Nevertheless,only Rwanda and Tanzania cur-rently meet the 1% threshold fig-ure and both have attained thislevel of investment in the past fewyears. South Africa, despite beingthe continent’s scientific power-house, spends just 0.92%. The av-erage expenditure across the conti-nent is just 0.3% of GDP.

In 2005, the Group of 8, a net-work of the world’s richest coun-tries, which has recently expandedto the Group of 20 (as a reflectionof the changed world in which welive), agreed to grant USD8 billionto strengthen universities and re-search centres in Africa over 10years. Yet, only a fraction of thatmoney – less than USD200 million– has been spent.

While domestic investments inresearch and development con-tinue to be short-changed and in-ternational commitments to assistAfrica’s own efforts to build scien-tific and technological capacity re-main unfulfilled, the continentspends an estimated USD4 billioneach year to hire foreign consult-ants.

Clearly, training an indigenousworkforce skilled in science andtechnology and providing opportu-

nities for them to address criticalsocietal problems would have mul-tiple benefits for the continent.

KNOWLEDGE GOES GLOBALWe live in a global knowledge soci-ety. Therefore it stands to reasonthat countries with acute shortagesof knowledge workers will findthemselves marginalized – and im-poverished – in today’s world.

Broad comprehensive effortsmust be undertaken at both the na-tional and continental levels to im-prove the conditions of Africa’suniversities and research facilities.

Equally important, comparableefforts must be made to curb the‘brain drain’ phenomenon. Thiswill require dramatic increases ininvestments in science and tech-nology on the part of Africa’s gov-ernment as well as such pan-African organizations as the AfricanUnion (AU).

Indeed the AU’s efforts to de-velop a pan-African university sys-tem deserve encouragement andsupport. Yet, the regional approachat the heart of the initiative hasfaced difficult challenges for coop-eration that have yet to be over-come. Will the host countrieswhere the hubs of the system are

to be located be willing to fullyshare their facilities with othercountries? Conversely, what levelof resources will other countries bewilling to invest in a system drivenby hubs that lie beyond their bor-ders?

External funding can also aid inAfrica’s efforts to rebuild its uni-versities and research facilities. Forexample, the Regional Initiative inScience and Education (RISE),based at the Princeton Institute forAdvanced Study in the US and sup-ported by the Carnegie Corpora-tion of New York, is nurturingAfrican-based research networksfor both faculty and students alikein such fields as material science,engineering, biochemistry, naturalproducts, access to safe drinkingwater and coastal and marine re-sources.

Regional and international co-operation can undoubtedly helpraise the quality of education andresearch in African countries. Theeffort, moreover, can play a criticalrole in enabling Africa’s scientiststo acquire the knowledge and skillsthey need to advance the Millen-nium Development Goals (MDGs).It can also serve as a platform thathelps to integrate Africa’s scientists

into the global scientific commu-nity.

Yet, whether such collaborativeefforts achieve the level of fundingand organization that is requiredto meet the scope of the problemremains to be seen.

OPPORTUNITIES TO TAPAs stated earlier, Africa is not with-out assets and opportunities.

It is a continent that is rich innatural resources. It has a vaststorehouse of biodiversity. It has abroad base of indigenous knowl-edge of the local ecology and natu-ral resources. Governments in agrowing number of African coun-tries have become increasinglydemocratic. And it has a large dias-pora that has increasingly ex-pressed interest in working withtheir colleagues in Africa.

There are, moreover, severalspecific fields with vast economicpotential where Africa has a distinctadvantage over other regions of theworld. With sufficient scientific ca-pacity, these areas could becomemodels of success that both go-vernments and scientists through-out Africa could point to as exam-ples of how science and technologycan help boost sustainable eco-

nomic development across the con-tinent.

Take, for instance, the prospectsfor solar energy. By some estimates,less than 1% of the world’s desertscould produce enough electricity tomeet current levels of world con-sumption. Energy experts, more-over, estimate that there are suffi-cient supplies of solar energy inNorth Africa and the Middle East togenerate 500 gigawatts (GW) ofelectricity, enough power meet15% of Europe’s current powerneeds.

The Desertec Foundation, whichis being assisted by a consortium ofpublic-private interests that in-cludes such multinational giants asDeutsche Bank, Siemens and Mu-nich Re, is developing a businessplan that is designed to supply so-lar-powered electricity to bothNorth Africa and Europe, perhapsbeginning as early as 2015. Theplan will call for blanketing largeswatches of desert lands – up to17,000 square hectares – with solarcollectors and wind turbines thatwill be linked together with thou-sands of kilometres of power ca-bles, including cables stretchingunderneath the Mediterranean Seafrom North Africa to Southern Eu-

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announced its first contribution toDesertec would consist of a USD9billion, decade-long initiative thatwould ultimately generate two gi-gawatts of power.

Meanwhile, both Nigeria andSouth Africa are investing in spacescience and technology initiativesthat are designed to monitor envi-ronmental change and the chang-ing state of natural resources. Suchefforts could help South Africa as-sess the risk posed by forest firesand to pursue strategies thatwould seek to minimize that risk inthe most fire-prone areas. Simi-larly, it could help Nigeria monitorthe levels of water pollution in wa-terways, especially those in urbanareas and in mining and mineraldistricts.

Biotechnology is another fron-tier technology that holds greatpromise for improving the socialwell-being of poor people, espe-cially in its potential for raisingagricultural productivity and im-proving public health. The same istrue of nanoscience and nano-technology, which focuses on ma-nipulating matter at the atomicscale.

Nanotechnology, for example,has the potential to provide inex-pensive water filters that couldvastly increase access to safe drink-ing water in Africa. Researchers atNorth-West University in SouthAfrica have constructed a pilot wa-ter treatment plant in Madibogo, avillage in the remote arid region ofNorth West Province. Nanostruc-tured membranes are serving asthe basis of state-of-the-art nanofil-

ters for the low-cost purification ofwater. The initiative also sponsorscommunity-wide classes and work-shops to increase the public’s abil-ity to maintain the plant in the fu-ture, thus ensuring that safe drink-ing water will be available after theresearchers depart.

PEOPLE FIRSTAfrica’s most important resourcehas – and always will be – its peo-ple. More than 40% of its popula-tion is under the age of fourteen.

Indeed the future of Africa lieswith its youth who await the edu-cation and training they will needto compete in the global knowl-edge-based economy of the 21stcentury.

As the populations of Europeand the United States age, and asChina seeks ways to overcome theconsequences of its one-child pol-icy, Africa’s demographic profileholds great promise to be its strate-gic advantage in the years ahead(perhaps only India has a compa-rable advantage).

But demography is not destiny.It will take enormous investmentsin education, starting with primaryschool and continuing throughpostgraduate studies, to fulfil thepromise of its younger citizens. Itwill take increased funding forbuilding classrooms and laborato-ries where students can learn. Itwill take adequate salaries and ca-reer-long training for teachers tohelp guarantee that instructorshave the incentives and skills to doa good job. It will take continuedinvestments in information andcommunication technologies to en-

sure that the information and datathat researchers need to succeedare easily accessible. It will taketargeted aid from external sourcesthat helps to supplement the in-vestments of Africa’s governmentsand pan-African institutions. And itwill take a long-term view of a bet-ter future, bolstered by politicalstability and efficient and innova-tive administration that puts thepeople’s welfare first.

Yes, we live in a time of un-precedented change where knowl-edge is king. But we also live in atime when principles that havebeen the hallmarks of successfulsocieties for centuries remain criti-cal elements of progress.

That is Africa’s challenge: toembrace the 21st century with adetermination that enables it totake advantage of the unprece-dented opportunities that ad-vances in science and technologyprovide. Yet, to do so in ways thatwill allow it to meet the critical so-cial and economic needs of its peo-ple to not only improve their livesin the near term but also to givethem hope for an even better fu-ture for their children. �

> Mohamed H.A. Hassanformer executive director of TWAS

> Daniel Schafferpublic information officer of TWAS

The article is based on a presentationgiven at the UNESCO Chair Interna-tional Science Conference on Technolo-gies for Development in Lausanne,Switzerland, in February 2010.

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CITIES AND WATER IN AFRICA

MOLECULAR MATTERS IN ARGENTINA

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found in cities,” says E. Salif Diop (TWAS Fellow 2010). Anexpert in global water and environment issues, Diop currentlyheads the Ecosystems Section of UNEP’s Division of EarlyWarning and Assessment in Nairobi, Kenya. He serves as thefirst chair of UNESCO’s integrated coastal and marine clusterat the University of Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal.

“Rapid urbanization in Africa has placed enormous pres-sure on the continent’s urban water supplies,” says Diop.“Urban slums, which account for about 60% of Africa’s totalurban population, pose a particular challenge.”

“Municipal governments in Africa,” he notes, “lack theskills and resources to build adequate water and sanitationinfrastructures capable of serving their growing urban popu-lations.” In fact, even the most basic wastewater and soliddisposal services are often unavailable. Untreated waste-water degrades the environment and often leads to thespread of water-borne diseases.

“Effective solutions to urban Africa’s water challenges,”Diop maintains, “can only take place by improving the waterand sanitation infrastructure and by promoting integratedwater and sanitation management.”

Diop stresses that solutions must be devised at the locallevel through a participatory approach involving all stakehold-ers. “Community-based strategies,” he says, “are essential.”

He maintains that ‘soft engineering’ – the application ofecological principles and practices (for example, wastewatertreatment and basic recycling of solid waste) – is essential foraddressing urban Africa’s most acute water-related problems,especially in the city’s most impoverished areas.

Diop adds that “soft-engineering principles could be usedto lower pollution levels in shallow wells, which the urbanpoor often rely on as the primary source of their water sup-ply. Such principles can also serve as the basis of initiativesthat use solid waste as a valuable energy source for small-scale, community-based biogas and electricity generation.”

Although urban water challenges facing Africa today mayseem overwhelming, Diop’s work and experience suggestotherwise.

“Solutions to Africa’s urban water problems are avail-able,” he says. “Improved drainage systems, more adequatesanitation facilities, and effective efforts to reuse and recycleboth solid waste and wastewater can have a dramatic effecton the well-being of Africa’s increasing number of urban resi-dents.” �

Gabriel Rabinovich, a researcher at the National ResearchCouncil in Argentina (CONICET) and a professor at the Uni-versity of Buenos Aires, seeks to identify the role thatgalectins, proteins that bind beta-galactoside or sugar, play indisease regulation. For his efforts, he received the 2010TWAS Prize in the Medical Sciences.

As Rabinovich explains: “Galectins help to determine thecourse and intensity of critical diseases. If we can betterunderstand how they perform this function, we are likely tofind more effective ways to treat these diseases.”

Rabinovich, who was born and raised in Córdoba, Argenti-na, earned an undergraduate degree in biochemistry in 1993

Recent news from the TWAS Public Information Office based on research and capacity-buildingactivities that are being pursued by TWAS members and partners.

http://www.iisd.ca

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COTTON FUTURES IN UZBEKISTAN

and a doctorate degree in cellular and molecular immunologyfrom the National University of Córdoba in 1999.

“I have had numerous opportunities to conduct researchabroad,” says Rabinovich, who is currently a part-time visit-ing professor at the University of Baltimore in the UnitedStates in addition to his permanent post at home. “I have alsoreceived a number of offers for positions in other countriesthat I have declined. These offers were especially tempting inthe late 1990s when Argentina experienced an economicmeltdown that severely restricted funding for research.”

“I’m glad I stayed here in Argentina. I have been able towork with an excellent team of scientists conducting researchthat could dramatically change the way we treat and manageserious, complex diseases.”

Specifically, Rabinovich and his research team havefocused their attention on how galectins build molecularbridges. Galectins play a key role in such diverse functionsas cell adhesion, cell migration, and even cell death or apop-tosis.

“One of the first key findings encouraging me to pursuethis line of research,” says Rabinovich, “was evidence thatsynthetic galectins created in our laboratory could alleviatechronic inflammation by sustaining the survival of T-cells.”

Then, a few years later, Rabinovich conducted researchdemonstrating that galectins help cancerous tumours evadethe immune response. “By showing that tumour cells produceexcessive amounts of galectins and that they use these pro-teins as battering rams against T-cells,” he says, “we revealedhow cancer cells could hide from the body’s first line ofdefence.” The same findings have also held true forHodgkin’s lymphoma.

Rabinovich has published more than 120 articles in peer-reviewed journals. Equally important, his research has pro-vided an intellectual framework to help clinicians better

understand and combat critical diseases. His work has beensupported by the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in theUnited States. In addition, he has been honoured by theMizutani Foundation and Cancer Research Institute inArgentina, where he also received the Bernardo HoussayAward.

Rabinovich’s latest research points to the existence ofwhat he calls a “tolerance circuit” – a molecular mechanismthat seems to play an important role in a variety of regulato-ry functions, including the growth of tumours and chronicinflammatory disease. “The circuit,” he adds, “might even bea factor in compromising the immune system of a motherduring pregnancy to more easily accept the fetus and allowthe pregnancy to proceed to term.”

“Galectins,” he says, “seem to fine-tune many differentbiological processes within our bodies. The roadmap to bet-ter health and longer lives,” he adds, “may depend on uncov-ering the complex behaviour of these sugar-binding mole-cules.” �

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The value of cotton extends well beyond the plant's fibres.The plant's thick green leaves and thin, yet sturdy, stems notonly nourish and support the cotton bolls (the plant’s oval-shaped fruit), but are also used for mulch and animal feed. Inaddition, cottonseeds are crushed and distilled into one ofthe world’s most popular vegetable oils, used for soap, cos-metics, pharmaceuticals and plastics.

“There’s nothing like cotton,” says Ibrokhim Y. Abdu-rakhmonov, a professor at the Institute of Genetics and Plant

Experimental Biology, which is part of the Uzbekistan Acade-my of Sciences. Abdurakhmonov shared the TWAS Prize inAgricultural Sciences in 2010 for his research examining themolecular biology of cotton.

As Abdurakhmonov notes, cotton is at risk. While trouble-some and destructive, it’s not the pests – caterpillars, aphidsand flies – that pose the most serious long-term risk, he says.Nor is it a loss of land to development or the depletion of top-soil that is at the heart of the problem.

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IN BRIEF

Instead, Abdurakhmonov points to the use of a limitednumber of cultivars, each with the same germplasm, as thekey threat to future cotton yields. “It’s narrowing the geneticdiversity,” he says. “That makes cotton plants highly vulner-able to pathogens and insects.”

“Over the past half century, Uzbek cotton farmers haverepeatedly planted the same cultivar, ‘Tashkent’,” says Abdu-rakhmonov. Drawing on seeds from the same gene pool hasnot only compromised the size and quality of cotton yields;it has also placed the health of cotton plants at risk sincegenetic diversity makes the plants stronger and moreresilient.

Abdurakhmonov and his colleagues use molecular bio-logical techniques to examine the germplasm of Uzbek-istan’s cotton. They do this to uncover the precise locationof individual genes in the DNA. In the language of molecu-lar biology, Abdurakhmonov and his colleagues map QTLs(quantitative trait loci) to identify specific genes that gov-ern, for example, fibre quality, the timing of flowering andleaf defoliation, and the structure and strength of stemsand roots.

“As you might expect,” Abdurakhmonov notes, “this is ademanding task.” First of all, it requires access to state-of-the-art molecular biological equipment and advanced scien-tific knowledge to appreciate and understand what isrevealed. He and his colleagues, for instance, apply RNAi(RNA interference) to ‘knock out’ or ‘silence’ (that is, dis-able) a specific gene by blocking the corresponding RNA –the messenger molecule that carries the information storedin the DNA to the protein-making machinery within the cell.

By ‘silencing’ a specific RNA gene, scientists can explorethe proteins’ functions and examine the consequences of thegene’s absence. This is especially important because, asresearchers have learned, there is not a one-to-one relation-ship between a gene and its biological and chemical func-tion. Instead, biological and chemical function results from

an intricate series of interactions among multiple proteins.Environmental impacts, moreover, can alter these interac-tions in ways that scientists do not yet understand.

With nearly 1.5 million hectares of cotton under cultiva-tion, Uzbekistan is the world’s third largest cotton exporter.Only the United States and Australia export more. Theresearch being conducted by Abdurakhmonov thus hasimportant implications for both the nation’s farmers andoverall economy.

“If Uzbekistan’s cotton crop is to remain sustainable overthe long term,” Abdurakhmonov maintains, “we will have tobroaden the genetic diversity of commercial cotton crops.That’s the best insurance policy we have to protect cottonfrom pathogens and pests.”

Genetic diversity depends first and foremost on an under-standing of the structure and behaviour of proteins, and theway in which proteins work together to create specific bio-logical and chemical traits. The study of cotton’s geneticmakeup is a fascinating research challenge, says Abdu-rakhmonov. “But it also has significant implications for broadsegments of Uzbekistan’s society and economy.” �

Flickr/OldShoeWoman

ROCKY PAST

Italian-Brazilian scientist Umberto Cordani has a passion fordating rocks. His research not only sheds light on the intri-cate dynamics of our planet but also helps us better under-stand the geological stresses facing the Earth today.

Rocks may chip and crack, but they do not age. At least,they do not age the way humans do.

Experts, however, can determine the age of rocks by

using high-technology dating techniques that delineateyoung rocks from old ones.

Umberto Cordani, professor emeritus at the University ofSão Paulo’s (USP) Institute of Geosciences in Brazil, is aworld-renowned Earth scientist with a sterling reputation inthe field of geochronology – the science of determining theage of rocks, sediments and fossils.

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“Geochronology,” explains Cordani, “is not just a researchexercise for the sake of knowledge. It provides key insightsinto the behaviour of our planet over the 4.6 billion years ofits existence.”

Such insights can help scientists better understand thedynamics that, for example, drive continental drift andcause mountains to rise. Rock dating can also unlock criticalinformation about the ecological impacts of development,climate change and other human activities that leave a deepfootprint on Earth’s ecology. Cordani, who is the foundingdirector of the USP’s Laboratory of Geochronology, has beena researcher there for more than 40 years. He was elected aTWAS Fellow in 1990.

Cordani was born in Italy. His family, like many otherfamilies in Italy, moved to Brazil in 1949. In the 1960s, hewas accepted to the University of California at Berkeley, USA,where he studied under the tutelage of John Reynolds, aninternationally renowned physicist who developed a mass-spectrometer that relied on the “potassium-argon method” tomeasure the age of rocks and minerals.

“The radioactive isotope potassium 40,” Cordani explains,“undergoes natural radiogenic decay, ultimately turning intoargon 40, a gas that accumulates inside rocks. Reynolds’ mass-spectrometer allows scientists to measure the level of thisargon isotope in rocks. That, in turn, provides a reliable meas-ure of the rocks’ age.”

Cordani’s thesis, which he completed in 1968, not only con-firmed the young age of volcanic rocks found on two Brazilianoceanic islands, Fernando de Noronha and Trindade (as previ-ously suggested by Cordani himself), but also validated amethod that became the gold standard for geochronologists.

A year earlier, Cordani, with colleagues from the Massa-chusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA, published

a paper in Science magazine that concluded rocks in North-east Brazil and West Africa exhibited very similar ages. Thisfinding helped to verify the theory of plate tectonics, whichexplains why the upper layer of our planet, or lithosphere,shifts and faults.

Cordani, who has authored more than 120 research arti-cles, books or book chapters, is well known among his col-leagues for editing Tectonic Evolution of South America, alandmark publication in the field of geotectonics.

“Development and environment,” Cordani notes, “arepart of the same equation. We must understand the Earth’sdynamics to successfully address such critical issues as waterand soil conservation, desertification and deforestation.Greater understanding of the Earth’s dynamics will proveessential for meeting the social and economic needs of agrowing population without placing excessive pressure onthe Earth’s resources.”

“As global population and wealth continue to increase,science-based insights into geological stress will become evenmore important,” Cordani says. That is why he has recentlyturned his attention to training a new generation of scientistsconversant in Earth’s geology – an initiative that he is pursu-ing with the same enthusiasm and commitment that he hasapplied to his lifelong study of rocks. �

http://www.maquinacomunicacao.blogspot.com/

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INTERVIEW

Romain Murenzi, born in Rwanda in 1959, was raised and educated in Burundi, where his familymoved when he was just three years old. He received his undergraduate degree in mathematics, aswell as a teaching certificate, from the University of Burundi in 1982, spending the early years of hiscareer as a high school teacher. He earned national recognition for his teaching ability and accom-plishments, first as an instructor in an all-girls’ school in the province of Gitega and later at the twomost prominent high schools in Burundi’s capital city of Bujumbura.

Eager to pursue his dream to acquire a doctorate degree in theoretical physics, Murenzi appliedfor a bourse du tiers monde (fellowship for the Third World) from the Catholic University of Lou-vain in Belgium. His first application was rejected. The reviewers described him as an “excellent highschool teacher that Burundi could ill afford to lose.”

For the next four years, Murenzi pursued his doctorate studies, earning a PhD in theoreticalphysics in 1990. The following year, he was appointed to a postdoctorate research and teachingposition at the University of Paris 7, where he remained until 1992.

He then moved across the Atlantic Ocean to join the faculty at Clark Atlanta University, wherehe was named chairperson of the physics department in 1999. He received tenure one year later. AtClark Atlanta University, Murenzi not only continued to teach but also pursued his research inter-ests in quantum mechanics and image and video processing.

Rwanda’s civil war in the mid-1990s, which claimed more than one million lives, was a contin-ual source of anguish for Murenzi who desperately wanted to return to his home country to help.Between 1996 and 2000, he travelled to Rwanda each summer to lead a seminar and teach at theNational University in Butare. He also became involved in efforts in the United States to helpRwanda.

ROMAIN MURENZITALKS ABOUT TWAS

ROMAIN MURENZI, TWAS’S NEWLY APPOINTED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

OFFICIALLY ASSUMED HIS POST ON 1 APRIL. HE SUCCEEDS MOHAMED

H.A. HASSAN, WHO LED THE ACADEMY FOR A QUARTER CENTURY. IN

THE FOLLOWING INTERVIEW, MURENZI SPEAKS ABOUT THE

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT HE ENVISIONS TWAS WILL BE

FACING IN THE YEARS AHEAD.

Largely unknown to him at the time, hisactivities attracted the attention of Rwanda’spresident, Paul Kagame. In March 2001, hereceived a surprise phone call from Rwandainquiring whether he would be interested inserving as the minister of education. Althoughnever having been involved in politics, heaccepted the offer, and in early August, hetook up the post of Minister of Education,Science, Technology and Scientific Research.He continued in this position until 2006 whenhe was named Minister in the Office of thePresident in Charge of Science and Technologyas part of a government reorganization plan.

During the years that Murenzi served as minister, Rwanda launched a comprehensive strategy forscience-based development that would transform his home country into one of the success stories ofAfrica. Rwanda currently spends 1.6% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on science and technolo-gy, a level that is expected to rise to 3% over the next five years. At the same time, its national econ-omy grew at a rate of nearly 7% per year between 1998 and 2008, a rate comparable to the pace ofgrowth in China and India.

In the spring 2007, his family learned that his youngest son had autism. Unable to find themedical care that his son needed in either Rwanda or neighbouring countries, he askedPresident Kagame to relieve him of his duties. In August 2009, he and his family movedto the United States, where he acquired a joint position at the University of Maryland,the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Howard Uni-versity.

In July 2010, he was named director of the AAAS Center for Science, Technolo-gy and Sustainable Development. As part of AAAS’s International Office, the centrefocuses on issues related to science-based sustainable development, especially in thedeveloping world. Meanwhile, he continued to teach at the University of Marylandand Howard University.

Then, in February 2011, Murenzi was appointed the executive director ofTWAS. Two months later, he arrived at the Academy’s headquarters inTrieste, Italy, to begin his tenure.

Murenzi’s inspiring career spans three continents and his diverseexperience ranges from high school mathematics teacher tominister of science. As TWAS President, Jacob Palis, has not-ed, “Professor Murenzi has the skills and experience tolead the secretariat in the years ahead as TWAS seeksto expand its efforts to build scientific and techno-logical capacity in all developing countries.”

Six weeks after his arrival, Murenzi satdown with TWAS’s public information officerto discuss a broad range of issues related tothe Academy. Excerpts follow.

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How do you feel about assuming the helm at TWAS? What does it mean for you?I am extremely honoured and humbled to have been chosen to head such a distinguishedorganization as TWAS. The appointment means a great deal to me at both a professional andpersonal level. My career as a scientist and researcher truly began to take shape when Ireceived une bourse du tiers monde (a fellowship for the Third World) from the Catholic Uni-versity of Louvain in Belgium. I also fondly remember participating in activities organized bythe International Centre for Theoretical Physics’ (ICTP) Aeronomy and RadiopropagationLaboratory in Trieste, which proved enormously helpful and instructive during the early yearsof my career. In a sense, my appointment as the head of TWAS gives me an opportunity to givesomething back. I am particularly eager to help ensure that young scientists in developingcountries are afforded the same opportunities to pursue – and realize – their dreams as I wasgiven a quarter century ago.

What do you think will be your short- and long-term priorities for TWAS?My priorities will continue to take shape as I learn more about the Academy and its activities inthe months ahead. However, I know this much from my time on the TWAS Council, where Iserved as vice president for Africa, and now during my brief tenure as executive director:TWAS’s mandate has remained remarkably consistent since its inception. Simply stated, theAcademy has supported and promoted scientific capacity building and excellence in the devel-oping world. The core element of this effort has resided in the election of eminent scientists.Over the years, the Academy has also supported a broad range of programmes that includesresearch grants, fellowships and prizes. It has organized general assemblies that have becomesignature events in assessing the state of science in the developing world. And, it has forgedstrong ties with many other international scientific organizations that share TWAS’s aspirationsand goals, including the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World(OWSDW), IAP, the global network of science academies, and IAMP, the InterAcademy MedicalPanel. Increasingly, it has focused its attention and resources on addressing the needs of youngscientists and it is now taking steps to extend more responsibilities to its regional offices as partof a larger effort to decentralize its activities and bring its programmes and activities closer tothe scientists and scientific institutions that it is trying to help. In addition, over the past several

years, it has partnered with other organizations beyond the conventional circle of collaboratorsit has worked with in the past – notably, the European Union, Microsoft Research and Elsevier.

TWAS has an enviable track record of success. I hope to strengthen those areas where theAcademy has gained an international reputation and expand those areas where it has raised itsprofile and presence in recent years. This means ensuring that we continue to elect the develop-ing world’s most eminent scientists as members of TWAS and that we continue to expand thereach and impact of the Academy’s programmatic initiatives. I am particularly eager to strength-en our efforts to assist young scientists and to extend greater responsibilities to TWAS’s region-al offices. In my estimation, the future of TWAS lies, in large measure, in helping the next gen-eration of scientists and in decentralizing its activities.

There are several relatively unexplored areas that I would also like to pursue. First, I plan toseek opportunities to work more closely with scientific institutions in developed countries. I havea large number of colleagues and associates in both Europe and the United States who haveexpressed a great deal of interest in working with TWAS. We have entered a new era of globalscience, marked by growing scientific capacity in the developing world and a significant closingof the North-South divide in science. TWAS is well positioned to serve as a bridge between theSouth and North in a wide range of scientific fields and I plan to take advantage of the growingopportunities for global collaboration. Such efforts, I am convinced, will help broaden the reachand impact of the Academy. I also plan to expand TWAS’s presence in areas related to science pol-icy, again with partners in both the South and the North. My hope is to extend the Academy’s rep-utation for excellence by raising TWAS’s profile in fields such as science diplomacy and scienceeducation.

What role does science play in the development strategies of developing countries?Science, of course, plays a critical role in development. In fact, in today’s world, science goeshand-in-hand with development. Nevertheless, it is important for the scientific community to

recognize that in the political arena, it isdevelopment that is the top priority and thatpolicy makers largely view science as a toolthat helps to advance the economic andsocial well-being of people. That is some-thing that became eminently clear to meduring my tenure as minister of science andtechnology in Rwanda. There is little doubtthat a country’s economy can be spurred bycommodity production and the advantagesbestowed by low-cost labour – at least in theshort term. But over the long term, when itcomes to sustainable development, there isno substitute for science, technology andinnovation (STI). STI is an irreplaceableforce for dealing with such critical issues asfood and energy security, climate change,the spread of infectious disease and biodi-versity loss, and it is key to building a strong

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and resilient economy. In short, we live in a world where STI are essential for both poverty alle-viation and wealth creation. No country, no matter how poor, can close its eyes to this reality.The emerging economies of Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey – toname just a few in a growing list of success stories – indicate that STI is no longer the provinceof just the North. And, I might add, the experience of my own country of Rwanda over the pastdecade shows that STI is now a primary force for positive change in poor countries too. Thisirreversible trend, both in attitudes and applications of science to development, presents pro-found challenges and opportunities for TWAS as it seeks to build upon its hard-earned reputa-tion as the ‘voice of science in the South’. I plan to focus a great deal of my attention and timeon how TWAS can successfully navigate the new world of science that is emerging across theglobe – not just to benefit the Academy but, more importantly, to advance science-based devel-opment in all countries. I believe that we have a rare opportunity to make historic changes inthe role that science plays both in developing countries and in addressing critical challengesrelated to the global economy and the environment. I hope that TWAS can help ensure that thisopportunity is not missed.

What are the key challenges for STI in the developing world that TWAS can help address?There are, of course, the conventional challenges of promoting scientific capacity building andscientific excellence. TWAS’s track record of success should help it continue to be an importantpresence in these areas. Indeed I am confident that the Academy will be able to expand itsresearch grants and fellowship programmes in the years ahead. But there are additional chal-lenges related to leadership and financing that must also be addressed, especially if the Acade-my hopes to scale up its efforts in ways that can have an even greater impact in the future. Inthese areas, TWAS can play an important role as an advocate and counsellor. But the key tosuccess ultimately lies at the national level and will be determined largely by the commitmentthat each country is willing to make to policies that advance science-based development. Coun-tries that have had success in building their scientific capacity and in growing their economy –for example, Brazil, China, India and myown country of Rwanda – have enjoyedstrong and consistent leadership dedicatedto science-based development. These coun-tries have emphasized science and develop-ment, not just one or the other, and havefocused on the intricate, synergistic rela-tionship between the two. History alsoteaches us that without sufficient financialresources, there are limits to what leaderscan do, regardless of how skilled and inno-vative they may be. The good news is thatthere is a growing number of success storiesin the developing world that can serve asmodels for others. TWAS, which has longbeen an advocate of South-South coopera-tion in science, can play an important rolein fostering scientific exchange and in

encouraging countries to learn from each other’s experience. TWAS, of course, has done thisthroughout its history. But I believe that the Academy now has an unprecedented opportunityto help advance these goals on a much larger scale. This will require TWAS to devise initiativesthat meld science to development in new and innovative ways both through its programmeand communications initiatives and in partnership with others.

What role will partnerships play in TWAS’s efforts?In the past, TWAS has successfully leveraged its budget to accomplish things that did not seempossible given the Academy’s modest scale and scope. TWAS has done this largely with the helpof the Italian government, which has generously provided a reliable source of core funding sincethe Academy’s creation, and through collaboration with institutions that share the Academy’sgoals. I hope to continue – and indeed expand – this effort. This will mean working more close-ly with ICTP, IAP, IAMP, OWSDW and other Trieste-based scientific institutions. It will also meanworking with such international scientific organizations as the American Association for theAdvancement of Science (AAAS), the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the UK’s RoyalSociety and others. And it will mean seeking funding from the World Bank, the African Devel-opment Bank, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Japan Interna-tional Cooperation Agency. Again, TWAS’s unique and successful track record suggests that itcould assume an important role as an ‘institutional broker’ helping, for example, to oversee theadministration of bilateral and multi-institutional fellowship programmes in ways that bolstertransparency and minimize a duplication of effort.

The Academy, in short, will need to address the challenges – and take advantage of emergingopportunities – on a number of fronts, while remaining committed to its key goals: the promo-tion of science and technology for the purposes of improving the economic and social well-beingof people in the developing world. As an organization that operates under the administrativeumbrella of UNESCO and that receives its core funding from the Italian government, TWAS rep-resents a worthy example of international collaboration in science serving the larger interests ofsociety. In many ways, the principles that have guided the Academy throughout its history willguide the Academy in the years ahead as TWAS continues to pursue a broad-based agenda thatseeks to meet the challenges of science and development in the developing world. �

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FEATURE

CLIMATECHANGE RESEARCH

In August 2010, the InterAcademyCouncil (IAC), the Amsterdam-based organization that “producesreports on scientific, techno-logical and health issues relatedto the great global challenges ofour time,” published ClimateChange Assessments: Review ofthe Processes and Procedures of theIPCC.

As the title suggests, the report focusednot so much on the immediate controversies sur-rounding the IPCC but more on how the organizationcould strengthen the ways in which it governs its overalloperations and manages the publication of its reports.

In the following article, Roseanne Diab, executiveofficer of the Academy of Science of South Africa, whoserved as vice chair of the IAC review committee that pro-duced the report, explains the committee’s findings andrecommendations.

C limate change is undoubtedlythe scientific issue of our time.

Its potential impact spans a broadrange of fundamental societalconcerns that include, for exam-ple, biodiversity, ecology, energyuse, food security and publichealth. Adequately addressing thechallenge requires strategies that

speak to financial accountability andequity both between countries and across

generations.While global trends in climate change have become

increasingly evident (at least for scientists), theimpacts, especially on a regional and local scale,remain highly uncertain. Perhaps most importantly, cli-mate change raises critical questions about renderingeffective policy decisions in the face of enormousuncertainties – and the role that the scientific commu-nity should play in such efforts.

2010 WAS A TURBULENT YEAR FOR CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH.

THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC),

WHICH JUST THREE YEARS BEFORE HAD SHARED THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

WITH FORMER US VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE, WAS BUFFETED BY A SERIES

OF ALLEGATIONS THAT CAST DOUBT IN THE PUBLIC ’S MIND

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION’S IMPARTIALITY AND TRUTHFULNESS.

The vast majority of scientists agree on this much:changes in temperature and rainfall, instigated by therelease of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere duelargely to human activities, will have a profoundimpact on the state of the Earth’s ecology andresources. Such impacts, moreover, will likely posecritical challenges and risks to human well-being aswell.

Yet this much recent experience also tells us: devis-ing an effective global strategy for dealing with such acomplicated issue will not be easy and, in fact, may notbe possible.

HIGH STAKESWhat makes the stakes so high andtherefore raises core ethical issues,is that the poorest and most vul-nerable people living in developingcountries will undoubtedly be themost adversely affected by climate change.

It is poor people who have a limited ability to adaptto climate change and it is poor people who depend onweather-dependent subsistence agriculture – and,more generally, natural resources – for their survivaland well-being. Changes in temperatures and rainfallpatterns and intensity will affect us all. But it willaffect some more than others.

So, how should the climate change community pro-ceed in exploring such a complex and contentiousissue? This has been the fundamental challenge thatthe IPCC has had to confront in publishing its reportsover the past two decades.

The prevailing notion among the scientific commu-nity has been to set out the facts asbest it can – to highlight the mostrecent research findings but toacknowledge that vast gaps inknowledge and uncertainties con-tinue to exist.

Nevertheless critics haveincreasingly contended that some

scientists affiliated with the IPCC have strayed into theworld of advocacy.

In 2010, these varying perceptions of how the IPCCoperates reached a boiling point with the unauthorizedpublication of private email messages written by IPCC-affiliated scientists. Critics vociferously claimed thatthe emails revealed the prejudices and unmasked thetrue intentions of climate change scientists.

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Climate changeis undoubtedly

the scientific issueof our time.

BACKGROUNDThe World Meteorological Organization (WMO) andUnited Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)established the IPCC in 1988 to help inform policydecisions on mitigation and adaptation options relat-ing to climate change.

Through periodic assessment reports on the state ofclimate science and the potential impacts of climatechange, the IPCC has built a commendable reputationfor its competence in summarizing the level of globalknowledge concerning the issue. In 2007, the scientistscontributing to the IPCC were collectively awarded the2007 Nobel Peace Prize, together with Al Gore, the for-mer vice president of the US and ‘star’ of the widelydistributed film Inconvenient Truth, which has beenseen by millions of people worldwide.

However, against a backdrop of the increasingpoliticization of the climate-change discussions andreflecting the high stakes involved, the IPCC assess-ment reports have come under intense public scrutiny.Increasingly, controversies have erupted over the accu-racy of its conclusions and the perceived bias of its find-ings.

POLITICAL VORTEXThe IPCC found itself in a political vortex in late 2009when incriminating emails and documents hackedfrom the University of East Anglia’s server were pub-

lished in the media. Critics alleged that the emailswere evidence of collusion among scientists to: with-hold information that did not conform to their preor-dained conclusions about the seriousness of the prob-lem; ignore or recalculate data that failed to supportthe case for global warming; and thwart the publica-tion of papers written by authors who questioned glob-al warming in scientific journals.

‘Climategate’, as it was popularly known, coupledwith some widely publicized errors in the IPCC fourthassessment report, such as statements that Himalayanglaciers would melt by 2035, damaged the credibilityof the IPCC and threatened to undermine public confi-dence in the reports’ findings.

CALLING ON IACIn the wake of these controversies, United Nations(UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and IPCC chairRajendra K. Pachauri asked the InterAcademy Council(IAC) to conduct an independent review and recom-mend ways to improve the IPCC’s processes and proce-dures.

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IAC was selected, in part, because it represents thecollective expertise and experience of merit-basednational science academies from around the world.IAC, in the eyes of the UN and IPCC, had both theknowledge and standing to offer an expert, impartialassessment of the panel’s efforts.

The IAC review, conducted between April andAugust 2010, benefitted from discussions with IPCCand UN officials, as well as with scientists holding

wide-ranging views of IPCC processes and procedures.A broadly disseminated questionnaire yielded morethan 400 responses from researchers across the globe.

SUCCESS BUT...The IAC review committee con-cluded that the IPCC process hadbeen an overall success. Indeed thereview committee stated that IPCCdeserves a great deal of credit forraising public awareness about cli-mate change issues. The committee also praised IPCCfor sustaining the involvement of the 194 participatinggovernments and for maintaining the enthusiasticcommitment of thousands of scientists over the pasttwo decades – all of whom made their contributions ona voluntary basis.

By creating a unique and productive partnershipbetween scientists and governments, the IAC reviewcommittee noted that IPCC has raised the level of scien-tific debate on a global scale and helped to influence thescience agendas of many countries – all for the better.

Nevertheless, the IAC review committee was criti-cal of many of IPCC’s governance and managementprocedures and processes.

To overcome the IPCC’s shortcomings, the commit-tee offered a number of key recommendations tostrengthen how the organization both governed itselfand interacted with the public. It observed that the IPCChas consistently failed to keep pace with the growingpublic demand for accountability and transparency thathas taken place since IPCC was created in 1988.

Specifically, the review committee concluded thatIPCC’s management structure was not fully equippedto respond to the intense public and media interest inits work and, more generally, the debates engulfing theissue of climate change, which were becoming moreheated and intense.

To address such shortcomings, the committee calledfor the creation of an executive committee to guide andevaluate the IPCC’s decision-making process on a con-tinual basis; the appointment of an executive directorto oversee the IPCC secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland,and manage its day-to-day operations; the adoption ofstringent conflict of interest guidelines for participatingscientists to avoid the appearance of deriving personalbenefits from being affiliated with IPCC; and a broadexpansion of communication efforts to better informthe public and effectively respond to the media.

In addition, the review commit-tee recommended one-term, non-renewable appointments for theIPCC chair and its three workinggroup co-chairs, corresponding tothe timeframe of one assessment.

The committee reasoned thateach of these voluntary positions is

held for lengthy, six-year terms. Appointing new chairsand co-chairs once every six years would help generatefresh perspectives and foster a working environmentthat would encourage innovative approaches for thechallenges that would arise during each new round ofthe assessment reports.

FOLLOWING GUIDELINESThe review committee found that adequate policiesand guidelines were largely in place for the productionof the assessment reports. However, the committee

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IPCC found itselfin a political vortex

in late 2009.

concluded that these policies and guidelines were notalways followed or applied consistently by the threeworking groups.

For example, the mistaken conclusion that there wasa “high probability” that the Himalayan glaciers woulddisappear by 2035, as reported by working group II, wasattributed to a failure of the review process.

IPCC procedures require that all chapters undergotwo formal reviews: the first solely by experts appoint-ed as reviewers and the second by a mix of scientificexperts and government representatives. In some cas-

es, there is also an informal review of the preliminarytext before the formal review process takes place.

At minimum, two review editors are appointed foreach chapter. They are responsible for ensuring thatthe chapter’s authors address the reviewers’ com-ments, especially those involving controversial issues.

Reviewers, in fact, questioned the report’s conclu-sion that glaciers in the Himalayans would disappearby 2035. Yet, the comments were inadequately consid-ered and the error slipped through.

The committee concluded that stronger enforce-ment of existing IPCC review procedures would mini-mize the chance of errors cropping up. It therefore rec-ommended strengthening the role and authority of thereview editors. The committee also urged that revieweditors take steps to ensure that the reports fullyreflect disagreements among scientists and that fullconsideration be given to alternative views. Morespecifically, the committee recommended that leadauthors be required to explicitly document that theyhave considered the full range of scientific views con-cerning each of the issues that has been examined.

GREY AREASThe use of grey literature from unpublished or non-peer-reviewed sources – for example, reports by gov-ernment agencies and nonprofit organizations – hasproven to be particularly controversial.

On balance, the review committee found that suchinformation is both relevant and appropriate. Yet, itstrongly urged that IPCC’s guidelines for evaluatinggrey literature be revised and strictly enforced toensure that unpublished and non-peer-reviewedliterature is sufficiently vetted for accuracy and thatthis literature is appropriately tagged as non-peer-reviewed information in the report.

The committee also called for more consistency inhow each working group characterizes uncertainty. Itfound that in the fourth assessment each workinggroup used a variation of IPCC’s “uncertainty guide-lines” and that the guidelines themselves, once pub-lished, were not always followed. For example, thereport of working group II contains many statementsthat were assigned “high confidence”, yet the grouppresented little evidence to support the conclusions.

The committee recommended that in future assess-ments, working groups avoid presenting numerical

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COMMITTEE TO REVIEWTHE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANELON CLIMATE CHANGE

• Harold T. Shapiro (chair)Princeton University, USA

• Roseanne Diab (vice chair)Academy of Science of South Africa, SouthAfrica

• Carlos Henrique de Brito CruzSão Paulo Research Foundation and Universityof Campinas, Brazil

• Maureen CropperUniversity of Maryland and Resources for theFuture, USA

• Jingyun Fang Cheung KongPeking University, China

• Louise O. FrescoUniversity of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

• Syukuro ManabePrinceton University, USA

• Goverdhan Mehta (TWAS Fellow 1993)National University of Hyderabad, India

• Mario Molina (TWAS Associate Fellow 1996)University of California, San Diego, USACenter for Strategic Studies in Energy and theEnvironment, Mexico

• Peter WilliamsThe Royal Society, UK

• Ernst-Ludwig WinnackerHuman Frontier Science Program, France

• Abdul Hamid Zakri (TWAS Fellow 1996)Science Adviser to Prime Minister of Malaysia

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quantified assessments (for instance, stating that thereis a 95% certainty that an event will occur or a trendwill unfold) when the evidence fails to support suchprecise findings. Instead, the committee recommendedthat the working groups avoid probabilistic statementsand instead present descriptive qualified statements oftheir understanding of an issue – and then explain boththe amount of evidence that is available to support sucha statement and the level of agreement that existsamong experts (for example, using such terms as “highagreement” and “much evidence”).

The need for transparency wasanother critical issue that surfacedduring the IAC review, particularlyin interviews with scientists.

A number of scientists who par-ticipated in the IPCC process con-tended that they did not fullyunderstand the process by which the information wascollected and reviewed. Equally important, they com-plained that the procedures used to select workinggroup co-chairs and authors remained largely opaqueand often inscrutable.

To address these shortcomings, the IAC reviewcommittee recommended that the selection becomemuch more transparent.

AND FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES...Both IPCC participants and observers have expressedconcerns about the limited level of involvement by sci-

entists from developing countries ever since the IPCC’sinception.

It is important to note that important progress hasbeen made in addressing this challenge over the past

two decades. The progress is inpart due to strenuous efforts by theIPCC and in part due to the grow-ing commitment to science andscience-based development amongdeveloping countries.

For example, governments indeveloping countries now represent

nearly 70% of the IPCC member states. Their presencehas given the South a strong voice in general discussionsabout the direction of the IPCC. Nevertheless, when itcomes to the detailed research agendas formulated bythe scientific community, progress to date has been muchmore limited. Indeed more than 75% of the authors ofthe IPCC’s assessment reports still live and work in devel-oped countries.

The committee noted that full participation bydeveloping countries is necessary to build worldwidetrust, confidence and ownership in the process, and toensure that the effort takes full account of the interests

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Developing countriesnow represent nearly70% of the IPCCmember states.

and needs of all countries.The lack of participation by sci-

entists from developing countriescan be attributed to the chronicchallenges faced by scientists in poor countries withweak scientific infrastructures. These challengesinclude the exclusive use of English to communicateduring the preparation of the working group reports, alack of support by their home institutions, limitedaccess to literature, and the small number of qualifiedscientists working on climate-change issues.

In the interviews that were conducted during theIAC review, many African scientists drew attention totheir isolation and the difficulties that they have facedin participating in the IPCC process while maintainingheavy teaching loads and having limited, oftendelayed, access to the data and literature. Overcomingthese challenges will require extensive investment inhuman capital and scientific infrastructure in develop-ing countries.

POSTSCRIPTSThe IPCC considered the findings of the IAC reviewreport at its plenary session in Busan, South Korea, inOctober 2010. It agreed to implement many of the rec-ommendations immediately, including the report’s rec-ommendations on how to deal with discussions ofuncertainty and the conditions under which to includegrey literature.

In addition, the IPCC agreed to create a task groupto examine the full range of issues related to the estab-lishment of an executive committee, as well as possible

reforms in the governance of the secretariat and theselection and responsibilities of the chair and co-chairs.

At its annual meeting in Abu Dhabi, held in May2011, the IPCC agreed to having report editors andauthors complete a form declaring any conflicts ofinterest and to establish a system for identifying errorsthat would allow for input from both the scientificcommunity and public.

In addition, the IPCC agreed tocontinue to permit non-peer-reviewed literature to be cited inthe reports but only when it couldbe shown to be scientifically andtechnically valid. Print and broad-cast media, as well as blogs andsocial networks, would not be con-sidered acceptable sources ofinformation for IPCC reports. And

the IPCC agreed to establish an executive committeethat would have an oversight role in the managementof the reports.

Preparations for the fifth assessment report, whichis scheduled for publication in 2014, are under way.The IPCC has expressed hope that the report will ben-efit from the efforts of the IAC.

As Harold T. Shapiro, chair of the IAC review com-mittee, noted in the preface to the report: “IPCC canremain a very valuable resource, provided it can con-tinue to highlight both what we believe we know andwhat we believe is still unknown and to adapt itsprocesses and procedures in a manner that reflectsboth the dynamics of climate science and the needs ofpublic policy for the best possible understanding of achanging global climate, its impacts and possible miti-gation initiatives.” �

> Roseanne Diabexecutive director

Academy of Science for South Africadiab@ukzn.ac.za

To review the complete text of the IAC report,Climate Change Assessments: Review of the Processes

and Procedures of the IPCC,see reviewipcc.interacademycouncil.net.

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Full participationby developing countriesis necessary to buildworldwide trust,

confidence and ownershipin the process.

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FEATURE

ICTsIN KOSOVO

Kosovo’s history spans thousands ofyears. It dates back to antiquity whenit belonged to a region called Dard-ani. Over the centuries, Kosovo hasbeen part of the Roman, Byzantine,Bulgarian, Serbian and Ottomanempires. The Albanians considerKosovo their native land and them-selves the descendants of the ancient Illyrians, the indige-nous people of Kosovo. The Serbs consider Kosovo thecradle of their culture.

In February 2008, the Kosovo Assembly declaredindependence. In October 2008, the UN General Assem-bly formally asked the International Court of Justice toprovide an advisory opinion on the issue of Kosovo’sindependence and, in July 2010, the court ruled that theAssembly’s decision “did not violate” international law.Some 70 countries now recognize Kosovo’s status as anindependent country.

Recent efforts to build capacity ininformation and communicationtechnologies (ICTs) in Kosovo providea stark illustration that life goes oneven under the most difficult of cir-cumstances. It also shows that effortsto promote science and technologyand, more specifically ICTs, could

help Kosovo overcome its chronic state of poverty and iso-lation.

Kosovo is small. It covers just 10,000 square kilo-metres and it is home to some 2 million people.As of 2008, surveys revealed that a mere 114 peo-

ple in Kosovo worked on research issues related toICTs and that just 17 of these people held doctoratedegrees. The University of Prishtina, Kosovo’s largestuniversity, is the only public-sector institution conduct-ing ICT research and development (R&D).

BUILDING SCIENTIFIC CAPACITY, BASED ON A STRONG FOUNDATION

IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES, IS A KEY

TO A BETTER FUTURE FOR KOSOVO, SAYS LULE AHMEDI, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PRISHTINA.

AHMEDI SPOKE ABOUT THE STATE OF SCIENCE AND DEVELOPMENT IN KOSOVO

AT THE TWAS-IAP CONFERENCE, ‘PROMOTING REGIONAL COOPERATION

IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION IN THE BALKANS’.

The paltry amount of ICT R&D is lamentable. Itrestricts the knowledge base needed to advance ICTs,particularly for software engineering. It denies thegovernment the knowledge workers that it needs todevise effective strategies for expanding ICTs. It limitsthe data and information necessary to assess trends inICTs. And, it reflects, in its own way, the shortcomingsof Kosovo not only in this vital area of science andtechnology but, more generally, in global efforts topromote science-based development.

But shortcomings in R&D have not preventedKosovo from making progress on the ICT front. Thegovernment has assisted this effort by passing lawsand regulations that have facilitated the development

of ICTs, including a law on “information society serv-ices” that gives electronic documents the same legalstatus as paper documents, and a law on the “protec-tion of personal data”, which makes it a crime to uti-lize personal information on the web without legalconsent.

In 2010, the government also introduced a five-year plan for developing ICTs. The plan is designed tohelp boost economic growth and enhance the qualityof life of all citizens. A large part of the effort will focuson improving the management and distribution of gov-ernment information. The goal is to ease bottlenecksand raise public awareness of government policies andprogrammes.

As for Kosovo’s research community, the plan callsfor initiatives to facilitate timely access to informa-tion and to draw scientists and scientific institutionsin Kosovo closer to Europe’s research community.Other goals include placing information and images

of Kosovo’s historic monuments on the internet topromote scholarly research, citizen awareness andtourism.

Plans are one thing; money is quite another. That’swhy it is encouraging to note that financial invest-ments in Kosovo’s ICT infrastructure are also rising.

A survey conducted in 2007 (the latest year forwhich information is available) shows that there areless than 100 private ICT firms in Kosovo and thatthese firms – many of which are no more than one- ortwo-person operations – provide employment forbetween 400 and 600 people.

Yet, equally important and on a more optimisticnote, surveys show that investments in ICTs have been

climbing at an annual rate of 30% and could totalmore than USD135 million by the end of this year.

More than 75% of the investment continues to befor hardware. The remaining 25% is equally dividedbetween purchases of software and services. This is areflection of the early state of ICT development inKosovo. The physical infrastructure must be builtbefore demand for ICT software and technical servicescan be expected to grow – and Kosovo has not yetreached that stage of ICT development.

Just over one-third of the population in Kosovo iscurrently connected to the internet. That compares tonearly 70% of the population in France and nearly55% in Italy. Nevertheless, this low percentage beliesthe rapid pace of growth that is now taking place. Infact, the number of internet users increased from 22%in 2008 to 36% in 2010.

Kosovo has three major internet providers – iPKO,Post-Telecom of Kosovo (PTK) and Kujtesa. These

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providers not only report that household internetaccess is increasing rapidly, but that internet penetra-tion in business and industry is attaining new heights.Indeed it could be argued that internet use by the busi-ness sector is driving ICTs forward through its demandfor access (including broadband access), its emphasison high-quality service and the need to conform tointernational standards.

As is true for other regions that have been slow todevelop their ICT capacity, Kosovo’s late start has pro-vided some advantages in its cur-rent efforts to catch up. For exam-ple, less than 5% of the populationhas landline phone service. Peopleinstead have opted for mobilephones, which are now used bymore than 75% of the population.

The ability to embrace such‘leapfrog’ technologies holds great promise for quicklynarrowing the gap between Kosovo and more techno-logically advanced places. This will likely be a boon toKosovo’s efforts to take advantage of the scientific capa-bilities and know-how in places with more advancedICT capabilities – and ultimately to become more fullyintegrated into the larger European community.

INVESTING IN PROGRESSA study funded by the European Union (EU), NationalBackground Report on ICT Research for Kosovo for 2009-

2013, examined areas in which Koso-vo might be ready to advance ICTs inthe short term, as well as areas inwhich it might be possible to takeadvantage of ICTs in the future – allbased on the current state of ICTresearch and development.

Areas listed in the report whereKosovo could take immediateadvantage of ICTs to improve theefficiency and productivity of opera-tions include ICTs for e-government,e-learning and e-business. Areaslisted in the report where Kosovomight be able to take advantage ofICTs in the future include e-health.The report also emphasized the

need for additional R&D for advancing internet andbroadband use, adapting technologies to better ensureprivacy protection for commerce and trade, and expand-ing the scope and impact of software engineering.

Indeed the report called for investments that wouldstrengthen the capacity of Kosovo’s ICT specialists toengage in state-of-the-art software development. Suchefforts, the report concluded, would spur the creationof products and services tailored to Kosovo’s ICT needsand enhance Kosovo’s ability to participate in the glob-

al ICT marketplace.Kosovo’s government currently

uses ICT services for managementand budgeting. Electronic votingalso takes place in Kosovo’s govern-ment assembly. In addition, citi-zens can make payments onlinethrough e-services offered by Post-

Telecom of Kosovo and other large billing firms.To date, the electronic portals that have been intro-

duced have been simple pay portals which do not offerthe full range of interactivity that users in the EU andother regions with more sophisticated ICT infrastruc-tures have come to expect. The ability of internet usersto browse and purchase products and services onlineremains limited.

Similar limitations also exist for e-learning. Sever-al universities have built a basic e-learning infrastruc-ture that is capable of receiving and downloading

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Strengthening ICTcapabilities is nowa high priority

for the government.

information from around the world. But the dynamicinteractive learning environments that are now pres-ent on many campuses with advanced electronic com-munications infrastructure have yet to arrive in Koso-vo. The ICT infrastructure in primary and secondaryschools is even less advanced.

As for e-business and e-health infrastructure andservices, Kosovo remains a step behind some of itsneighbouring countries and manysteps behind the pace of progressin the EU, the Americas and grow-ing parts of Asia and SouthAmerica.

Strengthening ICT capabilitiesin these sectors is now a high prior-ity for the government. For instance, the current health-care strategy calls for the creation of an electronichealthcare information system by 2015. Whether Koso-vo has the R&D capacity to put such a system in placein such a brief time is an open question. At the veryleast, it will require significant investments in bothinfrastructure and the training of personnel.

ROLE OF RESEARCHIn 2010, Kosovo established a strategic framework forresearch, The National Research Programme of theRepublic of Kosovo, that includes five priority areas:natural resources; energy and the environment; agri-cultural production and food security; medicalresearch; social and economic studies; and linguistic,cultural and historic studies. In addition, it designates

ICTs as a cross-cutting priority ofcritical importance to each of theother focus areas.

The strategy emphasizes theneed for research to contributedirectly to economic growth andthe social well-being of the people.

It maintains that such an approach is not only the rightthing to do in light of Kosovo’s need to expand theeconomy and reduce the level of poverty, but that it isalso in the self-interest of the research community.Seeking to address society’s critical needs would helpgenerate support for research and provide an impor-tant justification for additional funds in the future.

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In 2010, Kosovoestablished a strategicframework for research.

To move forward, the strategic framework pro-gramme recommends that Kosovo’s research commu-nity:• Establish international standards for the evaluationand production of its grant proposals and researchreports, seeking the engagement of scientists andscholars from abroad.

• Broaden its interaction with the European researchcommunity by increasing the number of joint researchprojects and exchange programmes. (This would notonly help strengthen Kosovo’s research base but also

improve its administrative and managerial capabili-ties.)

• Build a national R&D information system, readilyaccessible to institutions in both the public and pri-vate sectors. (The system would provide vital statis-tics on research trends both within Kosovo andacross the globe.)

• Train the next generation of scientists both withinKosovo’s university system and through joint mas-ter’s and doctoral programmes with foreign universi-ties, especially those in Europe.

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ACADEMIES IN THE BALKANS

Last autumn, TWAS and IAP, the global network of science academies, organized an international workshopfocusing on ‘The Role of the Academies in Promoting Regional Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innova-tion (STI)“. More than 60 participants from 19 countries, including presidents and representatives of academiesin Albania, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro were in atten-dance. Representatives from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Ministry of Education, Univer-sity and Research (MIUR) also participated.A primary goal of the conference, noted Mohamed Hassan, then executive director of TWAS and currently co-chair of IAP, was “to showcase the breadth and depth of scientific knowledge that currently exists in the Balkansin a variety of fields, including information and communications technologies, biotechnologies, climate change,environmental risks and natural hazards, nanotechnology and physics and astrophysics.”The conference, which also included a large number of Italian scientists, was designed to provide a broad plat-form for the sharing of information and ideas.The workshop’s concluding session examined the role that the academies in the Balkans play in providing evi-dence-based information to governments.“Countries in the Balkans have experienced a period of dramatic change over the past two decades,” noted Has-san. These changes have had a significant impact on the relationship of the region’s academies to society.“The traditional frameworks under which academies in the region have operated,” he added, “have largely beenreformed and replaced by forces that have dramatically realigned the academies’ relationship not only to govern-ment but also to other sectors of society.”As conference participant Ivos Slaus, director of the Southeast European Division of the World Academy of Artand Science in Zagreb, Croatia, noted in a statement drafted following the conference: “Science academies in theBalkans are eager to play a pivotal role at the interface of science, governance and economics. This involves morethan giving advice. It also entails the sustained active involvement of scientists – through their science academiesand other scientific institutions – to ensure that the best scientific information and insights are provided for help-ing to solve critical social problems. Through their own efforts and in collaboration with such institutions asTWAS and IAP, the science academies of the Balkans are dedicated to helping their societies achieve greater eco-nomic well-being.”Ljubisa Rakic, vice president of the Serbian Academy of Science and Art, observed that “Balkan science acade-mies have to develop a long-term strategy to play an important role in the public advisory system. The acade-mies,” Rakic added, “must preserve their stability and independence to be of superior standing in society andgive sound advice.”

• Support the creation of electronic libraries thatwould put Kosovo’s research community in touchwith the latest scientific information and fundingopportunities.

STRATEGIC VISIONWith the formulation of the strategic framework, Koso-vo has established a pathway for economic progressthat is realistic and doable. It calls for capacity build-ing efforts that begin with raising the level of scientificexpertise through strengthening the scientific infra-structure, offering competitive grants to promising sci-entists and providing stipends tostudy elsewhere (especially withcolleagues in Europe). It voicessupport for the establishment of afund to entice Kosovo’s scientificdiaspora to work with colleagues intheir home country.

At the centre of this strategy is afocus on building and expanding Kosovo’s ICT infra-structure as an enabling force that would help over-come the isolation that has plagued the scientific com-munity and that would pave the way for collaboratingwith colleagues not only in Europe but also across theglobe.

The strategy notes that, at some point, attentioncould be turned to such long-term goals as buildingcentres of excellence and innovation, establishing the-matic programmes in science and technology in areasof national importance, and developing university-

industry partnerships for the development of science-related products and services.

But the strategy recommends that these goalsshould only be sought once Kosovo’s scientific capacitypasses a threshold of success marked, for example, byample training and job opportunities, fully-equippedlaboratories, a growing number of articles published inpeer-reviewed journals, and active participation of itsscientists in international workshops and conferences.

Kosovo enjoys an enviable strategic position insoutheast Europe and could serve as a vital crossroadsfor trade and scientific and cultural exchange. Some

70% of its population is less than35 years old, which gives it themost youthful population inEurope. Its people, moreover, aremultilingual (the national lan-guages are Albanian, Serbian andEnglish). There is no denying thatpolitical tensions and uncertainties

remain. Nevertheless, the region currently enjoys aperiod of relative calm making progress possible.

Strong investments in science and technology willbe necessary to place Kosovo on a path of sustainabledevelopment. There is no better place to start than inimproving the ICT infrastructure. �

> Lule Ahmediassociate professor

University of Prishtina, Kosovolule.ahmedi@uni-pr.edu

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Kosovo has establisheda pathway for economicprogress that is realistic

and doable.

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FEATURE

FUNWITH NUMBERS

“Help, I have a teenage daughter whois flunking maths!” “Help, I’m a highschool student who hates trigonome-try!” “Help, I’m a teacher in the hin-terlands who doesn’t have sufficientresources.”

That’s the way most of the letters begin that QueenaNgo Lee-Chua receives from readers of her weekly

science and education column ‘Eureka!’ in The Philip-pine Daily Inquirer.

The calls for help would even be louder, were it notfor Lee-Chua, the maths-cum-psychology major whohas become the Philippines’ science communicationsqueen.

“I’ve been writing this column for 20 years, andreaders still ask the same questions!” she exclaims.

In her columns she has written about how to pre-pare for examinations, what parents should look forwhen hiring a tutor and tips for teachers wanting to

spice up their lessons. Still, herreaders clamour for more informa-tion and advice.

To say she is ‘prolific’ would bean understatement. In addition toher column for the Inquirer she alsowrites a monthly column on home-

work for Working Mom Magazine. She once hosted atelevision show, ‘Fun with Math’, and has publishedmore than 20 books on topics ranging from scienceand maths to parenting and financial matters.

Add to that a full-time job teaching and conductingresearch in mathematics and psychology at the coun-try’s Ateneo de Manila University, and Lee-Chua’s cur-riculum vitae reads like it belongs to someone mucholder than her 40-odd years.

She has received an avalanche of awards for herteaching, research and journalism. In 2005, MarieClaire magazine chose her as one of the 25 “mostincredible” women in the Philippines. In 2008, the

QUEENA NGO LEE-CHUA, THE PHILIPPINES ’ SCIENCE COMMUNICATIONS QUEEN,

IS TEACHING HER COUNTRYMEN AND COUNTRYWOMEN TO LOVE SCIENCE

AND MATHS. THE TWAS REGIONAL OFFICE IN EAST AND SOUTH EAST ASIA

(TWAS-ROESEAP) RECENTLY RECOGNIZED LEE-CHUA’S EFFORTS

BY AWARDING HER THE 2010 PRIZE FOR THE POPULARIZATION OF SCIENCE.

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Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in thePhilippines honoured her as one of the country’s greatscientists. And last year, she won the TWAS RegionalOffice in East and South East (TWAS-ROESEAP) prizefor the popularization of science (for informationabout the other winners, see ‘Popularizing Science inthe Developing World’, p. 38).

Lee-Chua’s love of science – and maths in particular– is not par for the course in the Philippines. While stu-dents in many Asian countries excel in science andmaths, her country scores dismally in internationaltests. The two times the Philippines participated in the

international Trends in Interna-tional Mathematics and ScienceStudy (TIMSS), it scored thirdfrom the bottom (see ‘Maths in thePhilippines’, p. 41).

“Maths is the most disliked sub-ject in the school curriculum in thePhilippines. The students are notonly anxious about it, they actuallydetest it,” Lee-Chua explains.

MINDFUL OF MATHSSo how did she come to studymaths at university? Simply put,she liked it. Her choice wasbetween maths or the arts becauseshe also liked writing and reading.But some wise words from a coun-sellor tipped the scales in favour ofmaths. “If you want to write,” thecounsellor advised, “you don’t

need a degree to do it. But if you want to go deep intomaths, then you probably need expert guidance.”

For Lee-Chua, maths was also a refuge from theturbulent society she grew up in. In 1986, the yearbefore she graduated with a bachelor’s degree, the 20-year reign of the authoritarian president FerdinandMarcos came to an end in a series of peaceful protestsknown as the “People Power Revolution”. AlthoughLee-Chua was involved in the political movement, shelonged for something more stable.

“We were campaigning for many things, and I waspart of that. But I didn’t want to pursue studies in

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THE PHILIPPINES AT A GLANCE

The Philippines, comprised of more than 7,000 islands, may be famousfor its natural beauty, friendly people and crystal clear waters. But it isalso a natural disaster “hotspot” visited upon by earthquakes, volcaniceruptions and typhoons. Rising sea levels and global warming threatenthe country’s coastal populations and bountiful coral reefs.The islands were a Spanish colony for more than 300 years, and mostFilipinos remain devoutly Catholic. The early 20th century saw atakeover by the United States until independence in 1946.Post-colonial rule has been marred by corruption. Two of the country’sleaders have been deposed by mass demonstrations, so-called “peoplepower” revolutions – the first in 1986 and the second in 2001.The Philippines export electronics, clothing, food, chemicals and timber.But despite a buoyant economy, many Filipinos live in poverty. Thecountry has the highest birth rate in Asia, and its 92 million strong pop-ulation could double within three decades.The country’s 2007 science budget only corresponded to 0.14% of thegross domestic product (GDP), significantly less than 0.69% of the GDPin neighbouring Malaysia and 2.12% of GDP in Singapore. Opportuni-ties for science and technology professionals in the country are meagre,forcing many to go abroad to find work.

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fields like political theory or economics, which seemedjust as confusing as the world around me. In mathe-matics, there are definitive proofs and answers. It pro-vided an academic and a personalrefuge,” Lee-Chua explains.

HOMEWARD BOUNDWhen she graduated summa cumlaude in 1987, her maths careerseemed to be on the verge of asharp turn in direction. She was offered scholarships topursue higher maths studies in the United States, buther family put a stop to her dreams of going overseas.

“Although I’m Filipino, I’m of Chinese descent, and

my parents were extremely protective. I’m the eldest,and they told me that if I were to go to the US for grad-uate studies, there was a good chance that I would

never come back.“They were probably right,” she

admits. “And so, when theydemanded that I stay, I decided toheed their warning.”

Nevertheless Lee-Chua’s aca-demic advisors cautioned her

against entering postgraduate study in maths solely inthe Philippines. While working out what to do next,Lee-Chua began teaching mathematics at the universi-ty after graduation.

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Mathematics providedan academic anda personal refuge.

LEE-CHUA’S TOP FIVE TEACHING TIPS

Real-life. Students always want to know why they are supposed to learn something. At the start of a course, Iexplain to the students the real-life applications of what they are about to learn. But I also tell them that they willnot be able to fully understand the applications until they have completed the course.Humming along. For algebra, instead of memorizing the formulas, I tell the students to put it into a song thatthey like, or to turn the formulas into a rap. It helps them remember them, and it’s fun!Story lines. Variation is the key to making classes fun. I sometimes ask students to write short stories on maths.I may ask them to surf the internet for maths poems, maths riddles or maths jokes.Nerds no. The people who came up with the maths formulas we study were not nerds. Look at how handsomeGalois, the 19th century French mathematician, conducted himself and how he died in a duel! If we have time,I may ask students to dramatize the lives of these people.Compound interest. After the financial crisis I felt we needed to teach financial literacy at the most basic level.So, I gave my students lessons on how to calculate compound interests and why they should pay off their creditcard bills in full. I even arranged for my students to see Wall Street 2, the movie with Michael Douglas, and dis-cussed the picture’s overarching themes in class.

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Coming face-to-face with the aversion that moststudents had for maths helped her to realize some-thing unexpected yet extraordinarily important for thefuture direction of her career: “I realized that I didn’tneed more maths skills,” she says. “What I really need-ed was more psychology skills to teach students who

were so anxious about being bad at maths.” She dis-cussed the problem with professors and they suggestedshe study psychology.

Psychology could not be any more different thanmaths. Nevertheless, Lee-Chua found that she enjoyedthe subject precisely because it provided her with the

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POPULARIZING SCIENCE IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD

The TWAS regional prizes, which are awarded by TWAS’s five regional offices, carry a USD3,000 cash award.In 2010, the prizes were given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to improving publicunderstanding and appreciation of science.In addition to Queena Ngo Lee-Chua, who received the award from the TWAS regional office in East andSouth East Asia and the Pacific (TWAS-ROESEAP), the other prize-winners are:

Elias Baydoun / TWAS Arab Regional Office (TWAS-ARO)Elias Baydoun is professor of biology and biochemistry at the American University of Beirut in Jordan. Followingthe completion of postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge, UK, he assumed a key role in the earlydevelopment of Yarmouk University. In addition to his appointment as associate biology professor, he was assis-tant to the president, director of planning and development, and director of personnel. He later moved to theAmerican University of Beirut, becoming chair of the department of biology at a critical phase in its developmentwhen he was the only full-time faculty member with a doctoral degree. More recently, he has organised a seriesof international scientific meetings leading to the creation of the Arab Academy of Sciences. Baydoun’s other con-tributions include preparing biology curricula and textbooks for secondary schools and community colleges inOman, writing biology textbooks for the ministry of education in Jordan and leading a project on health educa-tion in Jordanian schools. He has also translated into Arabic the region’s most widely used university-level text-book in biochemistry.

Mahaletchumy Arujanan / TWAS Regional Office for East and South-East Asia and the Pacific (TWAS-ROSEAP)Mahaletchumy Arujanan is executive director of the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC).She is recognized for her role in promoting public understanding of science for human resource development.Under Arujanan’s leadership, more than 50 institutions, including universities, research institutes, governmentagencies and ministries, have been engaged in programmes for public understanding of science. Arujanan hashelped build MABIC into an internationally recognized biotechnology information centre. With support fromthe ministry of education, she was the first individual to organize hands-on biotechnology workshops for teach-ers. She has involved Islamic scholars in discussions of the critical role that public acceptance plays in advanc-ing applications of biotechnologies. Mahaletchumy is Malaysia’s only science communicator who conductsmedia workshop to ensure journalists have a basic understanding of biotechnology. Through her work, Aru-janan has reached scientists, policy makers, industry officials, regulators, media representatives, religiousleaders, teachers and students.

Guillermo Chong Díaz / TWAS Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (TWAS-ROLAC)Guillermo Chong Díaz is a professor of geology in the department of geological sciences at Chile’s Catholic Uni-

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tools that she need to understand her student’s deep-seated dislike for maths.

A master’s degree in counselling psychology wasfollowed by a doctorate degree in clinical psychologythat she received in 1995. Her doctoral dissertationfocused on the psychological dynamics of family busi-

nesses. “I was ready to start doing something onmaths learning, but a management professor persuad-ed me to try looking into how family businesses thrivein the Philippines. Since my father was a business-man, I felt that this could be a good topic for a thesis,”she says.

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versity of the North, and director of two scientific museums: the Humberto Fuenzalida Geological Museum atthe Catholic University of the North and the Museum of the Atacama Desert. He is widely recognized for his pro-motion of the public understanding and popularization of science through his teaching, books and efforts toestablish the two scientific museums that he currently heads. Díaz, a university professor for more than 35years, has written over 170 scientific articles. He has also published two children’s books on geology. Díaz hasreceived the National Prize in Geology in 2003, the CONICYT (Chile’s National Commission for Scientific andTechnological Research) Prize Explora in 1997 and the Bicentennial Medal sponsored by the Regional Governorof Antofagasta, Chile, in 2010.

Arvind Gupta / TWAS Regional Office for Central and South Asia (TWAS-ROCASA)Arvind Gupta works at the Muktangan Science Centre for Children located at the Inter-University Centre forAstronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, India. He is recognized for his role as a science popularizer and toymak-er. Gupta has organized thousands of workshops in India and abroad, and has appeared on numerous televi-sion programmes showing viewers how to make science toys from discarded materials. He shares his passionfor books and toys through his popular website arvindguptatoys.com. After earning a bachelors’ degree fromthe Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kanpur and working at Tata Motors, Gupta joined a village scienceteaching programme for children in Hoshanagabad, Madhya Pradesh, where he relied on ordinary things todo science. His first book Matchstick Models and Other Science Experiments was translated into 12 Indianlanguages and sold more than 500,000 copies. He has written 17 books and translated another 100 books onscience, environment and education in Hindi, and has organized science workshops for children and teachersin over 2000 schools across the country. Arvind’s outstanding contributions to the design of science teachingaids for young children has been recognized by UNESCO, UNICEF, MIT Media Lab and International ToyResearch.

Felix Konotey-Ahulu / TWAS Regional Office for Sub-Saharan Africa (TWAS-ROSSA)Felix Konotey-Ahulu is the Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey distinguished professor of human genetics at the University ofCape Coast, Ghana, and a physician and genetic counsellor in sickle cell disease and other haemoglobinopathiesin the UK. He is recognized for his outstanding contributions to sickle cell disease research, especially for hisefforts to increase public awareness about this disease. He traced the hereditary sickle cell disease in his own fam-ily back to 1670 and was the first to teach Ghanaians and the world that hereditary rheumatism was, in fact,sickle cell disease. He later gave public lectures that stressed one in three Ghanaians in Ghana and in the diaspo-ra carry a beta globin gene that produces sickle haemoglobin ‘S’, haemoglobin ‘C’ or ‘haemoglobin others’. He hasencouraged people to determine their carrier status and has written Sickle Cell Disease: The Case for FamilyPlanning. He continues to conduct genetic counselling. His websites www.sicklecell.md and www.konotey-ahu-lu.com provide valuable information for people worldwide who are concerned about this disease.

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Queena’s thesis was published in a book titled Suc-cessful Family Businesses. It won the OutstandingMonograph Award from the Philippines National Acad-emy of Science and Technology in 2001.

More recently, Queena’s research has examined thepsychology of maths and science learning. “I guess youcould say that I experimented on my students,” shelaughs, “since many of my insightswere derived from careful observa-tions of my students in the class-room.”

She has also investigated math-ematical knowledge among indige-nous tribes in the Philippines. “Sev-eral of them know basic maths. Ilooked at geometry in their art,their counting systems based onbody parts, and their rhymes andgames.”

As for Filipinos’ aversion tomaths, Lee-Chua believes there arehistorical reasons. “Spain, whichcolonized the Philippines, didn’tthink it was necessary to teach thenatives maths or science. Thatcolonial mindset seeped deep intoour culture. We still strugglebecause of that.”

Her research once even broughther in close contact with the messyworld of international politics. Afew years ago, she assisted the gov-ernment of the Philippines on how

to deal with the country’s claim to the Spratly islands –a cluster of islets in the South China Sea whose owner-ship is disputed by several countries, including China.

The diplomats wanted Lee-Chua and a US-basedcolleague, José Cruz, to use game theory to modelwhether the Philippines should turn to diplomacy, mil-itary intervention or both to defend its claim over the

islands. The models suggested bothapproaches were needed, Lee-Chuasays. “A diplomatic intervention onits own would not work – Chinawould laugh at us, and a militaryconflict, we could simply not win.”So, we suggested a combined mili-tary and diplomatic approach.

Lee-Chua says that she washappy to see the project come to anend. She went into maths becauseit was safe and secure, not to playwar games. “Quite frankly, I frettedabout doing this kind of research,”she says.

WRITING IT DOWNHer writing came about at thesame time as her interest in psy-chology. “One of my professors wasa columnist for the Inquirer. Iremember complaining to her thatthere were no science stories in thenewspaper. She gazed at me andsaid: ‘That’s because nobody wantsto write about science. Why don’t

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I hope I ama role model.

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you?’ So I wrote a story with thetitle ‘Why be afraid of maths?’ andsent it to the paper.”

The Inquirer published the storyin March 1991. Lee-Chua was anovernight success. “The editorcalled me the following weektelling me that I was their mostpopular writer, and that they hadreceived piles of letters addressedto me. She offered me my own col-umn three months later. My firstbook, which was a compilation ofmy early articles, was published in December thatyear.”

What readers say about her writing is not alwayspositive. “I remember writing about evolution and Dar-win. Wow, did I get hate mail from the creationists!”Articles about genetic engineering also led to a barrageof disparaging comments. “I wrote about the pros andcons of genetically modified crops and tried to be asbalanced as possible. However, I ended up getting hatemail from both sides,” she says.

But she also receives fan mail. “I even have a fanclub,” she says sheepishly. Her youngest fan is fiveyears old. “She wrote that I am her idol!”

Does she see herself as a role model? “I hope I am arole model,” she says. Her son Scott certainly seems tothink so. The 12-year old is a maths whiz. He has alsopublished three books – travel guides to foreign coun-tries written for children. “My editor chanced upon anaccount my son had written about his trip for his fami-ly and friends. When she read it, she wanted Scott to

write travel books from the perspective of a child. Shesaid that there were no travel books written for chil-dren by children, so she urged him to try to do one.”

Lee-Chua maintains that she gets her energy fromher students.

“I genuinely care for them, even if they can some-times be a handful and a nuisance.” She is convincedall students are hungry for knowledge.

“They’ve been given a bad rap and have often beenscolded for not listening. But they do. When they cometo my class they are noisy, but once you attract theirinterest, they don’t want to leave. They might despisemaths when they first come through the door, but I amconvinced that they despise it less when they leave forthe next grade.”

For Lee-Chua, the Philippine’s maths queen, it alladds up to a better life for both her and her growinglist of admirers – one that she plans to continue to pur-sue with the same purpose and dedication that she hasmaintained for the past two decades. �

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MATHS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Asia produces some of the most mathematically literate students in theworld. So it may come as a surprise that the Philippines scores abysmal-ly in international mathematics studies.Both times it participated in the Trends in International Mathematicsand Science Study (TIMSS), the Philippines came third from the bot-tom. Out of the 38 participating countries in 1999, only Morocco andSouth Africa received lower scores. Four years later, in 2003, the Philip-pines retained its third-lowest score even though 46 countries partici-pated. This time, only Morocco and Tunisia had lower scores.Several reasons have been given for the Philippines’ low scores, includ-ing overcrowded classrooms, a lack of interest among students and loweducational levels among parents.

http://momabouttowndavao.blogspot.com/

Some of the world’s least studiedecosystems lie off the coast ofAfrica. This is especially true alongthe east coast, where the warmwaters of the western IndianOcean support a rich diversity oflife.

As in many other parts of the world, the vitality ofAfrica’s oceans, rivers and lakes, and the contributionsthat they make to the economy, are threatened by over-fishing, pollution and climate change. A scarcity ofknowledge about these ecosystems, moreover, makes theimpacts posed by these threats difficult to predict.

For the past 50 years, the South African Institute forAquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) has sought to deepen thecontinent’s knowledge of its vast and prolific waterworlds, earning the institute well-deserved reputation forits efforts both at home and abroad.

SAIAB has just eight permanent scientific staffmembers. But the institute casts a net well beyond

its resources, not just because of its skilled and dedi-

cated staff but also because ofthe value of its international net-works and partners.

SAIAB, for example, offerspostgraduate training in ichthy-ology (the study of fish) andaquatic biodiversity in partner-

ship with Rhodes University’s Department of Ichthyol-ogy and Fisheries Science. In addition, it oversees pro-grammes to teach fisheries officials in South Africa andother Southern African Development Community(SADC) countries how to identify fish, understandtheir importance and preserve vulnerable aquaticecosystems.

The institute also contributes to policy discussionson issues related to the sustainable management ofaquatic biological resources. This is a growing chal-lenge in Africa, where booming populations and inten-sive development have exerted unprecedented pres-sures on rivers, lakes and other waterways.

The institute’s budget is modest, particularly asresearch facilities go. For 2009-10, it was ZAR34 mil-

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FEATURE

FISHINGFOR A FUTURE

FOR THE PAST 50 YEARS, A RELATIVELY SMALL SOUTH AFRICAN RESEARCH

INSTITUTE, THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN INSTITUTE FOR AQUATIC BIODIVERSITY

(SAIAB), HAS SPEARHEADED EFFORTS TO STUDY AFRICA’S FISH FAUNA

AND THEIR ECOSYSTEMS.

lion (USD2.5 million), with the government providingjust under one-third of the total.

Research contracts and grants thus account for alarge portion of the funding. The latter comes from avariety of sources, including individual governmentdepartments, universities, nongovernmental organiza-tions and private firms.

SAIAB spends about 40% of its government fund-ing on research. It spends a third on administrationand a quarter on communications and managing itscollections.

Despite limited resources,SAIAB participates, and often takesthe lead, in large-scale researchprojects. That should come as nosurprise. The institute’s history notonly reveals a flair for the dramaticbut also a resilience and level of productivity that havemade it one of Africa’s most successful scientific insti-tutions.

FISHING FOR FAMEOn 22 December 1938 a trawler fishing the waters offSouth Africa’s eastern coast caught something aston-ishing in its nets: a coelacanth, a fish thought to havebecome extinct during the Cretaceous period that end-ed 65 million years ago.

“I would not have been more surprised if I had seena dinosaur walking down the street,” said JLB Smith,the South African chemistry professor who introducedthe “living fossil” to the rest of the world.

Smith and his wife Margaret, who were also col-leagues, worked in the chemistry department at

Rhodes University in Grahamstown, in what is nowSouth Africa’s Eastern Cape province. They named thefish Latimeria chalumnae after the Chalumna Rivernear where it was caught and Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, the museum curator who had notified Smithof the find.

The coelacanth is one of the most significant zoo-logical discoveries of the 20th century. It propelled theSmiths to fame overnight and went on to shape thecourse of South African marine science.

At the time the coelacanth wasdiscovered, Rhodes University didnot have a dedicated departmentof ichthyology. But following thediscovery, JLB Smith was asked in1946 to head a new department,backed by a fellowship from the

newly formed Council for Scientific and IndustrialResearch (CSIR).

Smith’s fish collection became the heart of what istoday the largest collection of specimens in Africa. Italso became the centrepiece of South Africa’s nationalfish collection, which is housed at SAIAB.

The grant Smith received from the governmentdid not cover the cost of his expeditions. For that, hewould raise funds by tapping his extensive networkof officials and private donors in southern Africa. Histireless efforts generated a global response andopened up Africa’s aquatic ecosystems to internation-al study.

The fate of ichthyology in Grahamstown hung inthe balance when Smith died in 1968. The CSIRwavered over whether to fund the department without

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The institute’s historyreveals a flair

for the dramatic.

the renowned man at the helm. There were even sug-gestions to move the fish collection to either Durban orCape Town.

Margaret, Smith’s widow, however, persuaded theCSIR to create a separate institute within Rhodes tohouse the collection. Shortly after her husband’s death,Margaret became the first director of the newly namedJLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology. She would hold thepost until 1982.

From 1961 to 1986, the number of known speciesof marine fishes in South Africa grew by nearly 60%from 1,400 to 2,200. Under Margaret’s leadership, theuniversity also constructed a building on SomersetStreet that it still occupies. The collection was kept inthe building’s basement until a newfacility was constructed next doorin 2007.

DURING APARTHEIDBeginning in the 1960s, interna-tional scholars engaged in an aca-demic boycott of South Africa to protest the country’sapartheid regime. This isolated South Africa’s scien-tists from the rest of the world. Researchers at the JLBSmith Institute were restricted from travelling to manycountries, particularly in Africa.

“Namibia and Botswana would let us in reluctantly.But Zambia, Swaziland, Lesotho and Mozambiquewere out of bounds,” says Paul Skelton, the institute’scurrent director.

When Skelton became director in 1995, a year afterthe first democratic elections, he saw the opening upof Africa to South African scientists as an historic

opportunity. “It liberated us. The political shackles hadbeen shed,” he says.

But at the same time that South Africa was enjoy-ing redemption in the eyes of the world, the JLB Smithinstitute faced a new challenge.

During apartheid, the institute had essentially beenfunded as a museum. The new government regardedmuseums as a holdover from colonial times, and want-ed all museums outside of Cape Town and Johannes-burg to be handed over to local governments. For theinstitute, this would have meant ending up as a provin-cial museum in the Eastern Cape.

“It would have been the kiss of death,” notes AlanWhitfield, the institute’s current chief scientist, who at

the time was its senior ichthyolo-gist. We would have been starvedof funding and status, and lostmuch of our staff as a result, hebelieves.

Skelton managed to persuadethe government that the institute

deserved national status and, in 1999, it was declareda NRF research facility – a move that guaranteed corefunding and confirmed the institute’s status as aninternationally competitive facility. The decision alsobrought a welcome boost in staff morale, since theconditions of employment were more favourable thanthose for an independent entity.

To fulfil its role as a national research facility, theinstitute had to redefine its mission. Scientifically, itwould become more outward looking and thus wouldbe required to focus more attention on providingservices to ‘customers’, including policy makers and

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South Africahas had virtuallyno inland fisheries.

educational experts residing far beyond Rhodes Uni-versity.

To reflect this broader mission, in 2003 the insti-tute changed its name to the South African Institute forAquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB). The decision was notuniversally popular, especially in Grahamstown, wheresome thought it folly to relinquish the globally recog-nised ‘JLB Smith’ brand.

In retrospect, “it was the right choice,” Skeltonsays. Since then, SAIAB has gone from strength tostrength.

FISH COLLECTIONSSAIAB’s fish collection, which houses more than80,000 lots, is the largest in Africa. Indeed the collec-tion is one of the largest in the world. The oldest spec-imen, dating back to 1880, is a flathead mullet (Mugulcephalus). It was given to Smith by David Jordan, a col-lector based in California. The oldest South Africanfish in the collection is a large-scale yellowfish (Labeo-barbus marequensis), collected in 1887 in Pretoria.

Other prized specimens include several coelacanthsand a 1.5 metre great white shark with albinism, acongenital condition characterised by the absence ofskin pigmentation that leaves the skin a translucentwhite. It is the only preserved specimen of its kind,caught by an Eastern Cape fisherman in 1996.

Researchers rely on the National Fish Collection fora variety of reasons, including investigations into tax-onomy, systematics (the study of fish diversity and theevolutionary relationships between populations andspecies) and genetics research. Not surprisingly, chil-dren love to come and see the strange and wonderfulcreatures on display.

In recent years, the collection has been expandedto include other aquatic organisms besides fish. Forexample, a private collection of amphibians wasrecently added that contains frog specimens fromsouthern Africa. The database also includes SouthAfrica’s national collection of diatoms − single cellorganisms − which is housed at North West Universityin Potchefstroom.

RESEARCH AT SAIABEcosystems. Fish systematics was the main researchfocus of the JLB Smith Institute for Ichthyology whenit was established 50 years ago. Over time, however, itsresearch mission has expanded to encompass thewholesale study of aquatic ecosystems − from fresh-water systems to the deep ocean. “Our scope is muchbroader than before,” says Alan Whitfield, SAIAB’schief scientist.

The field of systematics has also undergone dra-matic changes in recent years. The advent of geneticanalysis has challenged the traditional, appearance-based means of classification. Modern fish systematistsnow must be as well versed in molecular genetics as inmorphology.

So why is systematics important? To begin with,aquatic ecosystems have enormous economic impor-tance. In most societies, fish are a mainstay of the dietand, unlike livestock that are farmed in corralledareas, they are by and large taken straight from theirnatural habitat.

With overfishing and exploitation threatening fishstocks in many parts of the world, it is more importantthan ever to understand how this precious resource

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can be used sustainably. Such understanding is partic-ularly vital in developing countries.

Paul Cowley, a senior aquatic biologist at SAIAB, ispioneering new techniques for monitoring fish thatspend part of their lives in estuaries.

Traditional ways of monitoring fish include fishtagging, which provides information on growth rates,movement patterns and seasonal migrations. Suchinformation is needed to manage fisheries successfully.

There are several active marine fish taggingprojects in South Africa. The largest, the Oceanograph-ic Research Institute (ORI) project, relies on volunteeranglers to tag fish. SAIAB’s 082TAG FISH project, meanwhile,focuses on specific species and/orfish dispersal from designatedstudy sites, such as marine protect-ed areas or estuaries.

In addition to conventionalplastic dart tags, Cowley and hisgroup use sophisticated telemetry equipment to trackand monitor the movement of fish equipped withacoustic transmitters. The signals are captured byreceivers moored in estuaries along the Eastern Capecoast.

Freshwater fish. As an arid country with few lakes,South Africa historically has had virtually no inlandfisheries. The native freshwater species are small andwhen Europeans first settled in the country, theybrought with them their own sporting fish — trout andbass in particular.

These invasive species today pose one of thebiggest threats to South Africa’s endemic freshwater

fish. SAIAB’s biologists have studied the effects ofthese species on the local fauna and also evaluatedways of preventing them from spreading into pristinerivers.

There are ways to control and eradicate alienspecies. One method is to use Rotenone, a compoundproduced from the Derris root that kills invasive fishbut does not adversely affect the well-being of birds,mammals or humans.

However, widespread resistance to the wholesaleeradication of these species from the economicallyimportant recreational fishing industry makes it

unlikely that such control measureswill ever be taken.

Climate Change. Climatechange poses a huge threat toboth freshwater and marine fish.Not surprisingly, it has emerged asa core area of research at SAIAB.

“Fish are sensitive to climatechange,” says Nikki James, a SAIAB researcher who ispioneering ways of modelling the likely effect of cli-mate change on the distribution of fish in South Africa.

Thus far there have been no signs of change in theabundance of species along the South African coast,she says. However, this could rapidly change as surfacetemperatures rise in coastal areas.

James modelled the effect of three climate changescenarios outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC) on two fishes living along theSouth African coast: the white steenbras, which enjoystemperate seas and can be found from the Orange Riv-er on the west coast to southern Kwa-Zulu Natal on the

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Climate change posesa huge threat

to both freshwaterand marine fish.

east coast, and the robust mullet, a tropical fish thatkeeps to the warm waters from the Eastern Cape upthe coast towards Mozambique.

All IPCC scenarios anticipate significant changes inthe range of the two fish species. As sea temperaturesrise on the east coast, the mullet is likely to migratefarther south. Meanwhile, the range of the whitesteenbras will become more restricted as many of itsestuary-located nurseries are transformed into inhos-pitable breeding grounds.

Changes in the natural ranges of fish species willhave huge societal impacts. Popular angling specieslike white steenbras draw tourist money to remoteareas, and poor coastal communities increasingly relyon fishing for their subsistence.

There are signs, for example, that climate changecould be disrupting the sardine run that takes placealong South Africa’s east coast between May andJuly each year. This “greatest migration on earth” −when millions of pilchards spawn in the waters off

Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa, andswim north along the coast − is hugely importantfinancially.

Lately, SAIAB research associate Stephanie Plön dis-covered that dolphins caught in shark nets off the Kwa-Zulu Natal coast have mackerel, not sardines, in theirstomachs, indicating a change in the available prey.

The sardine run is not only a boon to coastal com-munities – it also sparks a feeding frenzy off the coast,with sharks, dolphins, seals, seabirds and whales push-ing the fleeing fish into enormous “bait balls” fromwhich few escape. Drastic changes in the sardine runcould thus have profound financial and ecologicaleffects.

Sea Currents. Since apartheid ended, SAIAB hasengaged more actively with researchers in the rest ofthe African continent. This has enabled the institute touse its considerable resources and expertise to helpbuild capacity in neighbouring countries.

SAIAB has sought to advance this goal largely

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This article is based on a report prepared for TWAS’s ongoing ‘Excellence in Science’ series consisting of profiles ofresearch institutions in developing countries. Previous case studies in this series include the Centre of Biotechnol-ogy of Sfax in Tunisia; the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development in Beijing, China; the Malagasy Institute forApplied Research in Antananarivo, Madagascar; the National Institute of Biodiversity in Santo Domingo deHeredia, Costa Rica; the Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow, India; and the Ifakara Health Institute inTanzania. The series was initially funded by a generous grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.Other partners have included the United Nations Development Programme’s Special Unit for South-South Coop-eration (UNDP-SSC), the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the Science Initiative Group (SIG). To reviewthe case studies online, see www.twas.org. For a print copy of the booklets, contact info@twas.org.

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through its flagship marine programme, the AfricanCoelacanth Ecosystem Programme (ACEP), conductedin collaboration with the Agulhas-Somali CurrentLarge Marine Ecosystem (ASCLME) initiative, whichSAIAB hosts across the road from its main building.

The project involves a five-year collaborationamong nine countries along the western Indian Ocean:Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozam-bique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa and Tanzania.

An estimated 56 million people in these countriesdepend on the resources of the two large marineecosystems that are the focus of the project: the oscil-lating Somali Current, which drivesthe waters off the horn of Africaeastward in winter and west insummer, and the Agulhas Current,which sweeps down the coast ofMozambique towards South Africa.

The project is funded by theGlobal Environment Facility (GEF). Its first phase,which concentrates on regional data collection, hasincluded two research cruises on the Norwegianresearch vessel Dr Fridtjof Nansen.

Researchers have only recently realised that thewater moving through the channel between Mozam-bique and Madagascar, which was previously assumedto be a simple current, is in reality a system of eddiesmoving southwards. This phenomenon, which theASCLME project will study, could vastly increase ourunderstanding of regional weather patterns andmarine life.

The project will also investigate how water flowsover the Mascarene Ridge that stretches for 2,200 km

between Mauritius and the Seychelles. The ridge’sislands, banks and shoals form a long shallow shelfthat acts as a barrier against the current. That, in turn,effects nutrient distributions and energy flows.

The ASCLME project will not only collect data, butalso form the basis of joint policy making between gov-ernments within the region. The second phase willproduce a strategic action plan to safeguard themarine ecosystems in the western Indian Ocean.

Recreational Fishing. Recreational fishing is big busi-ness in South Africa. The focus in freshwater angling isoften on ‘alien’ species, including bass and trout, but

native species such as carp andtilapia also have their fans.

“Overall, angling is worth mil-lions to the economy,” says OlafWeyl, an aquatic biologist at SAIABwho works on the ecologicalimpacts of alien fishes. “It’s bigger

than rugby, cricket and football combined,” he notes.SAIAB is working with all stakeholders to devise a

strategy that both protects the fisheries and providesample opportunities for recreational fishing – a com-promise that both the anglers and the conservationistswould find acceptable. “If we can get this right, itcould be a very good tool for conservation,” says ErnstSwartz, a freshwater biologist at SAIAB.

FUTURE BRIGHTWhat’s next for SAIAB?

Expansion − both in terms of funding and the num-ber of staff − is high on the institute’s wish list.

In Skelton’s view, over the next decade, the insti-

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Recreational fishingis big businessin South Africa.

tute will have to focus on continuing to fulfil its coremission as a national research hub.

There is still a vast amount of science that needs tobe done, he adds. “The South African marine floor andocean ecosystems have never been studied in detail. Asa result of the strides that have been made, especiallyin the past five years, we can provide opportunities forscientists from all over − and not just from our insti-

tute − to use our facilities and equipment, includingour new ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle), to advancethe frontiers of science.”

SAIAB also has to deliver on its mandate to have amore ethnically diverse staff. And, it will clearly wantto keep building on its networks in Africa, using itsresources to empower researchers in other parts of thecontinent.

Broad, detailed studies are needed to create a bet-ter overview of Africa’s aquatic biodiversity and toestablish a baseline so that threats to ecosystems canbe detected rapidly. Meeting the growing demand forgoods and services created by an increasing populationand greater wealth will require additional resources,Skelton adds. “We will need to grow. Perhaps, one day,

we’ll have twice the number of permanent researchersthat we do today.”

But even if SAIAB triples in size, quadruples itsbudget and acquires additional offices in Cape Town orDurban, its outward-looking, collaborative ethos willnot change, says Skelton.

“We’d want to keep the same far-reaching collabo-ration model that we use today. In short, we will con-tinue to be an internationally renowned institute doingworld-leading research.”

Scientifically, SAIAB’s national and internationalimpact belies its small size and, as a national researchfacility catering to the needs of a young democracy, itis already delivering significant benefits to science andsociety. As the story of SAIAB shows, in science, biggestdoes not always mean best.

The story also illustrates how hardship can breedexcellence. From the years of isolation to the strategi-cally challenging post-apartheid years, SAIAB and itsstaff emerged from South Africa’s political upheavalsstronger and better.

With its well-managed collection, SAIAB is also abeacon of hope for the rest of the continent. In an arti-cle for South Africa’s popular science magazine Quest,published in 2007, Skelton wrote that it’s time forAfrican countries to expand their own expertise andtraditions in natural history and national species collec-tion. Without such progress, he writes, African biodi-versity will remain “a global feast at which African sci-entists will be uninvited bystanders, without the facili-ties to earn the respect or recognition that is their due”.

To overcome the problems that the continent facesin the area of aquatic biodiversity − water shortages,pollution, unscrupulous development, overfishing,acidification, alien invasive species, and a lack ofunderstanding of the ecosystems − will require localknowledge and local solutions.

Africa’s scientists, policy makers and local commu-nities have a real chance to avoid wasting the consid-erable economic and environmental resources thataquatic ecosystems represent.

By promoting scientific programmes and showingpolicy makers that aquatic ecosystems provide awealth of products and services to their societies thatthey simply cannot afford to lose, SAIAB has a key roleto play in this effort. �

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• Bai Chunli (TWAS Fellow 1997)has been elected president of theChinese Academy of Sciences. Hesucceeds Lu Yongxiang (TWAS Fel-low 1990), who will continue toserve as vice president of theNational People’s Congress and co-chair for the InterAcademy Council(IAC). Bai, a renowned chemist andleading nanoscientist, has been exec-utive vice president of CAS since2004. He is widely credited for play-ing a leading role in the rapid devel-opment of nanotechnology in China.He has served as vice president ofthe China Association for Scienceand Technology (CAST), presidentof the Graduate University of CAS(GUCAS), director of the AcademicDivision of Chemistry, member of theExecutive Committee of the Presid-ium of the Academic Divisions ofCAS, and currently serves as vicepresident of TWAS. As president ofCAS, Bai will lead the academythrough an ambitious ten-yearscheme known as “Innovation 2020“that will focus on space science,information technology, energy andhealth. Pilot projects initiated thisyear will be in seven key areas:nuclear fusion and nuclear wastemanagement; stem cells and regen-erative medicine; calculating the fluxof carbon between land, oceans andatmosphere; materials science; infor-

mation technology; public health;and the environment.

NEW NASAC PRESIDENT• Robin Crewe (TWAS Fellow2009), president of the Academy ofScience of South Africa (ASSAf), waselected president of the Network ofAfrican Science Academies (NASAC)at the 6th NASAC General Assem-bly, held in Cape Town, South Africa,on 11 November 2010. Crewe suc-ceeds Mohamed H.A. Hassan (TWASFellow 1985 and former executive

director). During his tenure, Creweplans to focus on the following keychallenges: the revitalisation ofNASAC’s governance structures; thecreation of science academies incountries where they currently donot exist; expanding opportunitiesfor science academies to offer policyadvice at the national and continen-tal levels; and strengthening thelong-term sustainability and impactof the network. A ten-year strategicplan is currently being developed toguide and position NASAC as aneffective and formidable Africanbody to advance science, technologyand development across the conti-nent. Crewe will be assisted byNASAC’s executive committee con-sisting of vice presidents OyewusiIbidapo-Obe (TWAS Fellow 2009),president of the Nigerian Academy

of Science, Paul Mugambi, presidentof the Uganda National Academy ofSciences, and Mostapha Mosto Bous-mina, chancellor of the Hassan IIAcademy of Science and Technologyin Morocco; secretary generalAmadou Lamine Ndiaye (TWAS Fel-low 1999), president of the SenegalAcademy of Sciences and Arts; andtreasurer Shem Arungu-Olende, sec-retary general of the African Acad-emy of Sciences.

PALMES ACADEMIQUES• Sospeter Muhongo (TWAS Fel-low 2004) was awarded the Ordredes Palmes Académiques by theFrench government. Muhongo is thefounding regional director of theInternational Council for Science’sRegional Office for Africa (ICSU-ROA) in Pretoria, South Africa, serv-ing in that capacity until 2010. Hecurrently chairs the department ofgeology at the University of Dar Es

Salaam (UDSM) in his native Tan-zania and is an honorary professor atthe University of Pretoria in SouthAfrica. Muhongo obtained a BSc ingeology from UDSM in 1979 and aPh.D. from Technische UniversitätBerlin, Germany, in 1990. His previ-ous honours include the First RobertShackleton Award for OutstandingResearch in Precambrian Geology ofAfrica and National Award for Out-

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nia. He was named European Geol-ogist by the European Federation ofGeologists in 2006. He is a memberof several scientific societies inAfrica, the United States, UnitedKingdom and China.

2010 SAE FELLOW AWARD• Pradeep Rohatgi (TWAS Fellow1989), distinguished professor ofmaterials engineering at the Univer-sity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM)

and founding director of the UWMCenter for Composites and the Cen-ter for Advanced Materials Manu-facture at UWM, has received theSociety of Automotive Engineers(SAE) 2010 Fellow Award for hisinternationally recognized leader-ship in research, development, edu-cation and institution-building forthe processing and characterizationof low-cost, ultra-light and energy-efficient cast metal matrix compos-ites. He has recently extended hisresearch on the synthesis of metalmatrix nanocomposites, and is work-ing on smart and self-healing com-posites for transportation applica-tions.

NEW NAS MEMBERS• Louise Johnson (TWAS Fellow1999), Li Jiayang (TWAS Fellow2004) and Erio Tosatti, have been

elected as foreign associates of theUS National Academy of Sciences(NAS). Johnson is David Philips pro-fessor in molecular biophysics at theLaboratory of Molecular Biophysics,Oxford University, Oxford, UnitedKingdom. Li is vice president of theChinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)and professor at the CAS Institute ofGenetics and Developmental Biol-ogy in Beijing, China. Tosatti is aphysicist with Abdus Salam Interna-tional Centre for Theoretical Physics’(ICTP) Condensed Matter and Sta-

tistical Physics Section and professorof physics at the International Schoolfor Advanced Studies (SISSA) inTrieste, Italy. He served as the actingdirector of ICTP in 2002-2003.

IN MEMORIAM• Jayme Tiomno (TWAS Fellow1996) died on 12 January 2011 atthe age of 91. Tiomno was educatedat State College, Muzambinho, theBrazilian Federal University, Rio deJaneiro, and Princeton University,

USA, where he obtained his PhD inphysics in 1950. Until his death, hewas professor emeritus at the CentroBrasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas (CBPF)in Rio de Janeiro. He was one of thefounders CBPF and also helped tocreate the Brazilian Physics Society(SBF). His scientific work in experi-mental and theoretical physics washonoured by several awards that hereceived during his career, includingthe Moinho Santista Prize for ExactSciences in 1957 and the Grã-Cruz,National Order of Scientific Merit ofBrazil in 1994.

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W H A T ’ S T W A S ?

TWAS, THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES FOR THE DEVELOPING WORLD, IS AN AUTONOMOUS

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION THAT PROMOTES SCIENTIFIC CAPACITY AND EXCELLENCE

IN THE SOUTH. FOUNDED AS THE THIRD WORLD ACADEMY OF SCIENCES BY A GROUP

OF EMINENT SCIENTISTS UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE LATE NOBEL LAUREATE ABDUS

SALAM OF PAKISTAN IN 1983, TWAS WAS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED IN TRIESTE, ITALY,

IN 1985, BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS.

TWAS has nearly 1,000 members from 90 countries, 73 of which are developing countries.A 13-member Council is responsible for supervising all Academy affairs. It is assisted in theadministration and coordination of programmes by a secretariat, headed by an ExecutiveDirector and located on the premises of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoreti-cal Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization (UNESCO) is responsible for the administration of TWAS funds and staff. A majorportion of TWAS funding is provided by the Italian government.The main objectives of TWAS are to:• Recognize, support and promote excellence in scientific research in the South.• Provide promising scientists in the South with research facilities necessary forthe advancement of their work.

• Facilitate contacts between individual scientists and institutions in the South.• Encourage South-North cooperation between individuals and centres of science andscholarship.

In 1988, TWAS facilitated the establishment of the Third World Network of Scientific Organ-izations (TWNSO), a non-governmental alliance of some 150 scientific organizations in theSouth. In 2006, the foreign ministers of the Group of 77 and China endorsed the transfor-mation of TWNSO into the Consortium on Science, Technology and Innovation for the South(COSTIS). COSTIS’s goals are to help build political and scientific leadership in the South andto promote sustainable development through South-South and South-North partnerships inscience and technology.>costis.g77.orgTWAS also played a key role in the establishment, in 1993, of the Organization for Womenin Science for the Developing World (OWSDW, formerly the Third World Organization forWomen in Science, TWOWS). Some 3,200 women scientists from more than 90 countries inthe South are members of OWSDW, making it the largest organization of women scientistsin the world. Its main objectives are to promote the leadership of women in science andtechnology in the South and to strengthen the participation of women in science-baseddevelopment and decision-making. The secretariat of OWSDW is hosted and assisted by TWAS.>www.twows.orgSince 2000 TWAS has provided the secretariat for IAP, the global network of science acad-emies. IAP, which was established in 1993 as the ‘InterAcademy Panel on internationalissues’, unites more than 100 science academies worldwide; provides high-quality inde-pendent information and advice on science and development to policymakers and the pub-lic; supports programmes on scientific capacity building, education and communication; andleads efforts to expand international science cooperation.>www.interacademies.net/iapSince 2004 TWAS has also hosted the secretariat of the InterAcademy Medical Panel (IAMP),an association of the world’s medical academies and medical divisions of science academies.IAMP is committed to improving human health worldwide through the coordinated actionof its 69 members.>www.iamp-online.org www.twas.org