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1YEAR 2010VOL.22 NO.1
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
CONTENTS 2 TWAS IN ARAB REGION 7 EDUCATIONAL CHANGE IN
PAKISTAN 11 IAP MEETS IN LONDON 22 TRIESTE SCIENCE PRIZE 2009
29 SCIENCE POLICY IN UNESCO 35 TARGETING TB 41 LESSONS IN
LEARNING 50 PEOPLE, PLACES, EVENTS
TWAS NEWSLETTER
Published quarterly with
the support of the Kuwait Foundation
for the Advancement of Sciences
(KFAS) by TWAS, the academy of
sciences for the developing world
ICTP Campus, Strada Costiera 11
34151 Trieste, Italy
tel: +39 040 2240327
fax: +39 040 224559
e-mail: [email protected]
website: 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 DIRECTOR
Mohamed H.A. Hassan
EDITOR
Daniel Schaffer
ASSISTANT EDITORS
Tasia Asakawa
Cristina Serra
MANAGING EDITOR
Gisela Isten
DESIGN & ART DIRECTION
Sandra Zorzetti, Rado Jagodic
www.studio-link.it
PRINTING
Stella Arti Grafiche, Trieste
Unless otherwise indicated,
the text is written by the editors
and may be reproduced freely
with due credit to the source.
TWAS-ARO (THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES FOR THE DEVELOPING WORLD–ARAB
REGIONAL OFFICE) IS ONE OF FIVE REGIONAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED BY TWAS
TO HELP DECENTRALIZE THE ACADEMY’S ACTIVITIES. TWAS-ARO REPRESENTS
ALL 22 ARAB COUNTRIES. IN THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE, MOHAMED M. EL-FAHAM,
DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR SPECIAL STUDIES AND PROGRAMS (CSSP), AND
LARA ELMALLAKH, CSSP RESEARCH SPECIALIST, AT BIBLIOTHECA ALEXANDRINA,
DESCRIBE THE ACTIVITIES OF TWAS-ARO.
TWAS-ARO operates from the Center for Special Studies and Programs (CSSP), one of
eight research centres affiliated with Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA). CSSP’s mission has
much in common with the goals of TWAS: to promote international collaboration, sup-
port activities that enhance the careers of scientists, sponsor scientific research and
increase public awareness of science and technology.
B ibliotheca Alexandrina, the new library of Alexandria, was inaugurated on October
2002, just 200 metres from the site of the famed ancient library of Alexandria, which
was destroyed in the 3rd century C.E. The latter was not only a renowned center of knowledge,
housing 7,000 manu-
scripts in all branches of
history, philosophy and
science, but also a place
where such prominent thinkers as Euclid, Archimedes, Hipparchus and Eratosthenes con-
ducted research.
Following in the tradition of the ancient library, BA is not only a library – a repository for
books – but also a cultural centre that encourages and supports creative endeavours in
science, art and the humanities. Its mission is to be a center of excellence for the production
and dissemination of knowledge, as well as a place of dialogue, learning and understanding
between cultures. Each year, the BA welcomes some 1.4 million visitors and holds more than
700 events. Ismail Serageldin (TWAS Fellow 2001 and former Vice President for the Arab
region) serves as the library’s director.
TWAS in the Arab Region
EDITORIAL
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REGIONAL MATTERSLaunched in 2005, TWAS-ARO is the youngest
TWAS regional office. Despite its brief history, it has
pursued a broad range of activities to advance
science in the Arab region.
In November 2005, five months after the launch
of TWAS-ARO, BA hosted TWAS’s 16th General
Meeting, which was inaugurated by Egypt’s
President Hosni Mubarak. In his speech, President
Mubarak stressed the importance of bridging the
gap between developed and developing countries
through South-South collaboration in science.
Each year, TWAS-ARO holds an annual meet-
ing, organized by the CSSP at Bibliotheca Alexand-
rina. The meeting has recently been accompanied
by a special event designed to raise the profile of the
office and its activities. For example, in 2007, a
conference, “A New Dawn: Arabs Looking East”,
drew a large audience of prominent people, includ-
ing leaders in politics, business, science, technology,
culture and civil society from both Arab countries
and Japan. Discussions focused on potential scientific and technological collaborations and
possible avenues for inter-cultural dialogue.
In 2008, the TWAS-ARO annual meeting served as an opportune time to launch the Arab
Network of Networks for Science & Technology (ANNST). The network seeks to link scientif-
ic institutions and academies across the Arab region for the purposes of strengthening
regional scientific exchange and capacity building.
In addition to its high-profile events, TWAS-ARO also seeks to identify outstanding scien-
tists from the Arab world worthy of nomination for membership to TWAS. Sixty-one scien-
tists from the region are currently members of TWAS (three new members were elected in
2009). In addition, three TWAS-ARO members currently serve on the TWAS Council, having
been elected at the TWAS General Meeting held in South Africa, last autumn. The Council
members from the Arab region are: Adel El-Beltagy from Egypt; Fayzah M.A. Al-Kharafi
from Kuwait, who is also vice president for the Arab region (having replaced Ismail Ser-
ageldin); and Mohamed H.A. Hassan from Sudan, long-time executive director of TWAS,
who is now treasurer.
FOCUS ON YOUTHTWAS-ARO places strong emphasis on supporting and encouraging young scientists. TWAS
Affiliates, promising young scientists under 40 years of age, are appointed for five years. As
part of their membership, they receive TWAS publications as well as financial support to
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promising young scientists to gain greater esteem in their home countries.
The office’s commitment to supporting women scientists is attested to by the fact that four
of the 13 TWAS Affiliates from the region are females. In upcoming years, TWAS-ARO aims
to select more young women researchers as a means of encouraging female participation in
S&T in the Arab region.
Another TWAS programme dedicated to young scientists is TWAS/BioVisionAlexandria.NXT
(TWAS/BVA.NXT), which was launched in 2008, during the biennial conference, BioVision-
Alexandria. TWAS and TWAS-ARO provide funds for young scientists from developing coun-
tries to attend BioVision conferences, which are held on alternating years in Alexandria and
Lyons, France. The conference has become a major international event for the biological sci-
ences, attracting a diverse group of participants from government, universities and the pri-
vate sector.
The young scientists who attend not only have an opportunity to network with their peers
but also to hear presentations from eminent scientists and administrators from around the
world. Recent speakers at BioVision have included Joel Breman, senior scientific advisor, Fog-
arty International Center, National Institutes of Health, USA; Indridi Benediktsson, direc-
torate-general for Research, Health, European Commission, Brussels; and Adel El Zaim, sen-
ior program specialist, International Development Research Center-IDRC, Canada.
The upcoming TWAS/BVA.NXT 2010, to be held
in Alexandria in April, will focus on the critical
issue of “Publishing Scientific Papers in the Develop-
ing World”. Some 100 young scientists from devel-
oping countries, including those in the Arab region,
will be selected to participate in the event. Plans
also call for representatives from international pub-
lishing companies to attend.
In 2009, TWAS-ARO established the Young Arab
Scientists (YAS) Prize to recognize the achievements
of young scientists from the region and to encourage
other young scientists to strive for excellence in their
research. The first YAS prize was given to Walid El-
Sharoud, assistant professor of microbiology at
Mansoura University Mansoura, Egypt. His work
focuses on microbiology, food safety and bacterial
physiology.
TWAS REGIONAL PRIZEIn 2009, the TWAS Regional Prize, recognizing
achievements in the building of scientific institutions
in the Arab region, went to Adnan Badran, former
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president of Petra University. Badran
was honoured for his leadership in
establishing a number of eminent scien-
tific institutions in Jordan, including
the Higher Council for Science and Tech-
nology (HCST), which helps to guide all
scientific institutions in the country. He
also spearheaded efforts to expand two
private universities in the country –
Philadelphia and Petra Universities.
In 2008, the TWAS Regional Prize
for Development of Educational Materi-
al and School Science Curricula, was given to Saouma BouJaoude, professor of education at
American University of Beirut, who received the award for his outstanding publications on
the subject of science education. The TWAS Regional Prize 2007 for Public Understanding of
Science went to Adnan Hamoui, professor of mathematics, Department of Mathematics and
Computer Science at Kuwait University, and editor-in-chief of the Arabic edition of Scientif-
ic American, who was recognized for his outstanding work in translating scientific journals
into Arabic.
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENTOne of the primary responsibilities of TWAS-ARO is to promote science, not just within the
scientific community but also among the larger public. To achieve this goal, the regional
office, in partnership with the CSSP, organizes a broad array of lectures, seminars, work-
shops and conferences on topics ranging from public health, to information technology, to
environment and agriculture. Participants at these events come from a wide spectrum of
THE SUPERCOURSE PROJECT
In January 2009, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the World Health Organization(WHO) Collaborating Centre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, launched the ScienceSupercourse project. The initiative is designed to build an internet archive of power-point presentations in four main scientific fields: medicine and public health, agricul-ture, engineering and the environment. The presentations are compiled from the inter-net through a system designed by the BA’s information and communications technolo-gy department. The primary goal of the Science Supercourse project is to provide free-of-charge the most up-to-date information to educators, scholars and scientists indeveloping countries. A DVD, containing more than 3,600 lectures, is being distributedworldwide. To date, more than 10,000 people have viewed the lectures. For additionalinformation, see www.pitt.edu/~super1.
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and others for adults. More specialized activities are
held for the scientific community and government
officials.
In early 2009, for example, TWAS-ARO, again
in partnership with the CSSP, organized a confer-
ence on bioethics for public officials from Egypt.
The goal was to lay the groundwork for creating a
national committee on this important issue. A pair
of workshops on intellectual property rights and
development and copyright protection in the digital
age were held later that year.
SCIENCE IN SOCIETYThe important role that scientific capacity building
plays in development cannot be ignored, especially
in the Arab region. Yet, advocates of science must
recognize that we live in tumultuous times and that
this is nowhere more evident than in the Arab
region. As a result, advocates must accept that
efforts to promote science may have to take a back
seat to more pressing issues.
Other matters of immediate import, whether economic, social or political in nature, pose
a daunting challenge for institutions such as TWAS and Bibliotheca Alexandrina. That’s
because day-to-day circumstances present significant obstacles to those seeking to raise the
profile of science in their countries and regions. Nevertheless, long-terms solutions to the
problems that undermine progress will not be devised without the insights that only science
can provide. The work of TWAS-ARO may sometimes go largely unappreciated, but that
doesn’t diminish its significance. �
> Mohamed M. El-FahamDirector
> Lara ElmallakhCSSP Research Specialist
Center for Special Studies and Programs (CSSP)Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Alexandria, EgyptFor additional information on TWAS-ARO,
see www.bibalex.org/twasaro
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COMMENTARY
OVER THE COURSE OF NEARLY A DECADE, ATTA-UR-RAHMAN (TWAS VICE PRESIDENT
FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTH ASIA AND TWAS FELLOW 1985) WAS THE DRIVING FORCE
BEHIND A SERIES OF REFORMS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN THAT
DRAMATICALLY TRANSFORMED UNIVERSITY TEACHING AND RESEARCH ACROSS THE
NATION. IN THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE, HE OUTLINES THE MAJOR CHANGES THAT HE
HELPED TO BRING ABOUT AND THE IMPACT THAT THEY HAVE HAD ON HIGHER
EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN.
EDUCATIONALCHANGE IN PAKISTAN
Atta-ur-Rahman served as theChairman of the Higher EducationCommission (a Ministerial post)from 2002 to 2008, and as the Fed-eral Minister of Science and Technol-ogy from 2000 to 2002. He is cur-rently the Coordinator General ofCOMSTECH (the Organization of Is-lamic Conference’s (OIC) StandingCommittee on Scientific and Techno-logical Cooperation).
W e live in a world in whichknowledge and innovation
drive socio-economic develop-ment. This irreversible trend hastouched virtually every aspect ofour society. As a result, I am con-vinced that one of the mostsignificant measures that anycountry – and particularly develop-
ing countries – can take is to de-velop a comprehensive strategy foreducational reform capable of un-leashing the creative potential ofits young people. The cornerstoneof such efforts must lie in givingthe highest priority to higher edu-cation, science, technology and in-novation.
Following my appointment inMarch 2000 as the Federal Minis-ter for Science and Technology inPakistan, I was able to convince thefederal government to increase thedevelopment budget for scienceand technology in Pakistan by6,000% over the next two years.The annual development funds,which rose from about USD2 mil-lion in 2000 to about USD120 mil-lion in 2002, allowed the ministry
to launch a large number ofprojects in Pakistan, including theestablishment of several new uni-versities and the creation of na-tional commissions of biotechnol-ogy and nanotechnology. In 2002,the ministry also financed the ac-quisition of an educational satellitefor distance learning as part of avirtual university system that cur-rently enrols about 30,000 stu-dents.
The ministry also helped leadthe way to improve Pakistan’s ar-chaic information technology (IT)infrastructure. For example, in2001, there were only 300,000mobile telephones in Pakistan, acountry with about 170 millionpeople. New policies introduced bythe ministry triggered a boom in
mobile telephone use. The mostnotable reform was the introduc-tion of the “Calling Party Pays orCPP” regime in which the personmaking the telephone call – andnot the person receiving it – paysthe call charges. Today, there arean estimated 96 million cellphones in use in Pakistan.
At the same time, the ministrytook steps to dramatically reducebandwidth costs for 2-megabitelines from USD87,000 per monthin 2000 to USD3,000 per month by2003. Internet use, which could befound in only 29 cities and townsat the beginning of the decade,spread to more than 1,000 citiesand towns. The IT sector was givenan economic boost via a 15-yeartax holiday and removal of alltaxes on computers and relatedequipment.
HIGHER VALUESIn autumn 2002, the governmentenacted a law establishing a fed-eral Higher Education Commission(HEC) as an autonomous body ledby a chairperson who held a minis-terial position and reported di-rectly to the prime minister. I was
appointed the first Chairman of theCommission. Between 2002-2007,the development budget of thehigher education sector rose2,400%, – climbing in real termsfrom USD13 million to USD300million. This allowed a number ofsignificant steps to be taken to im-prove the nation’s higher educa-tion sector.
The most important step wasthe creation of a broad-rangingprogramme to foster high-leveltraining for university faculty. As aresult of this initiative, more than5,000 doctoral-level scholarshipsfor study in technologically ad-vanced countries have beenawarded, based on a highly com-petitive and transparent systemcentered on rigorous nationwidetesting. To date, some 3,000 in-digenous PhD scholarships havealso been awarded. Both initiativeshave been funded by HEC.
With funds totalling USD150million, Pakistan’s Fulbright Schol-arship programme, which is jointlysponsored by the Higher EducationCommission and the US Agency for
International Development (USAID),is the world’s largest Fulbright pro-gramme. About 200 Pakistani stu-dents have been able to attend uni-versities in the United States.
Students studying for PhD de-grees at universities in Pakistanhave also had the opportunity tocarry out a part of their studies intechnologically advanced coun-tries under “sandwich“ PhD pro-grammes funded by HEC, which al-low them to spend part of the timein the US and part of the time inPakistan.
A large post-doctoral trainingprogramme was also launched sothat students completing PhD de-grees in Pakistan could improvetheir knowledge and skills throughadditional training abroad. About500 students have taken advantageof this initiative.
About USD1 billion dollars isbeing spent on human resource de-velopment initiatives that focus onpost-university career-develop-ment and providing well-payingjob opportunities in teaching andresearch. For example, to ensure
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that the brightest scholars returnto Pakistan after foreign training,faculty salary schemes have beendramatically restructured. Full pro-fessors can now earn up toUSD5,000 per month. At the sametime, the income tax rate has beenreduced from 35% to 5%.
This means that some profes-sors take home monthly paychecksthat are five times those earned by
the government’s federal ministers.International experts are involvedin this reform under a perform-ance-based tenure track systemthat involves two evaluations overa six-year period.
A “buffer programme” was alsobegun to provide scholars return-ing from studying abroad withwide-ranging opportunities to im-mediately assume faculty positionsafter coming home. Returningscholars have also been encour-aged to apply for research grants ofup to USD100,000 one year beforetheir return, with the requirementthat the project should involve col-laboration with a foreign institu-
tion. Again these initiatives havebeen funded by HEC.
A comprehensive digital libraryhas been established enabling stu-dents in public-sector universitiesto have free access to 45,000 text-books and research monographsfrom 220 international publishersand 25,000 international journals.This is regarded as one of the bestdigital libraries anywhere in theworld. Access to sophisticated in-strumentation has been providedthrough the creation of university-based central instrumentation lab-oratories with HEC paying for theservices.
QUALITY MEASURESSpecial attention has been given tothe quality of education. Quality as-surance cells have been set up inuniversities and a number of ac-creditation councils have been es-tablished to oversee the quality ofeducation being delivered. In addi-tion to expanding the range andquality of instruction in Pakistan’sexisting university system, an addi-tional 51 new universities and de-gree-awarding institutes were cre-ated between 2000-2008. A four-year undergraduate curriculumprogramme has replaced the previ-ous two-year undergraduate cur-riculum, enabling the degrees tobecome internationally recognized.
The results of these efforts aremost clearly represented in num-bers that measure the scope andoutput of Pakistan’s scientific en-terprise.
Research output from the na-tion’s universities expanded from
approximately 600 research papersper year in 2,000 to about 4,200research papers in 2008. Evenmore importantly, there has been a1,000% increase in citations inpeer-reviewed international jour-nals.
University enrolment hastripled from only 135,000 in theyear 2003 to about 400,000 in2008. This increase has not comeat the expense of quality. Indeedquantity and quality have gonehand-in-hand. From the year ofPakistan’s independence in 1947 to2003 not a single Pakistani univer-sity was ever ranked among thetop 600 universities in the world.Today, five Pakistani universitiesare, including the National Univer-sity of Science and Technology,which has a standing of 350, ac-cording to the Times Higher Educa-
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tion world rankings. In the naturalsciences, Karachi University isranked at 223.
It is for all these reasons thatthe World Bank has called the dra-matic advances in higher educa-tion in Pakistan “a silent revolu-tion.” USAID and the British Coun-cil have also published detailedpositive reviews. In an article enti-tled “The Paradox of Pakistan,“ Na-ture magazine commented on thetwo contrasting facets of the coun-try – terrorism, on the one hand,and an outstanding higher educa-tion programme, on the other.
OPTIMISM AHEADIn September 2008, the new gov-ernment withheld the release offunds to the higher education sec-tor. This directly affected some4,000 students who had been sentabroad on government scholar-ships. Most of these students were
from poor families, andI couldn’t stand by
and see thechildren ofPakistan suf-fer in thismanner in
foreign coun-tries.
I therefore sent a message toPresident Zardari, requesting himto arrange for the release of fundsor I would have no option but tostep down from my position asChairman of the HEC. The re-sponse that I received from thePresident was that I should resign,which I did in October 2008.
This, interestingly, had a verypositive impact. The Committee ofthe Senate on Education, Scienceand Technology passed a unani-mous resolution praising my con-tributions and requesting that Ishould be reinstated. The SenateCommittee also asked for urgentrestoration of funds to HEC. Thisresolution was widely publicised inthe national press. The result wasthat the HEC’s budget was re-stored, which enabled the scholar-ship funds to be released to stu-dents studying abroad.
Begum Shehnaz Wazir Ali wasnamed acting chairperson. She re-
mained inthat posi-tion until
a new chairperson, Javaid Laghari,was appointed in October 2009.Both have strongly endorsed theprogrammes that I initiated and, infact, have continued to expandthem.
So looking ahead I have everyreason to be optimistic. The teamthat I put together at the HEC is stillin place. A supportive minister andsecretary presently lead the Min-istry of Finance. Both understandthe critically important role thatscience, technology and innovationplay in development.
Pakistan is making rapid pro-gress in the higher education sec-tor and I have every reason to lookahead with a certain degree of op-timism. I can only hope that thechanges become more visible in itsimpact on Pakistani society in theyears ahead. �
> Atta-ur-RahmanCoordinator General
COMSTECHIslamabad, Pakistan
10
The meeting, which marked the inau-gural event for the Royal Society’s350th anniversary, brought togetherrepresentatives from IAP‘s 104science academy members. Majoragenda items included the election ofa new executive board and the chart-ing of a broad course over the nextthree years based on the blueprint outlined in IAP’s sec-ond strategic plan. The assembly was preceded by a two-day conference on biodiversity.
The UN has designated 2010 as the InternationalYear of Biodiversity. In light of this year-long event, theIAP conference examined a wide range of issues related tothe conservation and sustainable use of the world’s vasttreasure trove of biological resources, which are increas-ingly under threat from global development, rising levelsof pollution and climate change.
F ounded in 1660, the UK’s Royal Society, one of theworld’s oldest science academies, is also among the
most revered scientific institutions, with a membership
that has included such scientificluminaries as Isaac Newton, CharlesDarwin and Albert Einstein.
But the society’s history is onlypart of the story. By any measure –the steadfast support it gives to itsnation’s research community, itsdedication to science education and
public understanding of science, its ability to advisepolicy makers, its international outreach and its stand-ing among other institutions with similar mandates –the Royal Society is among the most effective andrespected science academies in the world today.
With such a distinguished past and present, theRoyal Society’s elegant headquarters at Carlton HouseTerrace overlooking St. James Park in the heart of Lon-don, provided an ideal setting for IAP’s 2010 GeneralAssembly. As Mohamed Hassan, IAP’s new co-chair,observed in his closing remarks, “we hope that IAP,which is now 17 years old, has as much to celebrate onthe occasion of its 350th anniversary in 2344 as theRoyal Society does this year.”
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FEATURE
IAP MEETSIN LONDON
THE INTERACADEMY PANEL (IAP), A GLOBAL NETWORK OF MERIT-BASED
SCIENCE ACADEMIES HEADQUARTERED IN TRIESTE, ITALY,
HELD ITS 2010 GENERAL ASSEMBLY AT THE ROYAL SOCIETY
IN LONDON IN JANUARY.
IAP General Assembly highlights include:• The election of a new IAP executive committee for2010-2012. The 11-member committee will consistof the science academies of Chile, China, Egypt,India, Malaysia and Mexico in the developing world,and Australia, France, Italy, the United Kingdom andthe United States in the developed world.
• The selection of the co-chairs for the IAP executive
committee, each of whom will serve for three yearsbeginning in 2010. Mohamed Hassan, president ofthe African Academy of Sciences and executivedirector of TWAS, was elected co-chair representingacademies from the developing world. He replacesChen Zhu, Minister of Health, who had served inthat capacity for the past six years. Howard Alper,Chair of the Government of Canada’s Science, Tech-
12
CHEN ZHU’S FAREWELL
Chen Zhu’s six-year tenure as IAP co-chair came to an end at the IAP General Assembly in London. In hisfarewell address, Chen Zhu described, often in personal terms, his enthusiasm for the organization and hishopes for IAP’s future. Brief excerpts of his address follow.My tenure as IAP co-chair has been six years filled with action...The executive committee has been remarkable for producing ideas and guiding the procedural work – for exam-ple, drawing up clear guidelines for applicants for IAP funds and establishing review and evaluation committees.A programme and strategic planning committee has also been put in place to ensure that proposals are properlyconsidered for funding. A publications committee has compiled and disseminated a collection of all IAP state-ments. And our membership committee has overseen a significant growth in members...Scientists often cannot provide the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers that politicians and the public demand. And when scien-tists admit to even a small degree of uncertainty, they risk having their advice disregarded or, even worse, derid-ed. Scientists realize that the scientific aspects of any one issue have to be balanced by political leaders with oth-er priorities, and also by how the decision will be accepted by the public...I find IAP to be an amazing organization – a family of science academies working together for the developmentof science and the search for scientific solutions to global issues...It has been a pleasure working with all the members of our great family and especially IAP co-chair HowardAlper. I thank you all for your support and look forward to my continued involvement in an organization thathas a bright future.
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nology and Innovation Council and visiting execu-tive at the International Development ResearchCentre, was re-elected to serve another three-yearterm as co-chair, representing academies from thedeveloped world (see box, ‘Chen Zhu’s Farewell’,p. 12).
• The official acceptance of 10 new member acade-mies, which brings IAP’s total membership to 104.The newest members are from Afghanistan, Ger-many, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mauritius, Montenegro,Mozambique, Nicaragua, South Korea and Sudan.
• The approval of IAP’s revised statutes and secondstrategic plan for 2010-2012. The plan sets out threeoverall objectives: to position IAP as a widely recog-nized provider of high quality, independent globalscience advice to governments and internationalorganizations; to support major programmes on sci-entific capacity building, science education andscience communication; and to assume a lead role inefforts to improve the effectiveness and impact ofinternational cooperation in science. (The completetext of the statutes and strategic plan may bereviewed at www.interacademies.net).
• The announcement that Albert Koers will becomethe interim director of IAP on 15 April. A lawyer bytraining, Koers previously served as the executivedirector of the InterAcademy Council (IAC) in Ams-terdam. He has also worked as a consultant to IAP,helping to draft the organization’s statutes, rules ofprocedure and two strategic plans.
• The approval of a communiqué on biodiversity,
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SCIENCE AND DIPLOMACY“The essence of scientific progress is not just transforma-tional but disruptive – the focus is on great inventionsand scientific breakthroughs,” says David Miliband, UKforeign secretary, who spoke at the plenary session of theIAP conference on biodiversity.“Conversely, the essence of diplomacy is to maintainorder.”Miliband also noted that the world of international rela-tions is experiencing a revolution that could be likened inits impact to the revolution in global science when quan-tum mechanics replaced Newtonian physics as theorganizing framework for scientific thought. Interna-tional relations, he claimed, “is experiencing its ownquantum shift”.Diplomacy, Miliband observed, “has long been premisedon the idea of a ‘balance of power’. It was a world inwhich the international system tended toward equilibri-um and self-correction as states sought to balance eachother’s economic and military strengths” in ways thatseemed to follow the principles that framed Newtonianmechanics.In contrast, “a defining feature of our world today is thetendency toward uncertainty, mirroring the world ofquantum mechanics.” Miliband pointed to the complexfeedbacks that are driving climate change and the asym-metric tactics of terrorist organizations. Both arefuelling chronic uncertainty and instability across theglobe in dramatically different ways.In contrast to the world of diplomacy in the 19th and20th centuries, which was dominated by nation-states,Miliband noted that international relations todayinvolves many players, including nongovernmentalorganizations, multinational corporations, and themedia and social networking sites, all of which “constrainand shape the preferences and actions of states”. He sug-gested that this shift was akin “to the move from Newton-ian mechanics, predicated on globes in orbit around eachother, to the world of quantum mechanics that sees amore subtle and complex interplay of different forces”.This prompted Miliband to cite another emerging featureof international relations in the 21st century: interde-pendence. This trend in diplomatic affairs, he said, alsoresembles the “shift from Newtonian science, modelledon discrete independent systems, to quantum mechanics,which accepts that everything is interconnected”.
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which examined science and policy knowledge gapsand presented recommendations for improving thesociety-policy interface. Plans call for the commu-niqué to be revised and presented as an IAP state-ment to the Convention of Biological Diversity atone of its international meetings, scheduled to takeplace this autumn (see box, p. 15).
AT THE CONFERENCEA two-day conference on biodiver-sity, held prior to the IAP GeneralAssembly, examined a broad rangeof issues related to the protectionand sustainable use of the world’snatural resources. More than 200scientists from around the worldwere in attendance. The confer-
ence, subtitled “integrating ecosystem services intobiodiversity management”, was the first internationalevent to take place during the UN-designated Interna-tional Year of Biodiversity, a year-long examination ofthis critical issue that will culminate with a specialhigh-level meeting at the UN headquarters in NewYork City in September during the UN’s GeneralAssembly. The September meeting will be followedclosely by the Nagoya Biodiversity Summit in Japan,to be held in October, where member states will seekto adopt a new strategic plan for implementing the UNConvention on Biological Diversity.
Highlights at the IAP conference on biodiversityincluded:
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At a time of dramatic change, Miliband maintained thatthe world of diplomacy needs the world of science to helpit address critical global issues.“Scientific progress”, he contended, “can achieve break-throughs that diplomacy cannot match”, whether theissue is commercially viable carbon capture and storagesystems designed to mitigate climate change, or thegenetic improvement of crops to alleviate hunger.Science, he also observed, “can help forge consensuswhere there is political division”. He cited, as examples,the historic role of science in helping to create the verifi-cation regimes, which made nuclear arms agreementspossible during the Cold War, and the creation of CERNin the 1950s, which helped to build bridges betweenEuropean nations following World War II. Miliband sug-gested that science could help “break down barriers ofthe 21st century, particularly those between Western andMuslim-majority countries”.In addition, Miliband noted that science has the powerto “shift debates and catalyze political action”. Suchshifts, he said, will be needed if we are to successfullyaddress global issues like climate change and biodiversi-ty loss. In particular, scientific col-laboration will be essential to betterunderstand the risks and solutionsrelated to the coming age of resourcescarcity. “Mobilizing action and pre-venting new tensions from arising”will depend in part on these efforts.But having science support diploma-cy is only one side of the equation,noted Miliband. On the other side,diplomacy can – and should – support science. This istrue not only in the financing of large scientific projectsthat are too expensive for any one nation to fund. TheHuman Genome Project, the International Thermonu-clear Experimental Reactor and the Large Hadron Collid-er represent large-scale, multi-billion dollar projects thatrequire international collaboration and financing. On asmaller scale, diplomacy also plays a crucial role in theexchange of scientists and the profusion of ideas throughvisa regulations and intellectual property rights agree-ments.All of this means that “politics and science need to comecloser together – not for politics to smother science, butinstead to be informed by its potential”. �
The conference wasthe first internationalevent to take place
during the InternationalYear of Biodiversity.
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• A keynote address by David Miliband, the UK foreignsecretary, who spoke enthusiastically about the needfor the scientific and policy communities to workmore closely together to meet the daunting chal-
lenges of the 21st century, which he cautioned couldbe an era marked by resource scarcity. “Politics andscience“, he said, must join forces, “not for politics tosmother science, but instead to be informed by its
BIODIVERSITY COMMUNIQUÉ
At the conclusion of the IAP General Assembly, the members unanimously agreed to a communiqué that out-lined the conclusions of the conference and offered a broad outline of the issues that were discussed.Excerpts follow.‘Biodiversity‘ is the term used to describe the variety of life, at all levels from genes to species and to ecosystems,and is valued by people and cultures for reasons ranging from the aesthetic to the economic.Biodiversity is being lost at increasing rates, largely as a result of human activities. Loss of biodiversity threatensthe ecosystems that play a central role in supporting vital Earth systems upon which humanity depends. Ecosystemservices are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems through provisioning services such as food and water; reg-ulating services such as flood and disease control; cultural services such as spiritual and recreational benefits; andsupporting services such as nutrient cycling. Every person in every country depends on these ecosystem services andthe biodiversity that underpins them; these links are most direct for the poorest and most vulnerable peoples.The loss of biodiversity has many consequences beyond the loss of species. A reduction in the diversity of lifeaffects many who value nature for its own sake, but the loss of biodiversity may also have serious and hard-to-reverse direct impacts on human well-being. When biodiversity is depleted it can lead to significant ecosystemdegradation, reduced productivity and lower resilience.Increasingly, society is concerned about food and energy security, and the ability of natural and managed ecosys-tems to respond to environmental change. Biodiversity underpins many key ecosystem functions, including theirability to adapt to change, although the details are often not well understood. The increasing rate of global bio-diversity loss necessitates prioritizing research and policy interventions that will identify and protect ecosystemfunction and the biodiversity on which it depends.For the complete text of the communiqué, including a list of recommendations for policy-makers and scientists,see www.interacademies.net.
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GIVING NATURE’S CAPITAL ITS DUE“We have consistently underestimated – in fact, virtuallyignored – the value of natural resources when assessingthe economic wealth of nations,” said Partha Dasgupta(TWAS Fellow 2001), speaking at the IAP conference onbiodiversity. Dasgupta is a professor of economics at theUniversity of Cambridge and the Sustainable Consump-tion Institute at the University of Manchester, UK.A key problem, he noted, is that “we continue to rely onindicators that not only overestimate the level of anation’s economic well-being, but also mask its unsus-tainable use of nature’s bounty.”“We have historically measured wealth in terms of man-ufactured capital (roads, bridges and communicationssystems), human capital (knowledge and health) andsocial capital (administrative and legal systems).”But wealth also depends on natural capital – resource-based ecosystems (for example, forests, fisheries, wet-lands and aquifers) that aid in the production of food,fuel and fresh water. Indeed much more than money is atstake. The world’s health, livelihoods, social well-beingand security all depend on a healthy and productive envi-ronment.Dasgupta, who is one of the world’s leading figures in thefield of ecological economics, has conducted path-breakingresearch showing that per capita wealth actually declinedin South Asia between 1970 and 2000 even though theHuman Development Index recorded a sharp increase inthe region’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP).“Markets,” Dasgupta asserted, “don’t function well –indeed they often don’t function at all – for ecological
assets.” Consequently, he encourages the creation ofresource-sensitive “shadow prices” as a way to accountfor the value of ecological systems.“We may never get such prices entirely right,” he
acknowledged, “but we can establish a range of prices”that will more accurately reflect a nation’s economicwell-being for both current and future generations. Heobserved that such assessments display a nation’s “inclu-sive wealth,” not only because they gauge the value ofresources in the production of goods and services, butalso because they take into account the needs of futuregenerations.According to Dasgupta, the two most important policyquestions that public officials and economists can ask arethese: “How are we doing” and “What should we bedoing?” Assessments based on the concept of inclusivewealth, Dasgupta said, transform “these two questionsinto one” by emphasizing both the significance of sus-tainable resource use and the ethical responsibility thattoday’s citizens have for the well-being of future genera-tions.In short, it places human welfare at the centre of anation’s economic development assessments (helping toaddress the question “how are we doing”) and strategies(“what should we be doing”). In the process, it focuses asmuch attention on the future as it does on the present.Such “people-first” considerations, Dasgupta main-tained, have not carried much weight in more conven-tional models and strategies for development. For bothour sake and the sake of our children, he concluded, it’stime that they did. �
potential“ (see sidebar, ‘Scienceand Diplomacy’, p. 13).
• The morning session of the con-ference’s first day focused on abroad range of concepts relatedto biodiversity lying at the inter-face of science and policy. Suchconcepts include natural capital(calculating the economic valueof biodiversity and naturalresources in ways that wouldallow such concepts to be incor-porated in accounting systemsthat assess a nation’s wealth);ecosystem services (the broadrange of goods and services – forexample, the provision of food,safe drinking water and clean air– that depend on healthy andproductive natural environ-ments); and the ability to man-age international spaces whereno single national governmenthas jurisdiction – for example, the oceans, the polarregions and the earth’s atmosphere (see insert, ‘Giv-ing Nature’s Capital Its Due’, p. 16).
• The afternoon session was devoted to a series ofcase studies that included an overview of ecosystemassessments in southern Africa that have drawn onthe path-breaking work of the Millennium Ecosys-tem Assessment to frame the analysis; a discussion
of the ecological challenges con-fronting the Boreal forests in
Canada, which have been placed at risk as a resultof expanding efforts to extract oil from the tar sanddeposits found beneath the forests; and initiativesto introduce sustainable agricultural and forestrypractices in eastern Tanzania in ways that wouldprovide adequate incomes to local populationswhile leaving a light footprint on the environment.The case-study presentations showed that many of
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Natural resources faceenormous pressuresas global populationcontinues to grow.
the concepts and analytical tools developed by botheconomists and ecologists at a theoretical level havebecome common features of resource policies nowbeing devised to manage ecological systems in asustainable fashion. But thestudies also showed that theworld’s natural resources faceenormous pressures as globalpopulation continues to grow (itis expected to increase from 6.8billion people today to morethan 9 billion by 2050), and asthe demand for food, water, energy and mineralsinexorably climbs to meet the expectations of thedeveloping world’s rising middle class, a trend thatis especially pronounced in such large developingcountries as Brazil, China and India.
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MITIGATING NATURAL DISASTERSThe tragic earthquake that struck Haiti in Januarymeasured 7.0 on the Richter scale and left at least150,000 dead. Yet, as horrific as it was, it was by nomeans an isolated event. Over the past five years, epicnatural disasters have struck the United States, Pakistan,Myanmar and China, indicating that once-in-lifetimeevents of massive death and destruction have becomemore common than we think.How can science play a more effective role both in under-standing and predicting these events and in devisingmeasures, including the creation of space-based monitor-ing networks and early warning systems, which will helpcurb their impact?These questions first captured the attention of the Inter-Academy Panel on International Issues (IAP) followingthe tsunami that struck the coast of the Indonesianisland of Sumatra in December 2004. The tidal wave,triggered by a deep-ocean earthquake that measured 9.3on the Richter scale, resulted in 300,000 fatalities.What happened in Sumatra prompted IAP to launch amajor natural disaster mitigation programme in February2005, less than three months after the event. The activity,led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, now includes par-ticipation from 11 member academies.
Guo Huadong, director general of the Center for EarthObservation and Digital Earth of the Chinese Academy ofSciences, spoke about this IAP programme at the panel’sGeneral Assembly.“IAP’s efforts,” he noted, “have focused on the role thatscience and technology can play in addressing criticalissues related to the management of natural disasters.Specifically, we have examined the current state ofscience and technology in understanding and predictingearthquakes, tsunamis and other natural disasters.” Attimes, as Guo explained, his fellow researchers have alsooffered constructive science-based recommendations toaddress disaster management issues.A 2009 IAP report, Natural Disaster Mitigation – A Sci-entific and Practical Approach, stated that natural dis-asters were responsible for nearly two million deaths andeconomic losses totalling more than USD1 trillion overthe past 60 years. The report also showed that certainkinds of disasters have had a greater impact than others.For example, storms and earthquakes have been respon-sible for more than 90% of the world’s disaster-relateddeaths. The situation is similar when it comes to eco-nomic losses. Just four types of disasters – storms, earth-quakes, floods and droughts – are responsible for morethan 90% of disaster-related economic losses.
International treatiesrequire nation-states
to share theirsovereignty.
• The conference’s second day examined the interna-tional treaties and frameworks that have beenenacted over the past half-century as part of abroader effort to better manage the world’s ecosys-tems. While a number of instruments have been putin place – including the Law of the Sea, the RamseurConvention on Wetlands (1971), the Convention onInternational Trade of Endangered Species (1973),the Conventional on Biological Diversity (1992),and the International Treaty on Plant GeneticResources for Food and Agriculture (2001) – confer-ence speakers noted that significant gaps, overlapsand ambiguities have undercut their effectiveness.The treaties have been built on good intentions,participants observed, but they have often beencompromised by weak implementation. Yet, despitetheir shortcomings, conference speakers spoke
largely in favour of these institutions. They notedthat such instruments, which represent a dramaticreform in governance requiring nation-states toshare their sovereignty, are among the most impor-tant mechanisms we have for dealing with globalbiodiversity issues, especially in places that are notunder the jurisdiction of national governments. Thespeakers also called for strengthening the conven-tions’ scientific advisory boards and for devisingstrategies that promote greater collaboration amongthe international secretariats. They noted suchmeasures could help foster greater harmony amongthe existing agreements and regulations, helping tomake them more effective.
• Several of the discussions on the second dayreturned full circle to the concepts discussed theprevious day. For example, a number of talks exam-
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At the same time, natural disasters have not been evenlydistributed across the globe. Indeed studies have shownthat more than 70% of all natural disasters since 1950have taken place in Asia. Not surprisingly, more than70% of the adverse economic impacts have taken placethere as well. Overall, 95% of deaths caused by naturaldisasters have occurred in the developing world.In its examination of broad trends in the occurrence andimpact of natural resource disasters, the IAP reportfound that, compared to the previous decade, economiclosses resulting from storm surges and cyclones doubledduring the first five years of this century, totalling someUSD275 from 2000 to 2005. The good news is that thenumber of deaths due to flooding has declined signifi-cantly.Both of these trends, said Guo, “show that human behav-iour often plays a part – in fact, a large part – in theimpact of a natural disaster.” The rising costs of stormsurges and cyclones are due, in no small measure, to thedramatic growth in population in coastal areas. At thesame time, the declining number of deaths caused byflooding is due, in no small measure, to improvementsboth in land-use planning and emergency management.On the science and technology front, Guo noted, thedevelopment of more sophisticated earthquake monitor-
ing networks and tsunami early warning systems haveimproved our ability to respond to pending natural dis-asters.At the same time, Guo cautioned, scientific understand-ing of the mechanisms that spur earthquakes andtsunamis remains inadequate. “Thanks to science wehave a much better understanding of the forces that setthe conditions for earthquake-caused natural disasters.Yet, we still do not have sufficient knowledge to predictwhen they will occur. And, as the recent events in Haitishow, not knowing when such disasters will take placecan have tragic consequences.”“Emergency response and relief is what is most needed inHaiti in the aftermath of this terrible event,” said Guo.Science can help by providing detailed satellite images ofthe devastation that has taken place, which willundoubtedly serve as an important tool in the reliefefforts.But, as Guo also noted, “science can play an even moreprominent role in the future by helping to improve mon-itoring and detection technologies, and by devising betterways to integrate scientific observations and data toallow us to create better models for forecasting theimpacts of the natural disasters that will inevitably takeplace.” �
ined efforts to introduce “green accounting” forassessing wealth-generation in developing coun-tries. Such initiatives have sought to more accurate-ly weigh the adverse impact of economic develop-ment policies that compromise the long-term healthof ecosystem services and place resource use on anunsustainable path. Many of these initiatives havealso closely examined the links between biodiversityand ecosystem well-being to ethical questions relat-ed to equity and poverty alleviation, based on theassumption that the world’s poor, especially thoseliving in rural areas, rely almost exclusively on such
resources for their survival. Anoth-er presentation examined the rolethat the Reducing Emissions fromDeforestation and Forest Degrada-tion in Developing Countries ini-tiative (UN-REDD Programme)could play in efforts to reducegreenhouse gas emissions. Theprogramme calls on wealthy coun-tries to provide payments toresource-rich yet economicallypoor countries to pursue sustain-able development strategies thatkeep the forest and ecosystems inplace. That, in turn, would allowforests to continue to serve assinks for carbon dioxide and othergreenhouse gases. The Intergov-
ernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) esti-mates that deforestation contributes nearly 20% ofthe overall greenhouse gases entering the atmos-phere – a percentage that exceeds the yearly emis-sions generated by the transportation sector.
SUSTAINING HOPEAny one of a host of ecological indicators shows thatthe health of global resources is in decline. For exam-ple, according to the most recent scientific studies andfield surveys, the rate of extinction among speciesworldwide is 1,000 times higher than the fossil record.
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Moreover, the projected rate of extinction is on track tobe 10 times higher than the current rate.
Unprecedented development, especially in theemerging economies of the developing world’s largestand richest countries, is converting large tracts of openspace into housing and commercial and industrialsites. Rising levels of consumption, most notably inChina and India, are placing additional pressure onglobal resources and fuelling a dramatic rise in pricesfor basic commodities, including food. This, in turn, isadversely affecting the world’spoorest people, whose dependenceon natural resources is most imme-diate and whose vulnerability toincreased global demand for theseresources is most acute.
Yet, it is also true that historicalpatterns of development and con-sumption in the developed world have been largelyresponsible for the loss of biodiversity and the damagethat has been done to ecosystem services. For example,on a per capita basis, the United States produces fourtimes more greenhouse gases each year than China.
All of this means that biodiversity and ecologicalwell-being is not simply a resource challenge. It’s alsoa diplomatic challenge of the first order. That makesthe International Year of Biodiversity an event of criti-cal importance that extends far beyond the scientificcommunity. As the UN maxim for this yearlong eventnotes: “Biodiversity is life. Biodiversity is our life.”
Over the past several decades, a great deal of workhas been done at both the local and regional levels inassessing the state of biodiversity and managing thehealth of ecosystems. Yet much of this work has yet toreach a scale that makes it truly global in reach andimpact. That will be one of the challenges facingresearchers who study biodiversity and those involvedin the UN International Year of Biodiversity. How canthe scope of biodiversity and ecosystem studies bebroadened in ways that address the issue on a global
scale without compromising thesite-specific investigations thatsupply the details and insights nec-essary to shed light on theseissues? And, more generally, howcan the science and economicsthat have helped us understandthis compelling, yet endlessly com-
plex issue, be communicated to a larger public in waysthat move the discussion from science conferencesand workshops to government offices and communi-ties across the globe.
Successfully addressing such challenges may welldetermine whether the science that informs ourunderstanding of biodiversity creates a durable foun-dation of knowledge that allows policy makers andthe public to appreciate the scope of the challenges –and that ultimately leads to resource practices that donot place the well-being of future generations and,ultimately, our planet at risk. �
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Biodiversity is not simplya resource challenge.It’s also a diplomatic
challenge.
Pramod Kumar Aggarwal, ICARNational Professor at the IndianAgricultural Research Institute inNew Delhi, was honoured for hisstudies on the impacts of climatechange on agriculture, especially inIndia. Aggarwal has used a variety ofapproaches, including crop simula-tion models, field experiments and risk analyses, toexamine the complex relationship between agricultureand climate.
Carlos Clemente Cerri, Professor at the Centre forNuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA) of the Universityof São Paulo (USP), Brazil, was honoured for conductingresearch that has broken new ground in detailing theextent of carbon exchange taking place between the soiland atmosphere in the midst of rapid development in theAmazon – investigations with global implications forunderstanding climate change.
AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATECHANGE IN ASIA“Agriculture provides a livelihoodfor a large portion of the people inSouth Asia,” says Pramod Aggarwal,a region that is home to nearly 22%of the world’s population, including40% of the world’s poor. He notes
that historically South Asia has suffered from “frequentclimatic extremes – leading to widespread droughts,floods, famines and poverty”. The region, in fact, suf-fered major droughts in 1979, 1987, 2002 and 2009.In the past year alone, changing rainfall patterns inAggarwal’s home country of India caused extremedrought followed by extreme flooding.“Global climate change,” he adds, “is likely to com-pound the problem.”
Recent studies show that global climate change inIndia could lead to crop losses of 10% to 40% by theend of this century due to rising temperatures, more
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FEATURE
TRIESTE SCIENCEPRIZE 2009
THE 2009 ERNESTO ILLY TRIESTE SCIENCE PRIZE RECOGNIZED
THE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS OF TWO SCIENTISTS
WHO HAVE DEDICATED THEIR CAREERS TO METHODICALLY
MAPPING THE INTRICATE RELATIONSHIPS
BETWEEN AGRICULTURE, CLIMATE AND THE ENVIRONMENT,
ESPECIALLY IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD.
variable rainfall and declining water supplies for irri-gation. Aggarwal observes that “India could lose 4 to 5million tonnes of wheat with every degree Centigraderise.” Dairy production will also be affected as a resultof the stress cattle experience because of rising tem-peratures. Estimates suggest a loss of 1.5 milliontonnes of milk by 2020.
In the light of such troubling scenarios, Aggarwalwarns that “producing sufficient food to meet the grow-ing demand in South Asia will be a challenging task”.
Different approachesThe potential impact of climate change on agricultureshould be viewed from two main perspectives,Aggarwal says. “First, mean changes in temperatureand rainfall, and, second, variability in weather”,including the weather extremes that India and much ofthe world has been experiencing lately.
Scientific knowledge and new technologies, partic-ularly biotechnology, may allow usto effectively respond to the chal-lenge posed by weather variability.What is more worrisome, Aggarwalmaintains, is the second challenge.
“Weather extremes pose signi-ficant threats to food security”.This requires a different set ofstrategies, including improvingland and water management,intensifying food production sys-tems, and investing in the country’sadaptive capacity.
“In the short term,” Aggarwalsays “simple adaption strategies –for example changing plantingdates and using more drought-resistant plant varieties – shouldhelp reduce agricultural losses.”
Aggarwal’s research suggeststhat greater climate variability willultimately require more aggressive
mitigation and adaptation measures, including devel-oping new genotypes and devising alternative watermanagement systems to lighten agriculture’s footprinton the environment.
Yet, what is simple in theory can be very difficult inpractice. Indian farmers, who already struggle to gener-ate profits, will likely be reluctant to adopt new strate-gies unless economic incentives exist for them to do so.
On the bright side, he says, “we must not forgetthat, in many developing countries, where climaticextremes are common, farmers have demonstrated thecapacity to adapt and survive.” Their practices couldprovide valuable lessons for the future.
Science has an important role to play in meetingthese challenges. “Possible strategies to increase adap-tive capacity”, he maintains, “include developing cropgenotypes capable of tolerating adverse climate condi-tions, developing weather advisory services for farm-ers, and improving land and water use management
policies.” In particular, locally rele-vant research must be strength-ened in the most vulnerableregions.
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Global climate change inIndia could lead to croplosses of 10% to 40% bythe end of this century.
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“Science alone”, Aggarwal is carefulto point out, “cannot guarantee thelivelihoods of millions of vulnerablepoor farmers”, whose contributionto global warming is negligible. Inaddition to more research into adap-tation and mitigation strategies,“effective responses will requirecapacity building, regional coopera-tion and adequate funding.” Newinnovative models of cooperationand partnerships to secure globalfunds for adaptation research anddevelopment will also be needed.
Simulation modelsAggarwal’s research has focused ondeveloping crop simulation models. Such models helpresearchers devise estimates of future crop yields, tak-ing into account several interrelated factors, includingsoil conditions, rainfall levels and damages inflicted bycrop pests.
Crop simulation models have been used not only tohelp farmers increase yields, but also to better under-stand the trade-offs between increased food produc-tion and environmental impacts. Responding to risingconcerns over global climate change, researchers havealso developed simulation models that factor climatechange into the analysis.
But few of these models, Aggarwal says, have beencapable of “fully integrating data on global changeimpacts, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and soil car-bon and nitrogen dynamics”. Inaddition, many have failed to com-pletely factor in growth and yieldlosses due to insects and diseases.
In 1997, Aggarwal’s researchgroup at the Indian AgriculturalResearch Institute (IARI) respond-ed to the need for more sophisticat-ed models that could take climatechange into account by developinga generic dynamic crop simulationmodel (called InfoCrop) that simu-lates all major processes of cropgrowth, soil water, nutrient bal-
ance, GHG emissions and crop–pestinteractions. To date, the group has
trained more than 250 researchers in crop modelling.“The InfoCrop model”, he explains, “simulates the
effects of weather, soils, agronomic management(including planting, irrigation and harvesting prac-tices) and major pests on crop growth, yield, and soilcarbon, water and nitrogen levels, and the associatedenvironmental impacts”. Moreover, it can be used fora variety of applications at field, farm and regionallevels.
“Many scientists,” he adds, “now use InfoCrop toestimate potential yields and yield gaps”. The modeltakes account of climatic variability, good managementpractices and potential losses due to disease and pests.
Just as simulation models are more successfulwhen they include as many variables as possible,
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Aggarwal’s research hasfocused on developingcrop simulation models.
PRAMOD AGGARWAL
Aggarwal was born in New Delhi, India, in 1954. A graduate from theUniversity of Delhi, he obtained his PhD in Life Sciences from the Uni-versity of Indore, India, followed by a second PhD from WageningenUniversity in the Netherlands.He was the coordinating lead author for the chapter “Food, Fibre andForest Products” in the Fourth Assessment Report (2007) of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC). He is a fellow of theNational Academy of Sciences, India, and of the National Academy ofAgricultural Sciences, India.
assessments of land capacity benefit from the samecomprehensive approach. In the late 1990s, Aggarwaland his colleagues developed a methodology forassessing the carrying capacity of land (the maximumlivestock and/or crops that it can sustainably support)by integrating biophysical factors such as soil, climateand water with such socio-economic factors as land
holdings and commodity prices. In addition to simula-tion models of various crops and livestock, themethodology relies on field surveys, remote sensingand geographic information systems (GIS), and cropoptimization techniques to examine options for sus-tainable land use that will meet the goals of maximiz-ing food production, employment and income, whilenot depleting natural resources.
Leading the wayAggarwal established the IARI crop growth-modellinggroup in 1988 to study the relationship betweenincreased crop yields and the environment. “Our firstproject”, he recounts, “was to develop a simulationmodel for various scenarios for wheat growth (called
WTGROWS), which performs well for a wide range ofsubtropical and tropical agro-environments.”
From 2004 to 2009, Aggarwal led the Indian Coun-cil of Agricultural Research’s (ICAR) project to assessthe vulnerability of Indian agriculture to climatechange, providing much-needed scientific leadershipin responding to India’s climate change challenge. Thenational network, the first of its kind in the developingworld, brought together 15 institutes to address thiscrucial issue. It aimed to quantify the sensitivity ofcrops, forests, livestock and fisheries to global climatechange.
“The best way to minimize the adverse impacts ofclimate change”, Aggarwal underlines, “is to developadaptation strategies. But to do this, we need moreresearch. More research, in turn, requires additionalfunds”.
Effective adaptation measures will not be cheap, heconcedes. “But inaction would be more costly. It takes10 to 20 years to develop and disperse a new crop vari-ety to farmers. The time to act is now.”
SOIL AND CLIMATE IN THE AMAZONCarlos Cerri’s career has been dedicated to gaugingthe effects of agricultural land use on global warmingin the tropics. He has paid special attention to the roleof soils in carbon emissions in his native Brazil.
Soils are important because they are a naturalstorehouse for carbons. Twice as much carbon is storedin soils as in vegetation or the atmosphere. “Conven-tional agricultural practices”, Cerri explains, “as wellas land use changes, result in degraded soils, reducingtheir capacity to store carbon.”
Cerri’s studies on carbon exchange between the soiland atmosphere in the Brazilian Amazon have beenespecially valuable because of the scale of land devel-opment in the region. More than 600,000 square kilo-metres of tropical forest (an area three times the sizeof Greece) have been converted to farm and grazingland in the Amazon. This has had significant impactson the intricate soil–plant–atmosphere system.
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DeforestationCerri has been a pioneer in quantifying changes in soilcarbon stock changes and greenhouse gas (GHG) emis-sions from soils and vegetation due to the conversionof native forest and savannah to agriculture and ani-mal husbandry in the Brazilian Amazon.
In the early 1990s, his research examined the envi-ronmental impact of Amazonian deforestation, with anemphasis on GHG emissions. Cerri and his colleaguescalculated the gains and losses of carbon in the soil-plant-atmosphere system using forest and pasturesamples of different ages from Brazil’s Amazon basin.By treating soil, plants and atmosphere as an integrat-ed system through which water, carbon and other ele-ments pass, soil scientists can obtain a clearer pictureof what is going on in each component. Specifically,Cerri’s team quantified the biomass of different typesof Amazonian tropical forests and the rate of GHGemissions due to slash-and-burn agriculture.
One of Cerri’s current research areas is the impactthat agricultural expansion has on GHG emissions inthe region. The goal is to use the science to developinnovative agricultural technologies capable of miti-gating global warming.
“Intensive land use in the Amazon,” he says, “hasseveral adverse effects on both the environment andcrop production if the right practices are not adopted.”Reduction in soil organic matter results in emission ofgases (chiefly CO2) to the atmosphere and ultimately
increased global warming. The sustainability of thesoil is also affected, since its quality has been altered.
“The consequences,” he says, “are erosion, reduc-tion in nutrient availability for plants and lower waterretention.” This, in turn, reduces crop productivityand, ultimately, the sustainability of the soil-plant-atmosphere system.
Theory to praxisTo help counter such negative trends, Cerri has devel-oped an innovative research methodology and accom-panying technology, since adopted by scientists inmany parts of the world, to measure the amount ofcarbon dioxide that is released by ploughed soil anddecomposing plant matter.
“The adoption of ‘best management practices’, suchas ‘no till’ farming, where crops are grown without dis-turbing the soil with tillage”, Cerri says, “can partlyreverse the process of degradation.” Tillage is a keyfactor, because it breaks down the soil organic matter,releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere
Cerri’s studies have shown the effectiveness of suchbest practices, in particular demonstrating the benefitsof zero tillage and minimum tillage farming and of ‘noburn’ sugar cane harvesting, over conventional methodsof tilling and burning – in terms of both reducing GHGemissions and enhancing carbon sequestration in soils.
In addition to improving soil productivity locally,such practices represent a good option for mitigating
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ERNESTO ILLY TRIESTE SCIENCE PRIZE
The Ernesto Illy Trieste Science prize, now in its fifth year, is designed to honour the developing world’s mosteminent scientists who have not yet received other prominent international awards. It is awarded annually androtates among various fields of science. This year’s award honours contributions in the field of climate changeand its impact on agriculture in developing countries; the 2010 prize will be for the field of renewable energiesfor environmentally sustainable industrial technologies. Generously funded by Trieste-based premium coffee pro-ducer illycaffè, and awarded under the High Patronage of the Presidency of the Republic of Italy, the prize isnamed in honour of the late president of illycaffè, Ernesto Illy. For additional information, see www.twas.org.
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global warming in the region.However, to assess the total gain,he cautions, other gases, “especial-ly nitrous oxide emitted by fertilization, will need to betaken into account”.
Not content to do groundbreaking research in thisimportant area, Cerri has also been a leading advocatefor the adoption of best agricultural practices as a meansof reducing agriculture’s impact on global warming.
Estimate, innovate, explore“I began my scientific career by focusing on soil organ-ic matter dynamics,” Cerri says, “in particular charac-terizing the humus” – the organic component of soil,comprised of decomposing leaves and other plantmaterial and microorganisms – found in different nat-ural ecosystems and land uses in Brazil.
While it may not generate headlines, the informa-tion gathered and synthesized in such efforts is invalu-able to other scientists. In the same vein, Cerri pio-neered estimates of soil microbial biomass (SMB)activity in both native and cultivated soils in LatinAmerica. More recently, he carried out an estimation oftotal organic carbon in the soils of Brazil.
In the early 1980s, Cerri designed equipment to fol-low and measure the carbon flux in the soil-plant-atmosphere system, using carbon-14/carbon dioxide(14C-CO2) as a tracer. With this equipment, he couldanalyse plant stresses due to increasing CO2 concentra-
tions and temperatures under lowsoil water-holding capacity.
Cerri’s innovation continuedwhen, in 1985, he developed amethod to determine the origin ofsoil carbon by enabling researchersto quantify how much carbon fromthe atmosphere has been intro-duced into the soil via crop residuesand how much carbon, in turn, hasbeen emitted from the soil into theatmosphere. Tracing the origin ofcarbon emissions will help otherscientists to find ways of controllingand reducing such emissions.
Cerri has lately turned hisattention to examining the carbonfootprint of biofuels, such asethanol. His aim is to help assessthe role of biofuels in curbing
greenhouse gas emissions.“Brazilian agriculture has a great opportunity to
contribute to mitigating climate change by producingbiofuels,” Cerri explains. For this to work, however,biofuel production must be “environmentally friendly,so as to maximize the fossil fuel offsets.”
“We are currently quantifying the agricultural car-bon footprint of biodiesel from oil crops (includingsoybean, palm oil and castor oil) and of ethanol fromsugarcane.” The team is also studying the feedback ofclimate change on agricultural soils. Laboratory exper-iments and simulation models are being used to quan-tify the emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases tothe atmosphere.
Taking stockAt present, Cerri currently coordinates a large researchinitiative in the Brazilian Amazon: The Global Environ-ment Facility (GEF) Soil Organic Carbon (GEFSOC)Project. The project, designed to assess soil organiccarbon stocks and change at national scale, covers 1.2million square kilometres in Brazil’s two most heavilydeforested states, Rondonia and Mato Grosso.
Cerri notes that project researchers have developed a“system for estimating soil organic carbon (SOC) stocksand changes under changing land use and climate sce-
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Carlos Cerri’s careerhas been dedicated
to gauging the effectsof agricultural land useon global warming.
narios” by integrating environmen-tal techniques (for example, soilproperty characterization, geo-graphic information systems, remote sensing, geostatis-tics, modelling approaches) and associated humandimensions such as those involved in the Human Devel-opment Index (for example, life expectancy, literacy ratesand living standards).
Project objectives include quantifying carbonsequestration potential in tropical soils; estimating soilcarbon stocks; and, ultimately, quantifying the impactof changes in land use on carbon sequestration in soilsto improve policies for optimizing resource use. Morethan 30 research workers and students from Brazil andother countries are participating in the project.
Cerri also coordinates the “Biogeochemical conse-quences of agricultural intensification in the Amazonbasin”, a project that is sponsored by the US NationalAeronautic and Space Administration (NASA).
“One of the best ways to gain agreater appreciation of soil-atmos-pheric may lie in using space-agetechnologies that enable us to drawa more comprehensive picture ofthe changing nature of our soils andthe impact that these changes arehaving not only on the soils them-selves but also on atmospheric con-ditions, including global warming.”
SOLVING PROBLEMSDeveloping countries are responsible for little of theworld’s greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, they are dispro-portionately at risk for the adverse impacts of climatechange. Not only do they often lack adaptive capacityto cope with expected climate impacts, the majorityare located in the tropical and sub-tropical regions,vulnerable to climate extremes. Moreover, their popu-lations largely depend upon subsistence agriculture,which may be hard hit by changing rainfall patterns,floods and droughts.
Elaborating truly effective strategies will require anunderlying scientific knowledge base – of the sort thatCerri and Aggarwal have been building throughouttheir distinguished careers. In seeking to meet thechallenges posed by the interactions between climateand agriculture, both scientists share a commitment tofinding solutions that work. Whether applying innova-tive technology or learning from traditional approach-es, measuring carbon exchange between the soil andthe atmosphere or estimating crop yields, adopting ‘notill’ practices or employing sophisticated simulationmodels, Aggarwal and Cerri approach the problem ofclimate change from the ground up. The science thatthey do gives us reason to hope that we might be ableto rise to the occasion to address some of the most crit-ical issues of our time. These issues involve the mostelemental aspects of Nature’s greatest gifts: the air thatwe breathe and the soil that serves as the basis of ournutrition and health. �
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Aggarwal and Cerriapproach the problemof climate change from
the ground up.
CARLOS CLEMENTE CERRI
Cerri earned his master’s degree and PhD in soilscience and environment in 1974 and 1979,respectively. He has published more than 150 sci-entific papers in peer-reviewed international jour-nals, written over 30 book chapters and edited 5books. He teaches graduate courses on agricultureand climate change and has advised more than 40master’s and PhD students from Brazil and abroad.
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INTERVIEW
LIDIA BRITO WAS NAMED THE HEAD OF UNESCO’S SCIENCE POLICY
DIVISION IN OCTOBER 2009 AND BEGAN HER NEW JOB IN DECEMBER.
SHE SUCCEEDS MUSTAFA EL TAYEB, WHO HAD HEADED THE DIVISION
SINCE 1996.
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Brito has extensive experience in a broad range of areas that includes scholarly research, universityteaching and administration, and public policy management at the highest levels of government.Her areas of expertise include higher education, science, technology and innovation, and informa-tion and communications technologies for development.
She received her undergraduate degree in forestry engineering from Eduardo Mondiane Univer-sity in Mozambique and MA and PhD degrees in forestry science from Colorado State University inthe United States. After working as a professor of forestry at Eduardo Mondlane University, she wasnamed the university’s deputy vice chancellor in 1998.
In 2000, Brito was appointed Mozambique’s first Minister of Higher Education, Science andTechnology, where she served for five years, helping to develop a national strategy for higher educa-tion and a broad framework for helping to link science to sustainable development in Mozambique.After stepping down as minister, she returned to Eduardo Mondlane University.
Brito has also served as an advisor to the mayor of Maputo, Mozambique, for strategic planningand external relations and as a team leader and consultant in major projects in Mozambique formunicipal development and the environment. She has been appointed to a number of internationalboards, including the United Nations University (UNU) Council and the African Forest Forum’s Gov-erning Council.
Several weeks after joining UNESCO, Brito met with the editor of the TWAS Newsletter in heroffice in Paris to discuss her hopes and expectations for UNESCO’s science policy division in the yearsahead. Edited excerpts of the interview follow.
Why did you take the job?On a personal level, I have been interested in science policy in all of its ramifications throughoutmy career, and I have been fortunate enough to examine the issue as an academic, an advisorand a government official. So, in a real sense, I have made science policy my life’s work. Theposition at UNESCO offered a wonderful opportunity for me to continue on this path.
SCIENCE POLICYIN UNESCO
In addition to the intellectual challenges that are inherent in such pursuits, I think it is criti-cal to explore – and take advantage of – the critical role that science policy plays within thebroader issue of sustainable economic development. I am particularly interested in this issuefrom the perspectives and needs of poor countries.
Why do I think national science policies are so important to the future well-being of coun-tries, especially developing countries (and, most especially, countries in sub-Saharan Africa),where policy infrastructures are weakest?
The answer is multi-faceted. First, effective national science policies not only set the stagefor economic development but also help to foster a vision that is essential for transmittingknowledge and innovative ideas from classrooms and laboratories to industry, commerce, healthand other sectors of society. Effective polices are also essential for helping to identify the uniqueattributes of countries and for aligning strategies and resources with that uniqueness. Withoutsuch frameworks, it would be difficult to sustain public interest and investments in long-termdevelopment initiatives. Second, effective science policies help to forge valuable connectionsamong nations. That, in turn, encourages international exchange and collaboration that notonly spurs development but also promotes greater understanding and respect forother cultures. Third, effective science policies help to set benchmarks that enableexperts to measure the progress that a nation is making – or is failing to make –in promoting science-based development. Fourth, effective science policies aid inthe creation of blueprints that enhance efficiencies and speed the developmentprocess, helping to ensure that funding is well spent and used to improve peo-ples’ lives. And, fifth, effective science policies help to build national confi-dence, which can spur support for innovation and, perhaps more importantly,enthusiasm for the future. The truth is that while effective science policies pro-ceed through a complex, sometimes bewildering, process that requires endlesspatience and fortitude, the outcomes emerge in plain sight for all to see. Effec-tive science policies, in short, can help provide a pathway to a better society.These are some of the key reasons why Ithink devising effective national sciencepolicies are so important, particularly fordeveloping countries.
How did UNESCO help your policy effortsin Mozambique?UNESCO made a significant difference inmy efforts to promote higher education andscience-based development in Mozambiqueduring my tenure as minister. My countrybenefitted from UNESCO’s presence andassistance in many ways. For example, weoften turned to the organization’s existingpolicy frameworks (which amounted to pol-icy guidebooks) and relied on their indica-
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tors (which amounted to proven evaluation markers) to develop and assess the policies that weput in place. In addition, we took advantage of UNESCO’s knowledge networks to learn fromthe experience of others. My colleagues and I attended numerous UNESCO-sponsored meetingsto become as knowledgeable as we could about effective science policy strategies. I can saywithout qualification that UNESCO was one of my ministry’s most important partners.
Now, I am hoping that in my new capacity as head of UNESCO’s science policy division, I canhelp other countries in their efforts to develop effective national science policies by drawing, inpart, on my experience as an outsider to strengthen UNESCO’s already excellent initiatives. Infact, I view it as my duty to help other countries in the way Mozambique was helped in the past.
What are UNESCO’s strengths?UNESCO, I believe, enjoys several institutional strengths that areunmatched by any other international organization.
First, it serves as an unrivalled source of information onbest practices in science policy in the developing world, andalso as a source of information on other areas that are inter-related to science policies, such as education, ethics and cul-ture. Much of this information has been assembled in part-nership with the countries that UNESCO has assisted. As aresult, the information does not consist of reports done atarms’ length to the actual challenges, but is comprised ofhands-on accounts of government initiatives detailing whathas worked and what hasn’t. UNESCO has also succeeded inpromoting South-South collaboration in science policythrough its international workshops and conferences,which serve not only as sources of valuable informationbut also as wellsprings for networking.
Second, UNESCO, largely as a result of its science poli-cy initiatives, has forged strong ties to governmentsthroughout the developing world. It has also worked close-ly with nongovernmental organizations, internationalagencies and, increasingly, the private sector. It has more
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than 60 years of experience in convening high-level officials and in fostering dialogue amongnations in education, science and culture. These are enviable attributes that should not beunderestimated when addressing critical issues in today’s contentious world.
Third, UNESCO is a truly multi-disciplinary organization. From its inception, the organiza-tion has had the broad, but unique, mandate to promote education, science and culture. Intoday’s world, when so many problems require multi-disciplinary responses, this broad mandateshould be viewed as a major strength. That doesn’t mean, of course, that UNESCO has theresources to address all of the world’s critical problems. But it does mean that when the organi-zation focuses on an issue – whether it is ensuring access to safe drinking water, expanding edu-cational opportunities for all children or preserving natural habitats or cultural sites – it can doso from multiple perspectives and with extensive levels of expertise that are likely to be criticalto overcoming complex challenges and advancing key policy objectives.
What I think is most unique about UNESCO, however, is that its activities touch peopledirectly. What UNESCO does – and how it chooses to advance its lofty goals – engages emotionsand stirs passions. Few other organizations, especially international organizations, can makesuch claims. It’s a unique attribute that UNESCO should promote even more than it does.
What initiatives do you hope to pursue at UNESCO?Well, as you know, I am new to the position. So, I would be reluctant to propose any major ini-tiatives at this early date. My first order of business, however, is to do no harm and to ensurethat the science policy division’s most successful programmes – and there are many – are notneglected and continue to prosper. In short, as a first step, I think it will be important to buildupon UNESCO’s, and more specifically, the science policy division’s strengths.
It’s clear that I have a deep interest in science policy and intend to build upon the progress indeveloping science policy frameworks that UNESCO has helped to achieve, especially amongcountries in the developing world. I would also like to increase the visibility of the science poli-cy division both within the organization and among UNESCO’s member states.
There are, of course, other areas within the science policy division’s existing portfolio that Ialso hope to strengthen and expand. These include efforts to utilize science not only for devel-opment but also for diplomacy – that is, to take advantage of scientific exchange to improve
UNESCO
relations among nations. This would fit directly into UNESCO’s broad mandate to advancepeace. In addition, UNESCO has played a central role in promoting education at all levels, and Iwould like to work more closely with the education sector to more fully integrate science edu-cation into their initiatives, especially in primary and secondary schools. The same is true ofissues related to gender and education where much has been done yet much remains to bedone, especially when it comes to girls and science education. I would also like the science pol-icy division to devote more time and resources to issues related to the popularization of scienceand to determine whether there are additional ways in which we can broaden our efforts tostrengthen science journalism in developing countries. Again this is an area where much workhas been done, yet where additional efforts would be welcome. One of the most important les-sons I learned as minister is that public understanding of science and, more specifically, of thecentral role that science plays in economic development, is essential for success. And, finally, Ithink it is essential to expand existing strategies for scientific and technological capacity build-ing to encompass initiatives that embrace innovation in a systematic and sustainable way. It isimportant that the scientific and technological knowledge and skills that are developed withineach nation ultimately lead to products and services that benefit people and improve living con-ditions, especially for poor people. Innovation, especially when it is married to science and tech-nology (as it must be in the 21st century), is a valuable policy device for turning knowledge intoconcrete action.
I have outlined an ambitious agenda, and I am sure that priorities will have to be establishedto ensure that the science policy division’s goals can be met. That, in fact, will likely be one ofthe most formidable challenges that I face: to create an agenda that draws on UNESCO’sstrengths and expands its reach and impact, but which does not become so expansive as to placeour objectives at risk. Since we cannot – indeed do not want to – implement this agenda on ourown, it will be shaped in large part by the partnerships we forge. Strong partners lead to betteroutcomes, and it is better outcomes that will ultimately determine the level of our success.
Therefore, to a certain extent, our prioritieswill be influenced by our discussions withothers.
At the same time, it is also true that manyof UNESCO’s core values will also determinehow far we will be able to advance our agen-da. These values include an uncompromisingemphasis on excellence, a willingness to lis-ten to others and engage in dialogue, and astrong ethical compass that fully recognizesthe principles inherent in equity, democracy,accountability and transparency. Of course,none of this will be achievable without ade-quate resources and incentives, sturdy legalframeworks and active networks that enableindividuals and institutions to learn fromone another.
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And that brings me back tothe issues surrounding the devel-opment of effective science poli-cies. The ultimate goal, I believe,is to create an enduring nationalsystem of science and innovationthat is able to respond to thedevelopment challenges of thecountry, or region, and at thesame time to build knowledgebridges with the rest of theworld. This system, if it is to besustainable, cannot be imposedfrom the outside but must bedeeply connected to society. Yet,for many poor countries that have neither the resources nor the experience to create such a sys-tem, the question is often where to begin. That’s why I believe the work of UNESCO – and itsefforts to foster knowledge and networks – is so important.
What kind of relationship do you hope to have with TWAS?Again this will entail expanding our existing framework for collaboration instead of construct-ing an entirely new one. That’s because the relationship has been both strong and gaining addi-tional strength under my predecessor Mustafa El-Tayeb. TWAS’s greatest attributes lie with itsnetworks – both for individual scientists and scientific institutions. These networks represent thebest of science in the South and provide extraordinary opportunities for collaboration. My hopeis that UNESCO can take even greater advantage of these networks in the future. Because of itsglobal connections, TWAS has played – and can continue to play – a vital role in helpingUNESCO to know the main actors in scientific research. The Academy can provide entrée intosome of the principal sources of scientific knowledge in the developing world. And it can help uslink our experience in science policy with the work of the scientists themselves in ways that canadvance our shared agenda of accelerating science-based development throughout the South. Iknow that UNESCO’s science policy division – and, more generally, UNESCO’s science sector –have worked closely with TWAS in the past, and I am convinced that our relationship will onlygrow stronger in the future. I am particularly optimistic about the prospects for collaborationbetween UNESCO and TWAS through the Consortium for Science, Technology and Innovationin the South (COSTIS), which was officially launched last autumn at the World Science Forumin Budapest and is dedicated to bringing scientists and scientific policy makers together to cre-ate an even stronger foundation for science-based development in the developing world. As Imentioned earlier, this is a matter of intense personal interest for me and a primary aspect of thework I will be doing as head of UNESCO’s science policy division. So, to my friends and associ-ates at TWAS, I can only say that I look forward to many collaborative activities that will helpadvance our common agenda and goals. �
Tuberculosis, once believed nearlyeradicated, has undergone a globalresurgence in the past two decades,fuelled by the HIV epidemic as wellas the emergence of drug-resistantstrains. According to the WorldHealth Organization (WHO), theair-borne disease was responsible forthe deaths of more than 1.7 millionpeople in 2007, with more than 1.3 million new TB cas-es reported. Moreover, WHO estimates fully one-third ofthe world’s population (more than 2 billion people) areinfected with the TB bacilli. The risk is that, for individ-uals with compromised immune systems (such as thosewith HIV), these latent bacteria will reawaken intoactive TB.
The good news, Valerie Mizrahi says, is that “recentadvances in genomics and the molecular bio-
sciences” are allowing researchers to investigate thebiology of the TB bacillus at “a level previouslyunimaginable.”
Mizrahi, director of the Molecular Mycobacteriolo-
gy Research Unit (MMRU), inJohannesburg, South Africa, isinvestigating the genetic secrets ofMycobacterium tuberculosis, thebacillus that causes TB, so that newdrugs and vaccines can be devel-oped. Her lab examines the mecha-nisms of DNA metabolism (includ-ing how TB cells repair and repli-
cate themselves) involved in the evolution of drug-resistant strains of TB and in the pathogen’s ability toresuscitate from a dormant state.
DRUG RESISTANCEA major factor in the resurgence of TB – and one par-ticularly worrisome to public health officials – hasbeen the emergence of multi-drug-resistant strains. Tohelp control the spread of the disease, scientists needto better understand how M. tuberculosis acquires suchresistance. In 2003, research by Mizrahi and HelenaBoshoff, “an outstanding postdoctoral fellow” inMizrahi’s lab, revealed how mutations in the TB bacil-lus led to drug-resistant strains.
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FEATURE
TARGETING TBIN SOUTH AFRICA
SOUTH AFRICAN RESEARCHER VALERIE MIZRAHI (TWAS ASSOCIATE FELLOW 2001)
STUDIES THE GENETIC MAKEUP OF THE BACTERIUM THAT CAUSES
TUBERCULOSIS (TB). SHE HOPES TO FIND NEW TOOLS FOR THE DIAGNOSIS,
TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF THE DISEASE.
“As far as we know,” Mizrahi explains, “all drugresistance in M. tuberculosis is mediated by chromoso-mal mutagenesis – i.e. by mutations in genes that arein some way linked to drug action.”
“It is now understood”, she continues, “that whenM. tuberculosis infects its human host, the pathogen’sDNA is significantly damaged.” The adverse conditionsit encounters include attacks by the host’s immune sys-tem. In scientific terms, the pathogen undergoes“genotoxic stress”, in which “lesions are produced inthe chromosome that must be repaired for it to sur-vive.”
In many bacteria, such genotoxic stress triggersmechanisms that help the organism tolerate the dam-age until it can be repaired. These involve specialized“DNA-copying” enzymes that allow the lesion to be by-passed during replication of the chromosome. This, inturn, allows the pathogen to survive.
However, Mizrahi and her colleagues discoveredthat the enzymes that do this work in M. tuberculosis“copy the DNA in an error-prone way that introducesmutations”. Most of these mutations are harmful to thepathogen. But some are beneficial, enabling it to dealwith stress – or to resist antibiotics.
Boshoff, working first with Mizrahi and subse-quently with US researcher Clifton E. Barry III (in hislaboratory at the US National Institutes of Health),identified the specific enzyme that, when respondingto chromosomal damage in the bacillus, “copies DNAin a sloppy manner”, leaving drug-resistant mutationsin its wake. The findings of Mizrahi, Boshoff and Barry
– published in the journal Cell – were hailed as asignificant breakthrough.
Mizrahi’s lab is also investigating “the molecularmechanisms underlying the ability of M. tuberculosis toresuscitate from a state of dormancy”. By constructinga “panel of mutant strains of the bacillus that lackgenes implicated in resuscitation from dormancy inother bacteria”, MMRU members Bavesh Kana andBhavna Gordhan have “produced an importantresource for investigating the phenomenon of TBresuscitation.”
A FORMIDABLE PATHOGENThe global resurgence of TB has been chiefly driven bythe HIV epidemic. “Immune deficiency”, Mizrahiexplains, “severely compromises an individual’s abilityto control TB infection”. The result is an increased inci-dence of TB in the population. The “lethal synergybetween TB and HIV” can be seen, she says, in thelarge percentage of TB cases in many sub-Saharancountries – “the global epicentre of dual infection” –which coincide with HIV infection. Indeed, nearly one-half of TB cases in South Africa are in HIV positiveindividuals.
The evolution and spread of strains of M. tuberculo-sis that are resistant to first- and second-line TB drugshas compounded the problem. A main cause of drugresistance, Mizrahi says, is patients failing to adhere to
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their complicated and lengthy treatment regimen,which involves taking four drugs for two months, thentwo of the drugs for four more months.
“The TB bacillus is an absolutely formidablepathogen that is exquisitely adapted to life in itshuman host,” Mizrahi says. While an estimated 2 bil-lion people worldwide are infected with M. tuberculo-sis, most are able to control the infection effectively.Yet, she continues, “reactivation can occur manydecades after a person has been infected. In otherwords, the bacteria are able to lurk for many years inan individual without causing illness, only to ‘reawak-en’ at some point in the future.”
MUCH TO LEARNLittle is known about the physiological state of TBbacilli during ‘asymptomatic’ latent TB infection,Mizrahi notes. “Are the bacilli ‘dormant’ in the realsense of the word, or are they replicating, albeit slow-ly? We don’t know.”
“Until we are better able to understand this stateand find ways to kill the bacilli in latently infectedindividuals,” she says, “TB will remain a problem as itcontinues to arise within the mas-sive reservoir of latently infectedpeople in the world today.”
MMRU AND SOUTH AFRICAThe Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit(MMRU) was established in 2000 with the mission to“develop and apply genetic tools to identify, validateand characterize novel drug targets and vaccine candi-dates for TB.” The research unit is jointly funded bythe Medical Research Council of South Africa (MRC),the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) andthe University of the Witwatersrand (WITS).
South Africa is in a unique position, Mizrahi notes,because it is both a “high-burden country” and “anAfrican country with a well-established scientific,technical and medical infrastructure”. This, sheexplains, “places a particular responsibility on thecountry to contribute significantly to global researchefforts that are aimed at developing new tools for con-trolling TB.”
The situation in the country is particularly trou-bling because of the high incidence of both HIV andTB. “South Africa has the highest annual incidence andprevalence of TB in the world,” she explains. (‘Preva-lence’ refers to the number of current cases per popu-lation; ‘incidence’, to the number of new cases.) “With
only 0.7% of the world’s popula-tion,” she continues, “South Africahas an astonishing 28% of the
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Nearly one-half oftuberculosis cases inSouth Africa are in HIVpositive individuals.
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M.Shoul/WHO/STB/ColorsMagazine
global number of HIV+TB cases, and 33% of such cas-es in the African Region.”
As elsewhere, the TB crisis in sub-Saharan Africahas been worsened by the emergence and spread ofmulti-drug resistant (MDR) and extensively drugresistant (XDR) strains. MDR-TB does not respond tostandard first-line drugs; XDR-TB occurs when resist-ance to second-line drugs develops on top of MDR-TB.“South Africa”, she adds, “ranks fourth in the world forMDR-TB cases.”
Given such worrisome figures, Mizrahi says, “theurgency of the need for new and improved tools forthe diagnosis, treatment and prevention of TB cannotbe over-stated.”
INSPIRATIONAL FIGURESBorn in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1958, Valerie Mizrahiearned her PhD in chemistry at the University of CapeTown, South Africa, in 1983. She then went to theUnited States for postdoctoralwork at Pennsylvania State Univer-sity, where she remained until
1986. After a stint with the pharmaceutical giantSmithKline French Research & Development, shereturned to South Africa in 1989.
Realizing upon her return that it would be difficultto stay competitive in the field in which she had beenworking in the US, she began looking for new areas ofopportunity. “TB research struck me as ideal, for anumber of reasons,” she says. “First, I wanted to workon a health problem of importance and significance inAfrica. Second, the mycobacteriology field seemedwide open and full of promise as a result of excitingdevelopments abroad.”
Mizrahi decided to visit two scientists who “wereblazing new trails in TB research” – Stewart Cole, thenat the Pasteur Institute in Paris, and William R. Jacobs,Jr., at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in NewYork, a pioneer in mycobacterial genetics. Meetingthese inspirational figures and learning about the workthey were doing convinced her that she should go into
the field.In addition to her role as direc-
tor of the MMRU, Mizrahi is aresearch professor at the Universityof the Witwatersrand’s MedicalSchool and co-director of the Centreof Excellence for Biomedical TBResearch of the Department ofScience and Technology (DST) andNational Research Foundation ofSouth Africa.
She has received numerousrecognitions for her research work,including the 2000 UNESCO-L’Oréal ‘For Women in Science’ prizefor Africa, the 2006 DST Distin-guished Woman Scientist Award,and the 2006 Gold Medal of theSouth African Society for Biochem-istry & Molecular Biology. She is atwo-time recipient (in 2000 and2005) of an International ResearchScholar grant from the HowardHughes Medical Institute (USA) –the only South African and one ofonly three scientists from Africa tohave received this grant, and she is
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With only 0.7% ofthe world’s population,South Africa has 28%of the global numberof HIV+TB cases.
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a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and mem-ber of the Academy of Science of South Africa.
DISEASE OF POVERTYA main goal of Mizrahi’s laboratory is to identify possi-ble new vaccine candidates and drug targets. “A drugtarget”, she explains, “is an enzyme that performssome function that is essential for the growth of thepathogen.” Identifying novel drug targets in turn pavesthe way for developing novel TB drugs.
“In the case of TB, we know that about 600 of the4,000-odd genes in the genome of M. tuberculosis arerequired for its growth.” To be a valid drug target, anenzyme must be able to be acted upon in two ways.First, the enzyme’s function must be able to be inhibit-ed by an antibiotic. Second, “the step in the biochemi-cal pathway that is catalysed by the enzyme must alsobe amenable and vulnerable to chemical inhibition”.
Mizrahi is “reasonably optimistic” about theprospects of progressively reducing TB as a threat. “Myoptimism”, she says, “stems from the fact that majorscientific advances of the past 15 years have trans-formed the way scientists are researching the develop-ment of new tools for the diagnosis, treatment andprevention of TB.”
Yet, tempering her optimism is the fact that “TB is adisease of poverty that preys on the socially disadvan-
taged. Until such time as the most vulnerable membersof our society can enjoy a better quality of life, this dis-ease will, unfortunately, continue to flourish.”
Indeed, the vast majority of TB deaths are in thedeveloping world, with Asia and Africa being the hard-est hit. Africa alone accounts for more than a quarterof the global TB burden, with an estimated 2.4 millionTB cases and 540,000 TB deaths annually.
As a scientist, Mizrahi finds “it very humbling towork in the field of TB research because althoughscience is absolutely necessary, it is not sufficient totackle a problem of the magnitude of TB.”
SCIENCE IN SOUTH AFRICAThe situation for researchers in South Africa, Mizrahisays “is significantly better today than 10 or 20 yearsago. Improvements, she explains, “have come from theopening up of the science system from an inward-look-ing system focused primarily on ensuring militarysupremacy and economic self-sufficiency in theapartheid era, to an outward-looking vision” in whichthe country “takes its place as a fully-fledged memberof the international scientific community.”
The first democratic elections in 1994, she adds,brought “unparalleled opportunities for South Africanscientists in terms of funding and collaboration (largelyNorth-South, but more recently, South-South as well).”
“Science has been quite prominent in the nationalagenda”, she says. Additional funding has been used tocreate national centres of excellence in S&T and tosupport a research chairs initiative. Such schemes
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“have been helpful, but they mustbe sustained and further developedif they are to have a long-termimpact.”
A greater challenge will be to continue to overcomelong-entrenched inequalities. “One of the major prob-lems that continues to plague the system”, she says,“stems from the generally poor quality of primary andsecondary education in South Africa – undoubtedly,one of the most pernicious legacies of apartheid.”
Other problems – such as the aging and deteriorat-ing infrastructure of its universities – are not unique toSouth Africa. Money for basic equipment remainsscarce, and as a result it is increasingly difficult toremain internationally competitive.
As elsewhere, science is not seen as an attractivecareer in South Africa, Mizrahi adds. “High schoolgraduates who are talented in mathematics andscience are drawn to more lucrative careers in medi-cine and engineering, for example.” This leaves a verysmall pool of students interested in careers in scientificresearch.
COOPERATION IS KEYMizrahi emphasizes that organizations like TWAS playan important role in helping South Africa and otherdeveloping countries to build their science base, particu-larly by encouraging both South-South and North-Southcooperation, which she says “are absolutely crucial”.
“North-South cooperation has created opportuni-
ties for funding and exchanges on ascale that was previously unimag-inable,” she adds. Her own experi-ence has shown that involving
graduate students and post-docs in North-South col-laboration “helps ensure that the pace and standard ofour work is internationally competitive.”
Mizrahi has been involved in a number of interna-tional training initiatives that have provided opportu-nities for students from southern Africa to train in toplabs in the USA. This, she says, “does wonders for con-fidence-building among students who have beenraised in a geographically and scientifically isolatedpart of the world and fosters a real sense of belongingto the global research enterprise.”
Yet, to be most effective, she stresses, “it is essentialfor North-South collaboration to be structured as truepartnerships.” Otherwise, “imbalances in power, influ-ence and resource undermine the role and contribu-tions of partners from the South”. Such imbalances,she says, are problematical and can be damaging in thelong run.
“My dream is to see the centre of gravity forresearch in certain areas – infectious diseases, forexample – shift to the South.” Yet, she admits that theonly way that this will happen is for strong centres inthe South “to take responsibility for setting and man-aging the research agenda.” She says she understandsthis will take some time, but that “some of the signs Isee are encouraging”. �
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It is essential for North-South collaborations
to be structured as truepartnerships.
“The deeper we seek, the more is ourwonder excited.”
Abdus Salam, Nobel Prizeacceptance speech, 1979
A bdus Salam was a brilliantphysicist and a devout Muslim
who found harmony between his genius and his faith.He was a visionary who often observed that “scientificthought is the common heritage of mankind” and whofervently believed that each country, even – indeed,especially – the poorest, must develop its own scientif-ic talent.
Salam contended that fundamental scientific inquirycould do more than bring wonder and self-respect to adeveloping nation. It could also help to drive the eco-nomic growth that was so desperately needed.
Salam was far ahead of his time.While a few economists, beginningwith Robert Solow in the 1950s,reasoned that knowledge – especial-ly scientific and technical knowl-edge – was a prerequisite for eco-nomic development, major donors
and development banks have only recently incorporat-ed this belief into their mandates and missions.
Over a decade ago, the World Bank, in its WorldDevelopment Report for 1998, contended that knowl-edge is one of the most important “global publicgoods.” A subsequent science and technology (S&T)strategy paper took this notion a step farther, assertingthat scientific knowledge produces economic and socialbenefits. In today’s knowledge-based world, it is widelyaccepted that S&T provides essential underpinnings for
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FEATURE
LESSONSIN LEARNINGBUILDING CAPACITY IN THE BASIC SCIENCES IS CRITICAL
TO THE FUTURE SUCCESS OF AFRICA, SAYS PHILLIP A. GRIFFITHS
(TWAS ASSOCIATE FELLOW 2000), PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS
AND FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY
IN PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY, USA. GRIFFITHS ALSO CHAIRS
THE SCIENCE INITIATIVE GROUP (SIG), AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM
OF SCIENTIFIC LEADERS AND ADVOCATES DEDICATED
TO FOSTERING SCIENCE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
G. Gordon/UNESCO
economic growth as well as theintellectual ground from which toaddress educational, environmen-tal, health and other critical needs.
LEARN TO EARNInstitutions of higher education provide the keys tobasic research skills in ways that can promote sustain-able growth.
Yet, universities in developing countries, especiallyin Africa, are struggling to recover from decades ofunderfunding, civil unrest and brain drain. Accordingto the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, pub-lished twice yearly by the National Research Council ofSpain, the highest-ranking university in Africa is theUniversity of Cape Town, at number 349 (out of 4,000universities included in the survey). The highest-rank-ing sub-Saharan university, outside South Africa, isCheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, at number 3,038. Similarly,not a single African university outside of South Africaappears in the Top 500 Universities ranking publishedlast year by Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University.
A recent survey by the African Network of Scientif-ic and Technological Institutions details the problemsfaced by these universities. On average, about 40% ofthe posts in S&T training institutions are vacant large-ly because of low funding, a poor image of science as acareer, losses to HIV/AIDS and brain drain. The Inter-national Organization for Migration recently estimatedthat Africa lost one-third of its professionals to the
developed world between 1960and 1987, and that up to 23,000academics and 50,000 middle andsenior managers leave the conti-nent each year. Only 50% of the
staff in S&T training institutions have PhDs. Thescarcity or absence of journals, textbooks, equipmentand library facilities reduces the ability of staff to doresearch and publish. In only one of three departmentsacross disciplines does more than one-half of the staffhave office computers (in one university, the figure is2%). More than one-half of all laboratory equipment(much of which is more than 25 years old) cannot beused for modern experimentation.
Specific examples of the challenges faced, whichhave been provided by the institutions themselves,include the following:• Faculty depletion. At Makerere University, Uganda,the number of faculty positions in August 2007 was1,796, but only 1,052 of those were filled. At theUniversity of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for the firsttime, teaching positions were being filled in 2007 bystaff with only bachelor’s degrees. At Kenyatta Uni-versity, Kenya, of 730 academic staff, only 31 are fullprofessors and 48 are associate professors. At theUniversity of Nairobi, Kenya, graduate students inphysics are offered tenure in return for teaching. Thesame is true at Makerere.
• Skewed age profiles. A disproportionate number oflecturers in Africa are approaching retirement age.
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Institutions of highereducation providethe keys to basicresearch skills.
Myriam Louviot/Wikipedia
At Kenyatta University, 28 of the 31 full professorsare more than 50 years of age. At Kyambogo Univer-sity, Uganda, only 22 of the 417 academic staff havedoctorates and nine are past “mandatory” retire-ment age.
• Demand for education. Demand for education inAfrica is soaring. So much so that universities cannotkeep up with it. According to the Global EducationalDigest, published by UNESCO, student enrolment inhigher education in sub-Saharan Africa increasedfrom 660,000 in 1985 to more than 3.4 million in2005. This trend exacerbates the lack of professorsand forces universities to turn to less experiencedlecturers and tutors.
• Low salaries. While faculty salaries have improved atsome institutions, such as the University of Nairobi,they remain too low to attract and retain new staff atmany others. The average salary for full professors inall fields of study at Eduardo Mondlane University inMozambique is USD1,000 a month.
• Competition from private universities. Soaringdemand has encouraged the growth of private uni-versities that emphasize such fields as business andaccounting. Most private universities offer few or nocourses in science or engineering. Those that dodraw on staff from public universities whom theyattract with higher salaries. For example, except forthe director, the 11 members of the mathematics fac-ulty at Eduardo Mondlane University also teach atprivate institutions. This doubling up on teaching
responsibilities further reduces faculty time forresearch and mentoring. Nigeria has some 30 newprivate universities. Ghana has six public and 10 pri-vate universities, all founded within the past decade.
SYSTEMIC APPROACHThe situation for higher education in Africa might lookbleak, but it is far from hopeless. Most institutions rec-ognize the challenges they face, and some have begunto reform their policies. For example, to help addressthe country’s chronic skills shortage, Zambia is consid-ering eliminating the mandatory retirement age of 55years for faculty in the sciences. The University ofNairobi has doubled faculty salaries twice in the pasteight years.
As universities and donor organizations increaseefforts to bolster basic higher education, it is importantto remember that S&T will not by itself be sufficient tomeet Africa’s daunting challenges. We have seen howthe rapid growth of the ‘Asian tigers’ in the 1970s and1980s was not initiated by endemic research strength,but by imported technology. Basic research wasemphasized only after a sound technological base hadbeen created. The development of excellent primaryand secondary school systems and broad-based train-ing for faculty (often through study abroad) also pro-vided a sturdy foundation upon which to build excel-lence in the basic sciences.
African leaders recognize that efforts to strengthennational capabilities in S&T depend on a systemic
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approach. A conference held in Arusha, Tanzania, inMay 2008 adopted the slogan “mainstreaming STI intothe development process.” Conference organizers sawtheir objective as strengthening not only S&T, but also‘innovation.’
For more than a decade, I have led the Science Ini-tiative Group (SIG) at the Institute for Advanced Studyin Princeton, New Jersey, USA. SIG is an internationalteam of leading scientists dedicated to fosteringscience in developing countries. In seeking to buildS&T capacity in developing countries, SIG has careful-ly examined other development models. Foremostamong these are the programmes of TWAS and severaloriginating in northern Europe, especially Sweden’sInternational Science Programme (ISP).
Each of these programmes contains at least fourmajor elements designed to develop systemic, and notjust academic, capacity. These elements are local lead-ership, a national innovation system, government sup-port and extensive networking with other institutionsand the international scientific community. Theapproach focuses not only on the creation of knowl-edge, but also on fostering an environment in whichknowledge is disseminated, used and transformed intonew products and services.
Native-born scientists and engineers are best quali-fied to identify and address urgent national challenges.Governments are best situated to set general priorities,including aspects of S&T. Instead of determiningresearch topics and strategies abroad, successful pro-grammes should depend on national and local leadersfor capacity building, education and research.
Science and technology add value to society only ifthey are part of a ‘national innovation system’ thatincreases the ability of a nation’s institutions and infra-
structure to create and commercialize new productsfor economic and societal use. Major elements of sucha system include the following: human resources fos-tered by a national commitment to education at all lev-els; government institutions that sustain basicresearch, legal structures and physical infrastructure;and an entrepreneurial environment that nurturessmall start-up firms, protects intellectual property andpromotes the creation of venture capital.
An early goal of such a system, especially for poorcountries with underutilized natural resources, is tocreate more value-added exports. As the private sectorgains strength, other aspects of the innovation systemwill grow in importance. In sub-Saharan Africa, out-side South Africa, countries have few small- and medi-um-sized enterprises, which can only thrive in a sup-portive environment. It is essential to begin planningfor them by developing support mechanisms and lay-ing the groundwork for technology-intensive clustersof academia, government and private enterprise thathave proven so powerful for scientifically advancedcountries.
Government enthusiasm for S&T-based develop-ment is crucial. This includes support at the presiden-tial and ministerial levels, especially at ministries offinance. A significant example is the USD35-millionMillennium Science Initiative in scientific research andeducation funded by the World Bank in Uganda. Thepriority status given to the programme by PresidentMuseveni and the Ministry of Finance provided earlymomentum to the effort, the primary objectives ofwhich are to develop human resources and infrastruc-ture for research, with complementary attention touniversity-industry linkages and support services.
Similarly, Rwanda has adopted an ambitious S&T
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Kisumu Ndogo/SkyscraperCity
development programme, thanks largely to the per-sonal involvement of President Kagame. In February2008, the president addressed the plenary session ofthe American Association for the Advancement ofScience (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston: “I believein the power of science to transform our societies. Butin Rwanda our institutions remain feeble. We have nei-ther a strong private sector for demand, nor institu-tions to meet that demand. But we do have the will.For seven years we have been laying a sound founda-tion for S&T. The public sector will play a leading rolewhile other pillars gain strength.” Rwanda now spends1.6% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on S&T andplans to increase this to 5% by 2021.
Other governments in Africa are beginning to dis-play commitment to S&T. At the 2008 Arusha confer-ence, Tanzania’s Minister of Scienceand Technology, Peter Msolla, saidhis government “is determined toinvest in STI” by focusing onresearch and development, retain-ing talent at home, and forgingpartnerships abroad. The responsi-bility for success, he stated, “liesprimarily with national govern-ments.”
Even the best universities in sub-Saharan Africa lacka critical mass of students and faculty in fields of S&T.While these universities might have the will to buildcapacity, it will take time and resources to attract andtrain new students and faculty. A valuable complemen-tary strategy is to link these scientists with related insti-tutions and their peers in Africa and around the world.
The ISP’s success, based on more than 45 years ofexperience, has emphasized long-term support for fel-lowships, equipment purchases and locally requestedfields of study. It has curbed brain drain by the use of a‘sandwich model’ that offers 1-year visits to Uppsala,Sweden, as long as the recipient remains affiliatedwith his or her home institution, where the degree isconferred. Lennart Hasselgren, who initiated ISP’s pro-
grammes that now include chemistry, mathematicsand physics, emphasizes the need for long-term sup-port. ISP, for example, has funded one group for 32years. Annual grants range from USD10,000 toUSD140,000. ISP fellowships have helped to produce58 doctoral and 246 master’s theses, and 328 papers ininternational journals.
RISE PROGRAMMEPast experience has shown the power of knowledge-sharing.
Such sharing serves as the basis for the RISE pro-gramme developed by SIG, funded by the CarnegieCorporation of New York and managed jointly by SIGand the African Academy of Sciences. RISE is built onSIG’s earlier experience with the Millennium Science
Initiative, funded primarily by theWorld Bank.
The objective of RISE is to pre-pare PhD-level scientists andengineers in sub-Saharan Africathrough university-based researchand training networks. The pro-gramme supports five networks,each consists of universities in at
least three countries. Each network is expected to granta minimum of 15 PhD and master’s degrees over four tosix years.
An international selection committee chose the fivenetworks from among 48 proposals from scientists in29 countries. Each network will receive approximatelyUSD800,000 over 30 months, with funding likely tocontinue for an additional three years.
The proposals vividly illustrated how many func-tional and imaginative African networks already existin such critical areas as clean drinking water, renew-able energy, geophysics, information technology andnatural products. The impulse to collaborate is strong,and applicants appear to welcome the opportunity toform partnerships with groups that have complemen-tary skills and expertise.
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Science and technologyadd value to societyonly if they are part
of a ‘nationalinnovation system’.
The networks, selected in fall 2008, are the follow-ing:• African Natural Products Research and Training Net-work – AFNNET
• African Materials Science and Engineering Network– AMSEN
• Southern African Biochemistry and Informatics forNatural Products Network – SABINA
• Sub-Saharan Africa Water Resources Network –SSAWRN
• Western Indian Ocean Regional Initiative – WIO-RISE
All of the networks have moved ahead with energyand enthusiasm. Many of them enjoyed a head start,guided by past partnership experi-ences. Our objective is to make theRISE versions even more effective.
For example, in the WesternIndian Ocean network on marinesciences, one node is in Mozam-bique, where participants are eagerto get on with the task of modern-ization after years of ruinous civil war. They are espe-cially keen to add RISE to a web of partnerships theyhave formed over the years.
According to Antonio Hoguane of Eduardo Mond-lane University: “Long before RISE, we belonged toseveral networks and regional organizations. So thepeople in the marine sciences know each other andshare interests. We have been part of UNESCO’s Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) since1982, and we have partners in Mauritius, Madagascar,Tanzania, the Seychelles, South Africa, and other com-munities around the western Indian Ocean. One of our
RISE graduate students, Avelino Langa, will studygeoinformatics under Dubi, focusing on fluid dynamicsof coastal structures. We expect that he will developthe skills to advise not only our government, but alsothe governments of our partners, on coastal erosionand other issues.”
Hoguane expressed many advantages of partner-ships and networks, especially in sharing resources,instrumentation and people: “None of us can afford tohave all the people we need in one country,” he said.“Partnerships and networks also avoid duplication andensure complementarity. They can help build commonunderstandings that allow us to speak with a singlevoice when negotiating with donors or other organiza-tions. This is critical for us, because other countries
don’t always understand Africanissues. For example, their idea ofbuilding capacity is to teach ustheir knowledge. Our problem isnot so much a lack of knowledge asa lack of resources, includinghuman resources. We know whatwe want to do and what we need.
What we need are the resources to do it.”Likewise, positive benefits are already obvious in
the water network, SSAWRN. One scientist who partic-ipated in this network was Francis Arimoro, a postdoc-toral student who developed an interest in stream biol-ogy in his home country of Nigeria.
His primary research interest is to use aquaticinsects as indicators of water quality. However, at hishome institution, Delta State University in Abraka, hisdepartment had virtually no instruments – not even acompound microscope, which is essential to identifysmall insects.
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There can be noeconomic advancementwithout the creation
of knowledge.
Papaf Mwenyewe/SkyscraperCity
Support from RISE has givenhim the opportunity to work ina well-equipped laboratory, atRhodes University in South Africa,where he is now adapting a streambio-assessment protocol from anexisting local system. He has writ-ten four papers on his work – twoof them published – as well as areview and book chapter. He looksforward to applying his work at home in Nigeria.
The Southern African Biochemistry and Informaticsfor Natural Products (SABINA) network has also beenbuilt on a foundation of productive partnerships. Oneof its leaders is Zeno Apostolides, a professor of bio-chemistry from the University of Pretoria, who formany years has studied the chemistry of tea in partner-ship with the Tea Research Foundation (TRF) of Cen-tral Africa, in Malawi.
One of his collaborators hasbeen Nicholas Mphangwe, a plantbreeder at TRF. Producing tea, likeother agricultural activities, hasbecome a high-tech enterprise,requiring advanced skills. Mphang-we has an MSc from the Universityof East Anglia, but his mentor ispreparing for retirement and hasurged Mphangwe to earn a PhD.Until the advent of RISE, this wasimpossible financially. Mphangweis now working in Pretoria withApostolides and others, learning toidentify genetic markers that willallow rapid selection of desirabletea strains.
One gratifying effect of thesenetworks is to link enthusiastic butinexperienced students with seniormentors. For example, in early2009 a young man named Lloyd
Nyemba joined the Centre of Excellence in StrongMaterials at the University of the Witwatersrand inJohannesburg, South Africa, as part of the AfricanMaterials Science and Engineering Network (AMSEN).A native of Zimbabwe, Nyemba had majored inmechanical engineering but had no opportunity toadvance his career. He took a chance and followed hisbrother and sister to Namibia, where he met Frank
47
SCIENCE INITIATIVE GROUP
The Science Initiative Group (SIG) is an international team of scientificleaders and advocates dedicated to fostering science in developing coun-tries. Its current projects are as follows:• The Carnegie-IAS Regional Initiative in Science and Education (RISE)develops human capacity through science and technology training andresearch in a regional context in sub-Saharan Africa, enabling individu-als to use S&T to contribute to national and regional economic develop-ment.• The Millennium Science Initiative (MSI) is an international initiativedesigned to build capacity in modern science and engineering. Highlyadaptable to circumstances, the MSI achieves its mission through a vari-ety of vehicles, among them competitively chosen centres or networks ofexcellence in scientific research and training.• The Global Science Corps (GSC) will place scientists and engineers(“GSC Fellows”) from developed countries at universities and researchinstitutes in developing countries for one-year terms to share expertiseand collaborate with local partners.For additional information, see sites.ias.edu/sig.
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Kavishe of the University of Namib-ia, who asked if he might be inter-ested in working on carbon nan-otubes in South Africa. Nyemba, who had barely heardof this lively new field, immediately said yes. He beganhis studies under Lesley Cornish at Wits and has sincemoved on to other cutting-edge research.
AMSEN has also helped Odilon Ilunga, a refugeefrom the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, whomade his way to Namibia after working briefly as anengineer in a copper concentrating facility. His dreamof moving ahead in his career was postponed when hewas forced to stay in a camp for refugees. Neverthe-less, he was able to gather a sufficient amount of mate-rials to study and began to teach science to otherrefugees. He even started a small metallurgical lab topractice and demonstrate refining technique.
When Ilunga was finally allowed to leave after sev-eral years, he was offered a job in the remote coppermining town of Tsumeb, where he advanced rapidly tobecome co-manager of metallurgy. But he missed theacademic and teaching environment he loved. So, in2008, he journeyed to the University of Namibia.There he found Frank Kavishe, who was setting up thecountry’s first faculty of engineering and needed tal-ented engineers. Ilunga not only qualified for the grad-uate programme, but was the only metallurgist inNamibia. When the RISE competition was announcedshortly after that, the University of Namibia wasaccepted as part of AMSEN, and Kavishe saw a naturalfit. Ilunga would strengthen the network through his
interest in purifying Namibian cop-per, while benefiting from usingthe advanced equipment at theUniversity of the Witwatersrand,an AMSEN partner.
CHALLENGES AHEADThe development of the RISE net-works, of course, does not comewithout challenges. One challengeis language. In Mozambique, twoof the students eager to work withSSAWRN have a tenuous command
of English. One has sought out a tutor at a foreign con-sulate in Maputo; the other worries that the languagebarrier will limit his career, despite his determination.And RISE still lacks participants from Francophonecountries.
Another problem is that students from institutionswith weak infrastructures may not be able to continuetheir work at the same level when they return home.This is a worry, for example, of Agostinho Vilanculos ofMozambique, who plans to model rainfall in the Zam-bezi River basin. Although he is using a new techniqueto model stream flow from satellite cloud data, theZambezi does not have the weather stations he needsto correlate his mathematical results with actual fieldconditions. A related problem is that students need‘bridge’ support after returning home so that momen-tum does not flag and they can continue to keep up-to-date on their research and publish.
Some problems are more procedural, but no lesstroubling. These are caused by bureaucratic barriersthat hinder the movement of students between coun-tries, and variations in costs and requirementsbetween institutions and countries. RISE has tostrengthen its investment in administration to addressthese problems.
If there is a common weakness in the networks, it isa lack of access to the private sector and other poten-tial partners outside academia. This is to be expected
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Strengtheninguniversities must beconsidered just a first
step in capacitybuilding.
Julien Carnot/Wikipedia
in countries where technical skills at all levels havebeen neglected for many years. That is why thestrengthening of universities must be considered asjust a first step in capacity building.
In February 2007, the World Bank, which has takena leadership role in STI capacity building in Africa,held a global forum in Washington, D.C., where manyAfrican scientists and development experts spokeabout their experiences. Speakers emphasized innova-tive ways to develop technical and vocational skills, toboost the private sector’s capacity to find, adopt andadapt existing technologies that are not being fully uti-lized, to use these skills and technologies to generatemore knowledge-intensive, value-added goods andservices, and to build post-primary education and sci-entific-research systems that contribute in meaningfuland measurable ways to the national developmentstrategy. The World Bank held a follow-up Forum in2009, and is now preparing recommendations for fur-ther, more substantive steps in this area.
KNOWLEDGE FIRSTThere can be no economic advancement without thecreation of knowledge. Yet knowledge becomes eco-nomically valuable only when it is disseminated in auseful form. Each country must develop its ownendemic capacity if it is to stay at the forefront of mod-ern science, but it must also develop mechanisms fordisseminating and using that knowledge to serve itsown interests and those of the region as well. Thesedual objectives must be linked if sub-Saharan Africa isto compete globally.
The success of the RISE networks will rest largelyon the determination of African governments. Whilemany institutions and individuals will play essential
roles, only governments can build and sustain thefoundation of basic science that is needed to anchorand stimulate economic growth and to enrich society.
Once a strong foundation in basic science is inplace, sub-Saharan Africa will be ready to take fulladvantage of its rich mineral resources, maturing polit-ical institutions, abundance of native talent and eager-to-help diaspora.
From such a foundation, young Africans will be ableto earn degrees in mathematics, physics, chemistry andbiology that will help sub-Saharan Africa to assume itsrightful place at the table of nations. Young Africans,moreover, will be able to probe the “dazzlement” ofscience, narrowing the gap between the North and theSouth, and bringing sub-Saharan Africa closer to AbdusSalam’s vision of attaining “a bounty and a grace” forwhich thanks can be rendered “with a humble heart”. �
> Phillip A. GriffithsSchool of Mathematics, Institute for Advanced Study
Princeton, NJ, USA
This is an updated version of an article published in theTWAS-Nature Supplement, a joint project of TWAS andthe Nature Publishing Group. The project was funded bythe Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA),the Wellcome Trust and the Kuwait Foundation for theAdvancement of Sciences (KFAS). The latter also sup-ports the TWAS Newsletter. To browse the Supplement,visit www.nature.com/twas.
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10SCIENCE ADVISER• Abdul Hamid Zakri (TWAS Fel-low 1996 and Council Member) hasbeen appointed science adviser tothe government of Malaysia. As ad-viser, he will chair the country’sScience and Research Council andbe responsible for enhancing net-working between the Malaysiangovernment and domestic and in-ternational science organizations.Zakri directs the Centre for GlobalSustainability Studies and holds theTuanku Chancellor Chair at Univer-siti Sains Malaysia. He also servesas a member of the Arab Fund Fel-lowship Programme, the Senior Ad-visory Group on Technical Assis-tance and Cooperation at the Inter-national Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) and on the executive board
of the International Council forScience (ICSU). He previously di-rected the United Nations Univer-sity’s Institute of Advanced Studies(UNU-IAS) and co-chaired the Mil-lennium Ecosystem Assessment.
FOREIGN ASSOCIATE• L.K. Doraiswamy (TWAS Fellow1997) has been elected a foreignassociate to the US National Acad-emy of Engineering. The electionrecognizes his impact on the field ofchemical reaction engineering. Do-raiswamy is Anson Marston Distin-
guished Professor in the Depart-ment of Chemical and BiologicalEngineering, Iowa State University,and former director of the NationalChemical Laboratory. His previoushonours include the VAVIK Prize forChemical Science, the Federation ofIndian Chambers of Commerce andIndustry (FICCI) Award, the PadmaBhushan and Om Prakash Bhasinawards as well as the Richard H.Wilhelm Award from the AmericanInstitute of Chemical Engineers. Heis a member of the Indian Academyof Science, the Indian NationalScience Academy and the NationalAcademy of Sciences, India.
RAMKISSOON INDUCTED• Harold Ramkissoon (TWAS Fel-low 2003) was inducted into theEuropean Academy of Sciences andArts in Salzburg, Austria, in March.He is the first member from theCaribbean and Central Americaregion to receive this honour.Ramkissoon is professor emeritusof the University of the West Indies,Trinidad and Tobago, and executivesecretary of CARISCIENCE, a sub-regional network of scientists ded-icated to improving graduate,postgraduate and research and de-velopment programmes in theCaribbean. His research work hascontributed to the understanding ofmicro-polar and micro-continuum
fluids and Marangoni instabilities,and he has played a pivotal role inthe advancement of Caribbeanscience. Ramkissoon is also a fellowof the Caribbean Academy of Sci-ences and corresponding memberof the Cuban Academy of Sciencesand the Venezuelan Academy ofSciences. He was previouslyawarded the Chaconia Gold Medal,
the second highest national awardin Trinidad and Tobago, the Aca-demic Gold Medal from Simon Bo-livar University in Venezuela andthe First Caribbean Community(CARICOM) Science Award.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS• Farouk El-Baz (TWAS Fellow1985), director of the Center forRemote Sensing and research pro-fessor in the Department of Electri-cal and Computer Engineering atBoston University, has been ap-
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10 pointed to the board of directors ofthe US Civilian Research and Devel-opment Foundation (CRDF). Hisappointment was based on his suc-cessful “research and teaching ac-complishments, his in-depth knowl-edge of the Middle East, NorthAfrica and the Gulf regions, and hiscommitment to international coop-eration in science and engineering.”In addition, El-Baz received the first“World Water Masters Award” fromthe International Desalination As-sociation in December 2009. Theaward acknowledges his scientificachievements, provision of waterand humanitarian endeavours. El-Baz was recognized for his pioneer-ing work that led to the location ofwater resources in deserts, espe-cially in the Darfur region of Sudan.
WOMAN SCIENTIST OF THE YEAR• Atya Kapley (TWAS-ChineseAcademy of Sciences (CAS) fellow-ship recipient 2007) was awarded
the Woman Scientist of the YearAward from the Biotech ResearchSociety of India in December 2009.The honour recognizes her pioneer-ing work and achievements in thefield of environmental biotechnol-ogy. Kapley is a scientist in the En-vironmental Genomics Unit at theNational Environmental Engineer-ing Research Institute, Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR) in Nagpur, India. She re-ceived her BSc in botany, zoologyand chemistry from Osmania Uni-versity in 1986, her MSc in bio-sciences and biotechnology fromthe University of Roorkee in 1988,and her PhD in life sciences fromHyderabad Central University in1992. During her TWAS-CAS fel-lowship, she worked with Min Yangat the Research Center for Eco-En-vironmental Sciences, State KeyLaboratory of EnvironmentalAquatic Chemistry at the ChineseAcademy of Sciences in Beijing,China
HONORARY DOCTORATES• Ismail Serageldin (TWAS Fellow2001) was awarded two honorarydoctorates from Azerbaijan: onefrom the Azerbaijan CooperationUniversity and another from the In-stitute of History of the NationalAcademy of Sciences of Azerbaijan.Serageldin is director of the Libraryof Alexandria (Bibliotheca Alexand-rina, BA) and chairs the boards ofdirectors of each BA-affiliated re-search institute and museum. Healso serves as chair and member ofmany advisory committees, includ-ing Insititut d’Egypte, the Indian Na-tional Academy of Agricultural Sci-ences and the European Academyof Sciences and Arts.
INTERNATIONAL MEDAL• C.N.R. Rao (TWAS Founding Fel-low and Past President) wasawarded the August-Wilhelm-von-Hofmann Medal for his outstandingcontributions in chemistry by theGerman Chemical Society. This isthe first time that an Indian scien-tist has been awarded the medal,which has gone to Nobel laureatesand leaders in chemical research.The medal will be presented at theEuropean Chemical Congress inNuremberg in August 2010. Rao isnational research professor, LinusPauling research professor and hon-orary president of the JawaharlalNehru Centre for Advanced Scien-tific Research in Bangalore, India.His previous honours include theHughes Medal of the Royal Society,London, UNESCO’s Einstein GoldMedal, an honorary fellowship atSt. Catherine’s College, Universityof Oxford, distinguished researchprofessorship at the University ofCambridge and the Khwarizmi In-ternational Award from the govern-ment of Iran.
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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 more than 900 members from 90 countries, 73 of which are developing coun-tries. A 13-member Council is responsible for supervising all Academy affairs. It is assistedin the administration and coordination of programmes by a secretariat, headed by an Exec-utive Director and located on the premises of the Abdus Salam International Centre forTheoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. The United Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization (UNESCO) is responsible for the administration of TWAS funds andstaff. A major portion 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 ScientificOrganizations (TWNSO), a non-governmental alliance of some 150 scientific organizationsin the South. In September 2006, the foreign ministers of the Group of 77 and Chinaendorsed the transformation of TWNSO into the Consortium on Science, Technology andInnovation for the South (COSTIS). COSTIS’s goals are to help build political and scien-tific leadership in the South and to promote sustainable development through broad-based South-South and South-North partnerships in science and technology.>costis.g77.orgTWAS also played a key role in the establishment of the Third World Organization forWomen in Science (TWOWS), which was officially launched in Cairo in 1993. TWOWS hasa membership of more than 2,500 women scientists from 87 developing countries. Itsmain objectives are to promote research, provide training, and strengthen the role ofwomen scientists in decision-making and development processes in the South. The sec-retariat of TWOWS is hosted and assisted by TWAS.>www.twows.orgSince May 2000, TWAS has been providing the secretariat for the InterAcademy Panel onInternational Issues (IAP), a global network of 100 science academies worldwide estab-lished in 1993, whose primary goal is to help member academies work together toinform citizens and advise decision-makers on the scientific aspects of critical globalissues.>www.interacademies.net/iapThe secretariat of the InterAcademy Medical Panel (IAMP), a global network of 65 med-ical academies and medical divisions within science and engineering academies, relocatedto Trieste in May 2004 from Washington, DC, USA. IAMP and its member academies arecommitted to improving health worldwide, especially in developing countries.>www.iamp-online.org
www.twas.org
