TWAS Silver Anniversary and 19th General Meeting in Mexico

MexTWAS Newsletter Volume 1, Number 1 (2009) Editorial Welcome to the first issue of the MexTWAS Newsletter of the Mexico Chapter for the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS). TWAS is an autonomous international organization, based in Trieste, Italy, that promotes scientific excellence for sustainable development in the South. Originally named "Third World Academy of Sciences". It was founded in 1983 by a distinguished group of scientists from the South under the leadership of the late Nobel laureate Abdus Salam of Pakistan. The Academy's strength resides in the quality and diversity of its membership internationally renowned scientists elected by their peers. The TWAS Mexico Chapter was formed on September 8, 2005, with Jose Luis Moran Lopez and Silvia Torres Peimbert acting as President and Secretary, respectively. The Chapter has been active and successfully developed Mexico Chapter several activities in these first years, including foremost the organization of the TWAS Silver Anniversary in Mexico and the 19 th General Meeting. The 19 th General Meeting was held November 10-14, 2008 at the headquarters of the Mexican Academy of Sciences in Mexico City. The Meeting, hosted jointly with the Mexican Academy of Sciences, the Science Advisory Council to the Presidency of Mexico and the TWAS Mexico Chapter, was successful in having an interesting and diverse scientific and science policy programs. The Silver Anniversary and the meeting program attracted wide participation of TWAS Fellows, researchers and science policy makers from the host country and other countries. Jaime Urrutia Fucugauchi TWAS Silver Anniversary and 19th General Meeting in Mexico The 25 th Jubilee of TWAS and its 19 th General Meeting were held in Mexico City at the headquarters of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. The Meeting was held from 10 to 13 November with a solid scientific and science policy program, which attracted participation of around 350 TWAS Fellows and scientists from more than 50 countries. TWAS Council and Committee meetings took place November 8-9 th. Special events to commemorate the silver anniversary were 1

organized in advance and through the meeting. The Meeting program was formed by a wide range of themes and events, including a high-level science policy forum on South-South cooperation strategies, the Science Jubilee Lectures and Jubilee events program. A report on the 19 th General Meeting and Silver Anniversary has been published in the TWAS Newsletter (v. 20, no. 4, 2008). The opening ceremony included addresses by Josefina Vasquez Mota (Minister of Public Education Mexico), Marcio Nogueira Barbosa (UNESCO deputy-director general), Barbara Bregato (consigliere Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italy), Juan Carlos Romero Hicks (director general, CONACYT, Mexico), Rosaura Ruiz (president Mexcian Academy of Sciences) and Katepalli Sreenivasan (director International Center for Theoretical Physics, Italy). TWAS president Jacob Palis presented the presidential address on TWAS: Then and Now, highlighting the Academy s accomplishments over its first 25 years. The TWAS Council and TWAS executive director Mohamed H.A. Hassan had an active fruitful participation in the meeting planning and development. During the Meeting, 41 new members joined the Academy ranks. The membership went up to 909 members from 90 different countries. Among the new members, there were: two researchers from Ethiopia, one from Uzbekistan and several from other countries including Cuba, Brazil, China, India and Jamaica. At the meeting, twenty four new TWAS young affiliates were welcomed to the Academy. A major part of the meeting program was formed by the TWAS Medal Lectures and the presentations by the Trieste Science Prize winners and other TWAS Prize awardees. The Local Organizing Committee was formed by Rosaura Ruiz Gutierrez, Adolfo Martinez Palomo, Jose Luis Moran Lopez, Juan Pedro Laclette and Silvia Torres Peimbert. The Meeting was co-sponsored by the National Council of Science and Technology CONACYT, Ministry of Public Education, National University of Mexico UNAM and Mexico City Government. Participants at the TWAS 19 th General Assembly and Silver Jubilee (partial view) 2

TWAS in Mexico MexTWAS Newsletter, v. 1, no. 1 (2009) La Academia de Ciencias del Mundo en Desarrollo (The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, TWAS) agrupa un alto número de los científicos más destacados y representa a la ciencia en los países del mundo en desarrollo. Su principal propósito es promover la investigación científica para un desarrollo sustentable en los naciones del Sur. La TWAS se fundó en Trieste, Italia en 1983 bajo el liderazgo del Premio Nobel de Física, Abdus Salam y cuenta con 909 miembros seleccionados dentro de los más prominentes científicos de 90 países de la región. En particular treinta científicos mexicanos han sido elegidos miembros de la TWAS. Opening Ceremony of the 19th General Meeting and 25th TWAS Anniversary Una de sus actividades regulares de TWAS es la organización de la Asamblea General. La finalidad de estas reuniones es discutir los avances científicos y tecnológicos recientes, la consolidación de las comunidades científicas de la región y las políticas de cooperación internacional para lograr tal meta. A estas reuniones se convoca también a los directivos de los organismos de ciencia y tecnología de los países de la región para buscar concretar acuerdos de cooperación bi- y multinacionales en materia de investigación científica y desarrollo tecnológico. Comité Organizador: El Comité Organizador estuvo integrado por el Dr. Juan Pedro Laclette y la Dra. Rosaura Ruiz Gutiérrez, Presidente pasado y Presidente de la AMC, respectivamente, el Dr. Adolfo Martínez Palomo, presidente del Consejo Consultivo de la Presidencia, el Dr. José Luis Morán López y la Dra. Silvia Torres, Presidente y Secretaria de la Sección México de la TWAS. 3

Participants in the TWAS Silver Anniversary and 19th General Assembly held in Mexico City TWAS Science Frontiers As part of the activities organized for the Silver Jubilee of TWAS, special publication have been edited. One of them titled TWAS Scince Frontiers edited by TWAS secretary general D. Balasubramanian was published in the November 10, 2008 issue of Current Science. This special volume in the journal of the Indian Academy of Sciences includes 13 papers covering a broad spectrum of scientific fields, including physics, engineering, medicine, agriculture, chemistry and mathematics. Further information and access to the special volume are available at http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci 4

The TWAS Tlalpan Statement The following statement was issued as part of the deliberations and final conclusions of the 19 th General Assembly of TWAS. This has been labeled the Tlalpan TWAS Statement, after the headquarter offices of the Mexican Academy of Sciences in southern Mexico City. Invitation TWAS 20 th GENERAL MEETING IN SOUTH AFRICA The 20 th General Meeting will be held in Durban, South Africa on 19-23 October, 2009. The Minister of Science and Technology Mosibundi Mangena made the formal announcement during the meeting at Mexico, and made a special invitation to all members to participate. Information at the Academy s webpage www.twas.org. 5

News TWAS-CONACYT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS Deadline: 31 July 2009 TWAS-CONACYT Fellowship Programme for Postgraduate Research: For young scientists from developing countries (other than Mexico) who wish to pursue studies leading to a PhD degree in the natural sciences. TWAS-CONACYT Fellowship Programme for Postdoctoral Research: The National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT), Mexico City, Mexico, and TWAS offer fellowships for scientists from developing countries (other than Mexico) who wish to pursue postdoctoral research in the natural sciences. Information on other fellowship programs can be consulted at: www.twas.org/ TWAS Regional Offices MexTWAS Newsletter Editorial Board Jose Luis Moran Lopez Ranulfo Romo Silvia Torres Peimbert Jaime Urrutia Fucugauchi TWAS Mexico Chapter Jaime Urrutia Fucugauchi President Ranulfo Romo Secretary e-mail: twas-mex@geofisica.unam.mx Academy of Sciences for the Developing World www.twas.org 6