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TWAS Newsletter Vol. 12 No. 2 (Apr-Jun 2000)

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TWAS Newsletter Vol. 12 No. 2 (Apr-Jun 2000) EDITORIAL t the TWAS officers meeting, held in Trieste, Italy, on 7 May 2000, José I. Vargas, TWAS NEWSLETTER who had been President of TWAS since 1996, read a statement announcing his PUBLISHED QUARTERLY WITH A resignation. What follows is an extended excerpt from the letter. The TWAS THE SUPPORT OF THE KUWAIT council accepted his resignation with deep regret and sincere thanks. They wished their FOUNDATION FOR THE president well in the new challenges he will face as the Brazilian ambassador to the ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCES (KFAS) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). BY THE THIRD WORLD ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (TWAS) Dear Colleagues, C/O THE ABDUS SALAM I wish to inform you that I have been nominated by the Brazilian government to head INTERNATIONAL CENTRE its permanent delegation to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). FOR THEORETICAL PHYSICS UNESCO and the Italian authorities are presently negotiating provisions for a law to STRADA COSTIERA 11 be submitted to the Italian parliament, similar to the one generously enacted for the 34014 TRIESTE, ITALY Abdus Salam International Centre for PH: +39 040 2240327 Vargas steps down Theoretical Physics (ICTP). The law shall FAX: +39 040 224559 hopefully assure the financing of TWAS future TELEX: 460392 ICTP I activities on a more sustainable and predictable basis. The new generous Italian com- E-MAIL: [email protected] mitment was communicated to TWAS by Ambassador Gianfranco Facco Bonetti, director WEBSITE: WWW.TWAS-ONLINE.ORG general for cultural promotion and cooperation of the Italian Foreign Ministry, during the opening session of our meeting at Trieste in December 1998. The announcement EDITOR serves as the basis for the ongoing negotiations. DANIEL SCHAFFER To ensure the desirable advances in the implementation of this initiative, Academy ASSISTANT EDITOR/SET UP members were recently asked to approve amendments to the statutes so that TWAS’s tru- GISELA ISTEN ly international status could be recognized. This change was deemed indispensable by the TWAS SUPPORT STAFF Italian legal advisers to expedite the preparation of the pertinent national legislation. HELEN GRANT, HELEN MARTIN, Despite the generous contributions that the Italian government and UNESCO (as well as Brazil, China, India, Kuwait, Nigeria, Sweden, and others) have made to TWAS pro- LEENA MUNGAPEN, grammes and administrative activities, the Academy shall only fulfil its high role when SANDRA RAVALICO the target set in its endowment fund and a more permanent generous contribution re- DESIGN & ART DIRECTION sulting from Italy’s proposed law are attained. SANDRA ZORZETTI, RADO JAGODIC [CONTINUED PAGE 3] (LINK, TRIESTE) PRINTING CONTENTS 2 EDITORIAL 4 INTERACADEMY PANEL 6 GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY MOSETTI TECNICHE GRAFICHE 8 SOUTH AFRICA’S NEW ACADEMY 11SCIENTIFIC CAPACITY IN AFRICA 14 CENTRES UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, THE TEXT OF THIS NEWSLETTER OF EXCELLENCE 17TWOWS RECEIVES SIDA-SAREC GRANT 18GOAT BUSTERS IS WRITTEN BY ITS EDITOR AND MAY BE REPRODUCED FREELY WITH DUE 20NEWEST TWAS MEMBERS 22PEOPLE, PLACES, EVENTS CREDIT TO THE SOURCE With a view to further contributing to these objectives, I have invited, on your behalf, a distinguished member of our Academy, President Cardoso of Brazil, to lend his presti- gious support by addressing, personally and in writing, the former Prime Minister of Apr-Jun 2000 Italy, Romano Prodi, and the Italian Foreign Minister, Lamberto Dini, on TWAS’s future needs. Cardoso expressed Brazil’s recognition for the most valuable and generous initia- tives taken by Italy on TWAS’s behalf and, more generally, for Italy’s support for inter- national cooperation, which Brazil also pursues. President Cardoso is also a signatory of the renewed appeal for contributions to the TWAS Newsletter, Vol.No. Newsletter, 12 TWAS 2, TWAS endowment fund. With the fund thus far receiving support only from developing countries, President Cardoso on several occasions expressed the view that it is time for the industrial countries to generously make their contributions. To assist in reaching these objectives and in addition to its own past contribution of $500,000, Brazil made a new contribution of $89,000 in 1998, to help TWAS meet administrative expenses, particu- larly those arising from efforts made in promoting the fund. The assistance of Brazilian diplomatic missions, first in Italy and later in France, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, was extended in good grace to the president of TWAS and, at times, to its executive director. Such assistance facili- tated our contacts, both with high-level national administrations and national acade- mies, to deal with TWAS programme extensions (Sweden); with institutional and finan- cial matters (Italy); and with all of them on issues related to fostering the endowment fund. Some of these activities were reported to you following our Budapest meeting. In light of the above and in view of the special administrative subordination of TWAS to UNESCO, the presidency of TWAS is incompatible with that of permanent delegate for a member state of UNESCO. In addition to this pressing legal consideration, ongoing bilateral negotiations be- tween UNESCO and the Italian government on the future status of TWAS should in no way be affected by the participation of third party — namely, Brazil. For these reasons, I kindly invite you to accept my resignation as president of TWAS. Allow me to warmly thank all colleagues of TWAS who so kindly have extended their trust and friendship to me while I tried, to the best of my limited capacity, to honour the impossible burden of succeeding our most illustrious founding father, the late Abdus Salam. While I remain certain that I have not achieved for TWAS the high aims dreamed of by our founders — dreams that I myself ardently wished to have been fulfilled — I’m sure that these noble objectives shall be attained at a much faster pace, thanks to your collec- tive endeavours under the competent and farsighted leadership of our most distinguished president-elect, scientist and world science statesman, our friend C.N.R. Rao. ■ > José I. Vargas Trieste, Italy 3 IN THE NEWS INTERACADEMY PANEL COMES TO TRIESTE TWAS WILL HOST THE SECRETARIAT OF THE INTERACADEMY PANEL (IAP), A GROUP OF 80 SCIENTIFIC ACADEMIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. GLOBAL INFORMATION EXCHANGE AND ACADEMY CAPACITY BUILDING ARE AMONG IAP’S MAJOR OBJECTIVES. he Third World Academy of eration, networking and capaci- cern to such international organi- Sciences (TWAS) has been ty-building among academies zations as the United Nations, T chosen to host the secretari- and to strengthen the voice of the World Bank and the Interna- at of the InterAcademy Panel academies in discussions of sci- tional Monetary Fund. Council (IAP). The decision was made at ence-related issues in both na- expertise will also be made avail- the IAP’s General Assembly on 19 tional and international settings. able to governments, again upon May, following the Conference of IAP membership currently request. The IAC will be located the World’s Scientific Academies, consists of 80 academies world- at the Royal Netherlands Aca- “Transition to Sustainability in wide. For the past five years, the demy of Arts and Sciences in the 21st Century,” held in Tokyo, secretariat has been located at Amsterdam. Japan, from 5-18 May. The Royal Society in London. A close working relationship is The purpose of the IAP, which At the same meeting, the IAP expected to develop between the was launched at the United voted to create the InterAcademy IAP and the IAC. One of the two Nation’s Population Summit held Council (IAC), which will be re- co-chairs of the IAC, for example, in New Delhi, India, in 1993, is sponsible for providing, upon re- will serve as an ex-officio member “to act as an international forum quest, expert scientific advice on of the IAP General Assembly and that brings together academies of issues of global con- Executive Committee (the all nations to discuss prob- two chairs may either split lems of global concern.” the responsibilities or The panel also pur- one chair may serve in Apr-Jun 2000 sues strategies for both capacities). The promoting “the role IAP, in turn, will nom- of science and tech- inate scientists to nology in address- serve on the IAC’s ing these problems.” study groups created In effect, the IAP to provide expert in- TWAS Newsletter, Vol.No. Newsletter, 12 TWAS 2, seeks to foster coop- formation and de- 4 tailed reports to international or- ing, particularly in the South. ment has generously agreed to ganizations and governments. In Tokyo, Eduardo Krieger provide both operational money To date, the IAP has focused (TWAS Fellow), president of the and a home for the IAP. We are its energy on building a forum Brazilian Academy of Sciences currently negotiating both in which science academies and Yves Quéré, foreign secre- arrangements through discus- throughout the world could ex- tary of the French Academy of sions with local, regional provin- change information and ideas. To Sciences, were elected new co- cial and national authorities, and that end, the IAP has participated chairs of the IAP. Members of the we expect the plans to be final- in two United Nations (UN) con- IAP also agreed to appoint a tem- ized in the months ahead. ferences: one devoted to global porary executive committee to Refurbishing one of the pro- population in 1993 and another draft an IAP constitution and op- posed sites for IAP’s and TWAS’s to megacities in 1996. The con- erating procedures. The commit- permanent headquarters will ference in Tokyo, which focused tee consists of the two IAP co- take time. Meanwhile, the Abdus on scientific issues related to sus- chairs and representatives of the Salam International Centre for tainability, was IAP’s third inter- academies of India, China, the Theoretical Physics has agreed to national gathering.
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