TWAS MEETS IN EGYPT

Adnan Badran, the newly appointed Prime Minister of Jordan, will give the opening address at the 16th General Meeting of TWAS (The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World).

The meeting, which more than 250 scientists from around the world are expected to attend, will take place at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt, from 29 November to 3 December 2005. Badran, whom King Abdullah asked to serve as Prime Minister of Jordan last spring, will speak about science and technology in the Arab world. His talk will be based on a recent article that the Prime Minister prepared for the United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) World Science Report 2005.

In addition to Badran, the following eminent scientists will give presentations: Peter Raven, president of the research society Sigma Xi, USA, on biodiversity and sustainability in the developing world; Salih Wakil, professor and chair, Department of Biotechnology, Baylor College of Medicine, USA, on diet and body weight; H.K. Gupta, secretary, Department of Ocean Development, India, on India's efforts to mitigate the impact of future tsunamis and storm surges in the aftermath of southeast Asia's deadly tsunami in December 2004; and Ismail Seregeldin, director, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, on science in Egypt.

Other events taking place during the five-day meeting include a panel discussion examining science education in developing countries with the ministers of science and technology from Brazil, Egypt, India, and Jordan; and a trio of half-day workshops focusing on the status of biotechnology, the social sciences and economics, and physics in the developing world.

At the meeting, 68 new members of the Academy will be officially inducted into TWAS, bringing the Academy's total membership to 763. In addition, 12 scientists from across the developing world will receive TWAS prizes and medals, and present lectures on their prize-winning research. And, the first two winners of the Trieste Science Prize – Sergio Ferreira, professor, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, and T.V. Ramakrishnan, professor, Indian Institute of Science and honorary professor, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India – will speak about their path-breaking research and their lives as scientists.