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TWAS supports researchers in developing countries through a variety of grants and fellowships. The dates for applications vary, and we're telling you what's up next.
TWAS 1987 Conference: A Meeting That Changed The World
Nature magazine is running a series of articles entitled "Meetings That Changed The World". The series covers six scientific meetings that "had such a great impact they can be said to have changed the world." Among the meetings featured: the conference that led to the establishment of CERN, the Bellagio Conference that ushered in the Green Revolution, and TWAS's Second General Conference in Beijing in 1987 that marked the opening of China's scientific community to the world.
TWAS Supplement to NATURE Publishing Group
On the occasion of TWAS's 25th anniversary, the Academy and NATURE Publishing Group are pleased to announce the publication of A World of Science in the Developing World.
SciDev.Net article about TWAS
Twenty-five years after TWAS was set up, Yojana Sharma examines whether the Academy is any nearer to achieving its ambitious goals.
SCIENCE Magazine article about TWAS
"In addition to helping to close the divide between the research capabilities of the northern and southern hemispheres, the 871-member Academy of Sciences for the Developing World is now focusing on another divide: the widening gap between the South's scientific haves and have-nots."
Viewpoints
TWAS Fellow (2005) Monty P. Jones gives his viewpoint on the ongoing changes occurring in the international agricultural research system of the CGIAR and why he feels they are necessary.
Making the move to sustainable energy
Developing countries face a two-fold energy challenge in the 21st century: meeting the needs of billions of people who lack access to energy services, while participationg in a global transition to clean energy to ensure a better future for all.
Coming home to Iraq
After two decades of war, international sanctions and dictatorship, Iraq is starting to rebuild its once formidable science base. TWAS Fellowship recipient Fouad Majeed tells what it is like to return home after spending nearly four years in Italy and Brazil.
Science and change in South Africa
On the eve of TWAS's 11th General Conference in Durban, Daniel Schaffer, the Academy's public information officer, explores the current state of science in South Africa.
Minister Pandor on science
Naledi Pandor was appointed minister of science and technology of South Africa by president Jacob Zuma in May 2009. She has been a member of South Africa's parliament since 1994 and has previously served as minister of education.
African Penguin populations in decline
21 October. Speaking at a symposium on science and technology in South Africa held on the first day of the TWAS 11th General Conference in Durban, Phil Hockey of the University of Cape Town warned that without effective conservation measures the African Penguin could be facing extinction within thirty or forty years.
Truth, Beauty and Math
22 October. Are mathematicians the architects of an unseen world? Sir Michael Atiyah, honorary professor at the University of Edinburgh (UK), lecturing at the TWAS 11th General Conference in Durban, South Africa, proposed that mathematicians, driven by a passion for beauty, discover truth along the way.
Biomedical research in Taiwan, China
23 October. Cheng-Wen Wu, founding president of the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) in Taipei, spoke at the TWAS 11th General Conference in Durban, South Africa, where he was awarded a TWAS regional prize for institution building, in recognition of his leading role in building a world-class system of biomedical research in Taiwan.
Live Blog
Linda Nordling is blogging live from TWAS's 11th General Conference in Durban, South Africa.
Flamingos, microbes and more in Africa's Great Rift Valley
29 October. It's not the African pink flamingos – strutting gracefully in the shallows of Kenya's Lake Nakuru – that capture the attention of Hamadi Iddi Boga. It's what's beneath their feet.
News from Durban
TWAS's 11th General Conference and 20th General Meeting took place in Durban, South Africa, from 20 to 23 October 2009.
2010 Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research
Pre-registration is now open for the second "Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research" that will be taking place at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 3 February 2010.
A new age for science communications
10 November. The world of science communications is changing at an unprecedented pace, says Nature’s editor-in-chief Philip Campbell, "making it hard to predict what the future will hold."
Lagging indicators in Arab region
16 November. Despite small strides in advancing research and development, the Arab region still lags far behind other regions in investments in science, technology and innovation.
Footprints in the 21st century
23 November. Assessments on ecological footprints are blurring the distinctions between developed and developing countries, says Mathis Wackernagel, president of the Global Footprint Network.
Access China
3 December. TWAS editor Daniel Schaffer is in Paris at 'Berlin7', an international open access conference held at the Université Panthéon-Sorbonnes, where he spoke to Zhang Xiaolin, executive director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' National Science Library.
Teach the teachers well
4 December. IMPA's long-standing programme to improve the teaching of highschool mathematics in Brazil has turned to the internet to help advance its goals.
TWOWS awarded Elsevier Foundation grant
18 January. The Third World Organization for Women in Science has received a grant from the Elsevier Foundation that enables it to expand its recently launched prize scheme for young women scientists from the developing world.
TWAS-DFG collaboration
15 January. TWAS and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) announce a new collaborative programme for scientists in sub-Saharan Africa. Deadline for applications: 31 March 2010.
Giving nature's capital its due
12 January. Economics professor Partha Dasgupta, speaking at the opening session of the IAP International Conference on Biodiversity in London, says we need new economic indicators that take into account the value of ecological systems.
Migration and science
21 January. "Migration and Science", an article in the most recent issue of the TWAS newsletter, takes a close look at the brain drain phenomenon.
Increasing the role of science in natural disaster management
14 January. Guo Huadong, director general of the Center for Earth Observation and Digital Earth at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discussed the valuable role that science and technology can play in disaster forecasting and management. Guo, who based his remarks on a recent IAP report, 'Natural Disaster Mitigation – A Scientific and Practical Approach', spoke at the IAP General Assembly in London.
Call for nominations for 2010 Trieste Science Prize in renewable energies
TWAS is seeking nominations for the 2010 edition of the Ernesto Illy Trieste Science Prize. Deadline for nominations is 15 May.
Nominations for 2010 TWAS Prizes sought
Each of the eight prizes carries a monetary award of US$ 15,000. Deadline for receiving nominations is 31 March 2010.
Nanotechnology could help Arab region
20 February. “Nanotechnology could aid the future of development of the Arab region,” says Mohamed H.A. Hassan, executive director of TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world, and president of the African Academy of Sciences.
TWAS Fellowships: Call for applications now open
11 March. Postgraduate, postdoctoral, visiting scholar and advanced research fellowships available to scientists from developing countries. Deadlines vary.
Science academies face age and gender issues
24 February. "Just 24% of the members of the Mexican Academy of Sciences are women," says Rosaura Ruiz, the academy's president.
TWAS and the International Year of Biodiversity
TWAS is aiming to assist the training of a new generation of taxonomists in the developing world.
Can geoengineering help combat climate change?
18 March. TWAS, The Royal Society, London, and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) are launching a major study on the governance of geoengineering.
