Update from the Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology
This Issue Has Three Sections.
1. Science Updates from Around the World
2. Science Diplomacy
3. Institutional Updates - Conference, Membership, Corresponding Members
Upcoming Gatherings.
- Meeting / Reception in Tripoli, Libya - August 18 - Rixos Al Nasr Hotel
- Alumni Dinner in Heidelberg, Germany - August 22 - Crowne Plaza Hotel, 7 pm.
- FAST at the Impact Investment Conference, Boston - Sept 15-17 - Take Action website
Welcome to the August 2010 issue of the Fulbright Forum, published by the Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology (FAST), a non-partisan, non-profit organization that serves Fulbright scholars and alumni - executives, educators, researchers and their employers. FAST members and sponsors include individuals and institutions such as universities, corporations, government agencies and foundations.
Eric S. Howard
Executive Director, Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology (FAST)
SOME NEWS FROM AROUND THE
WORLD
Slovak Republic -
The new Prime Minister in the Slovak Republic is a
Fulbright scholar. A sociologist and 1998-99 Fulbright
scholar at the New School for Social Research in New York,
Iveta Radicova was appointed prime minister on July 8,
2010. Radicova heads the four-party coalition of center-right
parties that captured a majority of parliamentary seats in
June's general elections. She is the first female prime
minister of the Slovak Republic. A second Fulbright
alumnus, Daniel Lipsic, serves as the Minister of Interior.
Lipsic studied at Harvard, receiving a Master of Laws degree
there in 2000.
Botswana International
University of Science & Technology is a new
university located in Palpye, about 270 km north of the
country's capital. Located on 2,500 hectares (about 6,200
acres), it will accommodate about 6,000 students in graduate
and undergraduate programs in science, engineering,
technology, business/management and entrepreneurism. According
to the ad in the Chronicle of Higher Education, "The mandate
of the university is to stimulate economic and social
development, build capacity by producing employment-ready and
globally competitive graduates, conduct industry-driven
research and earn a reputation as a center of excellence."
The deadline for selected jobs is 13 September:
www.academicpartners.co.za.
Fulbright Canada
celebrates 20 years of successful programs and alumni
achievement this year. There are now over 1000
alumni of the US-Canada exchange, and the Commission's
activities are growing. A Eco-Leadership Program started in
2009, for example, provides up to $4,000 to alumni and current
grantees for activities in local communities that benefit the
local environment. Some projects included the construction of
a pollinator garden on the campus of Vanderbilt University, a
watershed protection and education program in Southern
California, and a vermin-composting program at the residences
of McGill University in Montreal.
For the 20th anniversary,
the Canada-US Fulbright Commission is planning a gala dinner
September 23, 2010 at the Aviation Museum in Ottawa. Other
activities will take place throughout the year. In Boston on
September 15, 2010, Dr Heather Munroe-Blum will give an
evening presentation on "Higher Education, Science, and
Innovation," and in Vancouver in October 14, Dr Daniel Kammen
be giving the third lecture in Fulbright Canada's Directing
the Power of Human Knowledge Lecture Series. Kammen
is Professor in the Energy and Resources Group and
Professor of Public Policy in the Goldman School of Public
Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and climate
advisor to the Obama administration. www.fulbright.ca
Israel
Fulbrighters - Dr. Abraham Nitzan of Tel Aviv
University and Dr. Yehoshua Kolodny of The Hebrew University
of Jerusalem, were among this year's winners of the Israel
Prize, Israel's highest civilian honor. Nitzan, a 1972
Fulbright Post-Doctoral Fellow at MIT, is prominent in the
field of theoretical physical chemistry and molecular
electronics, laying the foundations for many innovative areas
of nano-science and nano-technology. Kolodny, a 1969
Fulbright Doctoral Student Fellow at UCLA, is a world-renowned
expert in isotopic geochemistry, developing techniques for
tracking geochemical processes in
phosphate.
Science and the
Undergraduate - Dr. Al Conklin is organizing the
fourth International Undergraduate Research Symposium, to be
held in Wilmington, Ohio on Feb. 19-25. Students present
their research in poster sessions and learn about
international research opportunities. He can accommodate
several non-US Fulbrighters and their undergraduate students
at the symposium - participants pay their travel and there is
a small fee to attend. Prior symposiums were in Ecuador, Ohio
and the Philippines. For information, contact the Fulbright
Academy
Arab Science & Technology
Foundation - ASTF, in cooperation with Intel Corp,
has announced the the 6th Arab Technology Business Plan
Competition (TBPC) The competition is a regional technology
investment competition for the entire Arab world and provides
Arabian Entrepreneurs with tools to turn their Technological
innovation into business opportunities. The deadline for
submitting executive summaries is 20 August 2010 . www.tbpc-astf.net
Palestinian
Fulbright Alumni Assn - The PFAA hosted
a college fair in Gaza on July 27, 2010 to promote educational
opportunities in the USA. To date, more than 600 people
from Gaza and the West Bank have come to the US on Fulbright
scholarships.
Women in Science
- How does being a woman-scientist in the US
compare to being a woman scientist in Europe? What factors
support women’s careers in research, and what barriers do
women-scientists face in the US, as compared to Europe? Are
there differences in career aspirations or work environments?
If you could bring certain policies or practices related to
the involvement of women in research careers from Europe to
the US, which ones would you pick? And from the US to
Europe? EURAXESS is conducting a survey on Career
Paths of European Women-Scientists in the United States: Click here for the
survey.
Science in Europe -
According to a new Eurobarometer report published on 21
June, nearly 80% of Europeans say they are interested in
scientific discoveries and technological developments,
compared to 65% interested in sport. This Special
Eurobarometer survey was conducted through face-to-face
interviews in 32 European countries to evaluate European
citizens’ general attitudes towards science and technology,
and to see if this perception has changed significantly from
2005. A total of 31,243 people were interviewed between the
29th of January and the 25th of February 2010. The EURAXESS
newsletter also has information about funding
opportunities and fellowships in Europe or available for
Europeans.
Forum with Young African
Leaders - Last week President Obama hosted
a forum in Washington, DC, with 115 young leaders from the
civil society and the private sector representing more than
forty countries in sub-Saharan Africa to discuss their vision
for transforming their societies over the next 50 years. The
goal was to follow-up on remarks he gave last year during a
visit to Accra, Ghana: “We must start from the simple premise
that Africa's future is up to Africans...we've learned that it
will not be giants like Nkrumah and Kenyatta who will
determine Africa's future. It will be the young people
brimming with talent and energy and hope who can claim the
future that so many in previous generations never realized.”
http://www.america.gov/young_african_leaders.html
McKinsey
Quarterly - The next environmental issue for business
is Biodiversity, according to the August issue of McKinsey
Quarterly. As with climate change a few years ago,
executives are now beginning to recognize the importance of
biodiversity for their future strategies. "A majority of
executives, 59 percent, see biodiversity as more of an
opportunity than a risk for their companies. They identify a
variety of potential opportunities, such as bolstering
corporate reputations with environmentally conscious
stakeholders by acting to preserve biodiversity and developing
new products or ideas from renewable natural resources."
Click
here for details.
Newly
Designed Websites The European
Commission has a new web portal for their The EC
Science in Society websiteexplains in a clear and succinct
way the many policy and research activities that the program
supports. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient
Economy (ACEEE) has a new web portal, providing
a wealth of information on research, analysis, and
community building over the last 30 years relating to economic
productivity, energy security, and environmental protection.
The Washington, DC-based Fulbright Association launched their
new website on August 1 (www.Fulbright.org). FAST will be launching its new
website later this year.
Other Viewpoints (not
just US) - The Atlantic Initiative has
launched a free monthly e-newsletter, "German Debates on
International Issues", to keep subscribers informed on
how topics such as climate change, regional security in
Afghanistan and nuclear disarmament/non-proliferation are
being discussed in Germany. To subscribe, visit www.atlantic-community.org.
Seeking
Sources - If you know of information resources that
should be shared with the Fulbright community, please send a
message to info@FulbrightAcademy.org. Since FAST is based in
the USA, we often know what is going on in this country, so we
are looking for corresponding members / advisors to share news
about developments elsewhere in the
world.
SCIENCE
DIPLOMACY
The U.S. Civilian
Research and Development Foundation
(CRDF), a FAST institutional member, organized a Congressional
Briefing to highlight U.S. government efforts and commitment,
both overseas and domestically. The results of the briefing
were reported on the State Department Blog,
"Science
and technology are very important tools and vehicles for
diplomacy. Science diplomacy opens doors, establishes lasting
bonds, solves problems, and promotes democratic values. For
these reasons and others, it is being employed by the U.S.
government, both from Washington and internationally, through
embassies around the world. The emphasis on science diplomacy
comes from the top down -- from President Obama, notably in
his speech in Cairo in June 2009, and from Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, whose Strategic Dialogues often have a
science and technology component. But science diplomacy is
driven by demand as well as by supply; there is a push for
science and technology collaboration with the United States
from all corners of the globe.
"The U.S. Department of
State uses a number of methods to engage in science diplomacy.
We have negotiated some 47 bilateral science
and technology cooperation agreements to advance
collaboration and find creative ways to develop new sources of
energy, create green jobs, digitize records, clean water, and
grow new crops. The Science Envoy program selects senior
scientists, many of them Nobel Laureates, to travel to
countries around the globe and report back to the President on
ways to deepen our science collaboration." The US also has
an Embassy Science Fellows program that taps into the
expertise of scientists who are working in the Federal
government by deploying them to US embassies overseas where
they work with foreign counterparts, and the State Department
is expanding its corps of Environment, Science, Technology and
Health (ESTH) officials overseas, guaranteeing that our
Ambassadors have key S&T advisors at their sides at all
times. With all of these tools at our disposal, the interest
in, and commitment to, science in our embassies is at an all
time high -- and growing.
FAST Science Diplomacy Tour
to Libya
The FAST program to Tripoli next week
is being held in conjunction with the opening of 2010 United Nations International Year of
Youth. In
2008, about 20 Libyan graduate students attended FAST's
Annual Conference
in Boston through a $25,000 grant that FAST received
from the R
Lounsbery Foundation. We are pleased to be able to
reciprocate and bring a group of US Fulbright alumni to a
special five-day program in Libya. From a group of more than
200 candidates, FAST and our Libyan partners chose
a delegation with Fulbrighters from The
New York Times, the Department of State and universities in
Texas and Massachusetts.
In 2007, FAST co-organized a 3-day workshop in Rabat, Morocco on access to digital information - focusing on impacts to science, education and culture - with major support from the US National Science Foundation, UNESCO and the Moroccan Government. FAST is now working on a follow-up $40,000 award from NSF which will bring 30 Fulbright scholars and other experts to Washington, DC for a meeting in November/ December 2010 to explore how our knowledge and experience can be further translated into practice in Africa. Thus, FAST is looking for Fulbrighters with expertise in library science, digital archives, publishing of scientific literature, etc. FAST is also in conversation with selected Fulbrighters in the museum world, exploring opportunities for collaboration and leveraging the unique abilities of Fulbright alumni to preserve, promote and present artifacts, material and knowledge.
Please let FAST know what your employer or your country is doing in terms of science diplomacy.
YOUR CONTACTS:
Through its work, FAST leverages the knowledge, abilities and connections of the Global Fulbright Alumni Community.
During our first five years, FAST has been particularly active in the US-science community. At the same time, FAST recognizes that two-thirds of the Fulbright alumni are non-US citizens. Important work is being done by Fulbrighters in other countries, and we need your help to know about their activities. Thus, FAST is seeking corresponding members / advisors in many countries, and FAST is also seeking Fulbright alumni in positions of influence so that we can invite them to be speakers and participants in our high-level events.
In 2010, FAST is particularly focused on Europe (host for our 2011 Annual Conference) and North Africa/Middle East (see above section), but alumni from all countries are welcome to be involved. Please tell us about the interesting alumni in your home country or the country that you visited as a Fulbright grantee. For example, we know of at least three dozen college and university presidents / chancellors who are Fulbrighters.
FAST is looking for Fulbrighters who are:
- Current leaders in government and in government agencies (outside of the USA)
- Past leaders in government (but still active in international affairs)
- Members of National Academies of Science
- Leaders in the Medical and Health Community
- Leaders in the Academic Community
- Leaders in the Business World
- Future leaders of all types who wish to be more active in the Alumni community
FAST ANNUAL CONFERENCE & IDEAS FORUM:
FAST is pleased to announce that Lufthansa is our partner airline for the 6th Annual Conference, to be held in Heidelberg on March 16-19, 2011. Conference participants may be able to save up to 10% on their flights. Sponsors in 2010 included Monsanto, Rosetta Stone, Campbell Soup, and Whole Foods Market. Opportunities for sponsoring 2011 can meet almost anyone's budge, from $250 to $10,000. Click here for details.
Proposals for panels and workshops at FAST's Sixth Annual Conference and Ideas Forum are due by the end of August. Please suggest topics as well as possible speakers - for programs that are 1.5-to-8 hours long. The broad theme is social sciences, and it will be held at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, on March 16-19, 2011.
Proposed topics include:
* Business and Social Science - the science of marketing
* Business and Social Science - the science of managing staff
* Global Health - contributions from social science
* Fulbrighters and Philanthropy
* The Science of Happiness - Csikszentmihalyi and other Fulbrighters
* Public Policy and Climate Change - changing behavior
* Social Science and City Management
* Human Rights & the Fulbright Community
Please Submit your proposals as well as news and events for the next newsletter to info@FulbrightAcademy.org.
Support FAST by making your gift
today. Go to
http://www.FulbrightAcademy.org/page/giving/
To join the FAST
Group on Facebook visit:
http://www.Facebook.com/Fulbright.Academy
To
join our Group on LinkedIn visit:
http://www.linkedin.com/groupInvitation?gid=1570
FAST receives over $100,000 in in-kind contributions from institutions with alumni affiliations each year. Some our activities require cash. If you haven't made a donation or membership contribution to FAST in the past year, please consider doing so now. Payments can be made on-line and any amount is welcome. (www.FulbrightAcademy.org/page/giving/).
- $10 is what you might spend on a few cups of coffee - and that pays most of our bill for a month.
- $30 fills your tank with gas or buys dinner for one in the city - and that pays for an outreach luncheon for one.
- $60 is our standard membership amount - and we ask you to donate this amount.
- $500 gives you a life membership in FAST - and discounts to all of FAST programs.
- $1,000 gets you into the Director's Circle - and invitations to special FAST events.
Membership in FAST is open to
institutions that support the FAST mission and to individual
Fulbright scholars and alumni, hosts of scholars and friends
of the Fulbright program. Because FAST is not affiliated with
or funded by the Fulbright Exchange Program, the US Department
of State or the US Fulbright Association, partnerships and
member contributions are critical to FAST's continued success.
Please learn more about the work of the Fulbright Academy by
visiting our website: www.FulbrightAcademy.org
Most
FAST activities are initiated by FAST members. If you would
like to help lead a forum, conference or research initiative
in partnership with FAST, please contact Eric Howard, FAST's
Executive Director. Expected program areas for 2010 and 2011
include Sustainability, Global Health, Entrepreneurism,
Counterfeiting, and Access to Digital Information.
(Click here for our calendar of upcoming
activities)
