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Members of royal families around the world often express support for science, but Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan of Jordan stands out for taking a particularly close and active interest.
She is a founder and president of the El Hassan Science City, president of Jordan’s Royal Scientific Society and chair of the board of trustees of the Princess Sumaya University for Technology. She has also recently helped set up a science and technology collaboration centre for the Middle East, in Jordan.
This month is the anniversary of two Arab uprisings, in Egypt and Tunisia. We asked Princess Sumaya about the impact the Arab Spring has had on science in the region, her views on science diplomacy, and her hopes and fears for science, education and innovation.
How has the Arab Spring provided opportunities for science and technology?
A large part of it is people starting to think in terms of meritocracy. A huge potential of talent has been unleashed — talent that was previously held back by corruption and by cronyism, and by a disregard for meritocratic progress.
This is when we can start talking about the Arab Spring becoming the Arab Summer — when we see people assessed on, and acknowledged for what they are able to contribute. You cannot have successful scientific cooperation without meritocracy.
The great new freedom has started to entice a lot of the Arab diaspora — we have lost so many of our talented people in the past.
By: Athar Osama
Published on SciDev.Net on 10 November 2011
The Islamic World Academy of Sciences has been challenged to build bridges. The hardest may be between disciplines, says Athar Osama.
The Islamic World Academy of Sciences (IAS) was established in 1986 as the Academy of Sciences for 57 Islamic member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
The academy has three important functions: to promote the values of modern science by recognising scientists and disseminating scientific findings; to be a forum for debating science and scientific issues; and to be a repository of the history of science in Islamic civilisation. Over the years, it h...
On May 17, 2011 the inaugural meeting of the Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC) for Malaysia was chaired by Prime Minister Najib Razak at the premises of the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS).
A brainchild of the Prime Minister, the GSIAC was mooted arising from Malaysia’s positive experiences in utilizing expert advice from the private sector and academia to shape her socio-economic development plans. What is unique for the GSIAC is the depth and breadth of its membership which is both multidisciplinary and multisectoral in nature.
The council includes 25 renowned international figures of economics, business, science and technology volunteering t...
By: David Dickson, Editor - SciDev.Net
Published at: SciDev.Net on 25 February 2011
Science cannot resolve political conflict. But scientific cooperation can have a key role in maximising post-conflict opportunities.
In his annual State of the Union address, delivered in Washington DC last month, US President Barack Obama spoke strongly about the need to promote science-based technologies to “protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people”.
His words have significance not only for the United States, but also for the Arab world.
Arab countries are now beginning to look at how to promote political stability and revitalise their s...
By: Frank Lehner
Published in Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy on 30 August 2011.
The idea of generating solar energy on a large scale in the sun-intensive countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to satisfy their own increasing energy demand and to export surplus energy to Europe as advocated in the DESERTEC concept1 has publicly received much attention in some countries, particularly in Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, and also substantial support from their governments. Besides the DESERTEC Foundation, an industrial consortium (Dii GmbH) was founded in 2009 which consists of major European and MENA companies to push this project further b...
By: Dr. Athar Osama
Muslim-Science.Com met with Tan Sri Dr. Omar Abdur Rahman, Mahathir’s Science Advisor for over a decade and half and, the “prime mover” behind Mahathir Mohammed’s vision of a Knowledge-driven Malaysia. A deeply humble man, Tan Sri Omar insists that Mahathir was a science policymaker par excellence in his own right and that he would hardly have needed a science advisor. However, he played a critical role in providing scientific credibility to Mahathir’s plans and helping the Prime Minister reach out to the scientific community to build support for his policies.
As Malaysia’s first and longest serving Science Advisor – a position t...
