Obama’s visit marks ‘new beginning’

By Datuk Dr Zakri Abdul Hamid   UNITED States President Barack Obama’s visit this weekend is testimony to the friendship he shares with our prime minister and marks the first hospitality extended by Malaysia to America’s chief executive since Lyndon B. Johnson... Read More

Charting Malaysia’s path for the future, through science and innovation

By Zakri Abdul Hamid – Science Adviser to the Prime Minister of Malaysia For Malaysia, the past three decades have been a period of rapid and sustained growth. Measuring growth with the traditional Gross Domestic Product yardstick, Malaysia’s economy has increased more... Read More

Perspectives: Dare Mighty Things

By: Alex Dehgan, former Science Advisor to Administrator of USAID. Dear Colleagues, December 13th will be my last day as the Chief Scientist for US Agency for International Development, and the end of nearly ten years of service of applying science in furtherance of US... Read More

Does the Arab world (not) need basic science?

Commentary The Arab world cannot afford to ignore curiousity-driven basic research in favour of applied research, if the different states hope to produce an enlightened science culture at home. Nidhal Guessoum When the British physicist J. J. Thomson won the Nobel Prize in 1906... Read More

Islam Analysis (20): Knowledge economies remain elusive

By:Athar Osama Published on SciDev.Net on 18 May 2012 Building a knowledge society in the Islamic World requires structural change — not fads and symbolism, argues Athar Osama. Last month, a special report by The Economist magazine announced the dawn of the third industrial... Read More

Look to West for Knowledge

By Zakri Abdul Hamid Islamic nations should go all out to create conditions that foster academic pursuit in science and technology There was a time when budding Western scholars travelled long distances to the then epicentre of science and technology — the Islamic world that... Read More

SciDev.Net: Egypt’s Scientists Savour Post Revolution Year

By: Hazem Badr Published on SciDev.Net on 18 January 2012 There has been a surge in public interest in science as the route to recovery Scientists have been reflecting on the astonishing gains that the Egyptian revolution has delivered them, as the first anniversary... Read More

Islam Analysis (15): Money can’t buy quality research

By: Athar Osama Published on SciDev.Net on 12 January 2012 Some Muslim countries’ powerful financial incentives to make quick progress in research could backfire, cautions Athar Osama. Over a decade ago, several governments in the Islamic world woke up from decades of... Read More

Islam Analysis (14): Planting seeds for a scientific revolution

By: Athar Osama Published on SciDev.Net on 15 December 2011 Arab Spring revolutionaries turning to governance must adopt knowledge and innovation as barometers for progress, says Athar Osama. As revolutions swept countries and shook governments across the Middle East and North... Read More

Making Malaysia’s Third Science Policy Work

By: Tan Sri Omar Abdul Rahman The government’s science and technology (S&T) apparatus is now in active consultations to formulate the third national S&T policy (NSTP3) and I have been involved in some and benefitted from them. In an earlier article (NST 9/7/11), I had... Read More