posted
Egypt has declared 2007-2016 its 'decade of science'
Wagdy Sawahel 28 December 2006 Source: SciDev.Net
The next decade (2007-2016) will be Egypt's decade of science and technology, President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak has declared, in a move that lends political support to the country's plans to expand its scientific and technological capabilities.
Speaking at the country's 2006 Science Day ceremony on 20 December, Mubarak called on the government to enhance cooperation with its international partners in fields such as genetic engineering, new and renewable energy, space science, information technology and pharmaceutical research.
He called for increased research appropriations in the new budget and acceleration in establishing the fund of sciences and technological development as an independent body.
And Mubarak promised the government will seek to improve the level of science education by updating educational curricula in mathematics and advanced science.
Hassan Abdel Aal Moawad, professor of microbial biotechnology at Cairo's National Research Center, welcomed the news, saying this provided political backing for initiatives that will, if supported financially and implemented properly, strengthen Egypt's scientific and technological capabilities in many fields, and could also influence the behaviour of neighbouring countries.
He told SciDev.Net, "Egypt's science initiatives will have impact not only on Egypt but also on Arab and Islamic countries as well as the African continent. It provides a model to follow, especially with 2007 proposed as the launching year for science in Africa." (see 'Ministers propose 2007 as 'year of science' in Africa')
According to Hany Mahfouz Helal, minister of higher education and scientific research, Egypt will start by implementing a plan for science cooperation signed with Germany on 11 December. The two countries will promote scientific cooperation in the fields of environment, natural resources, water, irrigation, renewable energies (wind-power and hydropower); industrial environmental protection and thermal power stations; waste management and food industries.
Earlier this month (16 December), a science partnership agreement was also signed with India to promote south-south knowledge transfer, expert exchange and joint training programmes and research projects. Helal also announced a human capacity building initiative in science and technology, which will provide fellowships for Egyptian scientists to conduct research in international research centres.
Egypt has announced a series of initiatives intended to strengthen its scientific research and higher education sectors.
In the latest move, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak this week (3 July) approved a 15-year strategy for higher education whose aims include increasing the proportion of students who study at scientific institutions from 40 to 60 per cent.
Under the plans, Egypt will establish two private and 13 state universities this year. These will include universities specialising in engineering and in medical and pharmacological sciences.
Egypt also plans to build specialised international universities for technology and industry in cooperation with international partners. Discussions are already under way to establish universities in Egypt in collaboration with China and Japan.
The plans, drawn up by the Supreme Council of Universities, include improving staff-to-student ratios in science universities to one to 20.
They also call for the creation of foreign branches of Egyptian universities to promote the transfer of technologies to other Arabic, Islamic and African countries. In addition to its branch in Sudan, Cairo University is already considering plans to set up a new branch in Bahrain.
Egypt is also strengthening its scientific links with Europe. Last month (21 June), it agreed a science and technology action plan with the European Union (EU).
The plan, which will be adopted by the third quarter of 2006, focuses on increasing Egyptian researchers' awareness of opportunities to collaborate with European partners — such as through the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).
It will assess the possibility of a Mediterranean Technology Platform to foster public-private partnerships between researchers, industry and policymakers in the region.
The EU said it would allocate 11 million euros (US$14 million) over four years for a new Euro-Mediterranean Partnership to support research and development in Egypt. This will twin small and medium-size enterprises with researchers at publicly-funded institutions. Earlier last month (15 June), Egypt launched a US$17.4 million research fund that will focus on connecting researchers with industry to promote technology transfer.
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic