More than 350 scientists from 50 countries will deliberate on diverse issues, including strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change and teaching science to children, at the four-day 21st general meeting of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Tuesday.
Dr. Singh will also present the India Science Prize to renowned statistician and Professor Emeritus at Pennyslvania State University, C. R. Rao, at the inauguration ceremony. He will also give 2010 TWAS prizes and medals to scientists from different countries, including India, in eight fields.
The 2010 winner of the Ernesto Illy Trieste Science Prize carrying a cash prize of $ 1,00,000 will also be announced at the inaugural function.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Dr.Jacob Palis, president of TWAS, C. N. R. Rao, eminent scientist and chairman, Prime Minister's Scientific Advisory Council, D. Balasubramanian, secretary-general TWAS, and Mohd. Hassan, executive director, TWAS, said one of the main objectives of TWAS was to promote science and technology in the least developed countries.
They said following the inaugural, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Prithviraj Chavan, will participate in a ministerial roundtable on scientific collaboration with Africa. N. Pandor, Minister of Science and Technology, South Africa, and H.A.M. Dzinotyiweyi, Minister for Science and Technology Development, Zimbabwe, will also attend.
Dr. Palis said TWAS had created the largest South-South programme on doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships. Based in Italy, TWAS also sponsors a large number of research and training programmes for scientists from the developing world.
