The city will host the first Commonwealth Science Conference to be held after a gap of 50 years. Leading scientists representing around 30 Commonwealth countries will speak on topics as diverse as dinosaur palaeontology and cosmology, infectious diseases and insect society.
The four-day conference will be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday. Organised by the Royal Society, the conference aims to spotlight science and to encourage cooperation between researchers in Commonwealth countries.
Keynote lectures will feature Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society; Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan, head of department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town; Veerabhadran Ramanathan, distinguished professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and noted British astrophysicist Martin Rees.
Anthony Cheetham, treasurer and vice-president of the Royal Society, told reporters that a special focus would be on less-developed countries where the biggest challenge is access to state-of-the-art instrumentation.
The Commonwealth represents 12 per cent of the world’s researchers and accounts for around 10 percent of global research and development expenditure, said a press release from the Royal Society. “The Commonwealth represents nearly a third of the world’s population, in 53 countries across the globe… With an estimated 60 percent of its population under the age of 30, the Commonwealth is set to play an ever more important role in the world’s future,” a release added.
