InterAcademy Partnership for Research (IAP-R) Board meeting, held on 8th February 2018 in London, UK.
The 7th Period of the Periodic Table now complete!
SUBJECT: Discovery and Assignment of Elements with Atomic Numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118
The fourth IUPAC/IUPAP Joint Working Party (JWP) on the priority of claims to the discovery of new elements has reviewed the relevant literature for elements 113, 115, 117, and 118 and has determined that the claims for discovery of these elements have been fulfilled, in accordance with the criteria for the discovery of elements of the IUPAP/IUPAC Transfermium Working Group (TWG) 1991 discovery criteria. Read More…
Report on the Inter Academy Panel Science education programme ((IAP SEP) conference –October 28-30 2014
By Prof. Sunethra Atukorale
I attended the above conference which was held in Beijing China. The theme of this conference was: “Challenges & opportunities of Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education”. The objectives of the conference were:
- To share best practices in the application of IBSE in technology education
- To review and update recent developments on IBSE and assessment
- To examine the relation between IBSE and development
- To emphasize the role of outreach programmes in developing a science literate society
To achieve these objectives the conference focused on the sub- themes, IBSE and technology Education, Student Outcomes Assessment, IBSE and National Development and Science Outreach and Society. Read more…
STATEMENTS
We always look forward to circulating member’s efforts to disseminate statements and other activities.
SciDev.Net recently gave prominent attention to remarks made by past IAMP Co-Chair Dr. J. Boufford on IAMP Statement ” Call for Action to Strengthen Health Research Capacity in Low and Middle Income Countries” Follow this link (http://www.trust.org/item/20131205113741-aiwr3/)
The joint IAP/IAMP Statement “ Antimicrobial Resistance: A Call for Action “was part of the presentation made by, by Keynote Speaker Prof. Thomas Zeltner at the Patient Safety, Science and Technology Summit 2014 (Los Angeles, January 11-13, http://patientsafetymovement.org/2014-patient-safety-summit/speakers-panelists/).
FUNDING
November / December 2013 | Volume 12, Issue 6 of the Fogarty international Centers newsletter offers various opportunities for funding withih the framework of programs for global health innovation in low and middle income countries.
MEMBERS
The Academy of Medical Sciences, UK has launched a new website at www.acmedsci.ac.uk. Access the link to learn more about the opportunities for linkages with other academies
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December 2013 No 38
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Dear IAP Member Academies, On 31 October – 1 November 2013, the IAP Executive Committee (EC) 2013-2015 met for the first time, following its election in February 2013, at the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra. We are most thankful to the Australian Academy for its warm hospitality. During the visit to Canberra, IAP delegates attended the official launch of the Australian Academy of Science’s cutting-edge new secondary school science education programme, Science by Doing. A visit was also organized to a local primary school to see an in-class demonstration of the Academy’s primary science education programme, Primary Connections: Linking Science with Literacy, which is also supported by IAP.The next EC meeting will be held at the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome, Italy, in May 2014, together with the IAMP EC and IAC Board meetings. A joint session of all three governing committees has been organized to discuss future developments towards an interacademy partnership. Linked closely to this is our IAP/IAC fundraising strategy. We want here to express our sincerest thanks to our member academies for your much appreciated feedback and support of this initiative in recent months.At the end of November, we attended the World Science Forum (WSF) on “Science for Global Sustainable Development” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, co-organized by the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (BAS). At the close of the Forum, a Declaration was issued by the participants with five priority recommendations, including a call for concrete action to mobilize science academies and the scientific community to play a role in helping to provide sustainable solutions to global problems. The WSF will return to Hungary in 2015 and then be hosted by Jordan in 2017, with the support of the Royal Scientific Society, also an IAP member academy.Finally, we are very pleased that the IAP News Bulletin is being revived and we hope that you will find it useful and informative. Please forward it to colleagues who might be interested and please come back to us with any feedback and contributions for what you want to see included in future editions. Thank you!Mohamed Hassan & Volker ter MeulenIAP Co-Chairs |
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| IAP STATEMENTS 2013 | IAP CALENDAR |
IAP released a number of statements in 2013. We would particularly like to thank all those academies who provided translations into their respective native languages. The statements and available translations can be found online. Should your academy wish to contribute a translation, please contact the IAP Secretariat.
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Colloquium in Honour of Professor Volker ter Meulen @ Leopoldina in Halle, Germany IAP Executive Committee Meeting @ Rome, Italy 15-16 May 2014 IAP Executive Committee Meeting @ Paris, France 6-7 November 2014 For updates see Meetings & Events on IAP Website. |
December 2013 No 38
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IAP NETWORKING
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| EASAC Council met in Rome on 5-6 December 2013, with IAP Co-Chair Volker ter Meulen representing IAP at that meeting. EASAC have just published a report on “Extreme Weather Events in Europe” which attracted a lot of media attention. Another report on “Risks to Plant Health” is due for publication early in 2014.NASAC and EASAC are organizing a joint workshop on agricultural biotechnology in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in February 2014. The Chief Scientific Adviser to the President of the European Commission, Anne Glover, and the UK Environment Secretary of State have expressed their interest in the event.AASSA, created by the merger of FASAS and AASA in 2012, has just published its final Report of Activities implemented in 2013 through a grant with IAP. | In January 2013, IANAS published a book on “Women Scientists in the Americas. Their Inspiring Stories“.At their General Assembly in November 2013 NASAC elected Mostapha Bousmina from the Hassan II Academy of Sciences and Technology in Morocco as their new Chair of the Board.At their recent Executive Committee meeting IAMP elected Detlev Ganten (Germany) as Co-Chair for the period 2013-2016. Lai-Meng Looi (Malaysia) continues as the other Co-Chair.Also in 2013, the IAC Board elected Daya Reddy (South Africa) as its new Co-Chair to work with Robbert Dijkgraaf (Netherlands). In October, Tom Arrison of US NAS took over as Executive Director of IAC. |
| ANNIVERSARIES | NEWS FROM IAP SECRETARIAT |
 Originally established in 1652 as an Academy for Natural Sciences, the Leopoldina celebrates its 5th Anniversary as Germany’s National Academy of Sciences in 2013. |
In November 2013, Peter McGrath took over from Lucilla Spini as IAP Coordinator at the Secretariat in Trieste, Italy. Peter McGrath has a background in Agricultural Zoology and has recently worked as the TWAS Programme Coordinator.The IAP Secretariat is also very pleased to receive support in its outreach activities, including the IAP News Bulletin, from Anna-Maria Gramatté, Assistant at the International Relations Department of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. She has a background in British Cultural Studies, Politics and Communication Studies and joined the Leopoldina team in September 2013. |
| IAP PROGRAMMES & PROJECTS | |
coordinated by our member academies and affiliated regional networks for implementation in 2014:
For information on IAP Programmes funded in 2013, including information on recent activities and workshops, see Projects & Programmes on the IAP Website. |
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| FEEDBACK / CONTACT | |
Introduction
Infectious diseases account for about one-quarter of all deaths worldwide. Since the introduction of penicillin in the 1940s, antibiotics have occupied a central place in the treatment of bacterial infections and make possible many of the procedures of modern medicine such as cancer chemotherapy, organ transplantation and the care of premature babies. Although there have been major advances in research into, and treatment of, many communicable diseases, continuing progress in tackling these major challenges for public health is threatened by the dramatic increase in the number and distribution worldwide of pathogens resistant to antimicrobial (antibacterial, antiviral, antiparasitic and antifungal) drugs. For example, a recent report by the UK Chief Medical Officer1 concludes that “antimicrobial resistance poses catastrophic threat”. The latest G8 Science Ministers Statement (2013) focused on the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance and the World Health Organisation expressed concern that this rapidly growing problem may impede progress towards the Millennium Development Goals 20152. The global pandemic of antibiotic resistance in both community care and hospital-associated infections represents a major health and economic burden and this crisis is being exacerbated by a relative lack of innovation in generating new antibiotics: we are in danger of returning to a pre-antibiotic era. Read more…
IAP & IAMP release Joint Statement on Antimicrobial Resistance
Release Date: 18 November 2013
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Dr. Peter McGrath
IAP/IAMP Coordinator
c/o The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) – for the advancement of science in developing countries
Tel.: +39-040-2240-571
Email: mcgrath@twas.org, iap@twas.org, iamp@twas.org
Trieste, Italy, 18 November 2013 – IAP – The Global Network of Science Academies, and the InterAcademy Medical Panel (IAMP) today issued a Joint Statement on ‘Antimicrobial Resistance: A Call for Action’.
In the Joint Statement <<http://www.interacademies.net/IAP_IAMP_Nov2013.aspx>>, IAP and IAMP highlight the critical role that antimicrobial (including antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic) drugs play in today’s medical practices, but also that there have been dramatic increases in the number of pathogens developing resistance to these drugs.
“The global pandemic of antibiotic resistance in both community care and hospital-associated infections represents a major health and economic burden and this crisis is being exacerbated by a relative lack of innovation in generating new antibiotics,” says the Joint Statement, warning that: “We are in danger of returning to a pre-antibiotic era.”
If the current major public health problem of antimicrobial resistance is to be reduced, and if a much worse crisis is to be averted, IAP and IAMP propose a series of 10 recommendations. Read more…
Press Release
World’s science academies stand ready to provide
expert advice to help define post-2015 agenda for global
development
23 September 2013, TRIESTE, ITALY – IAP – The Global Network of Science Academies, which comprises 106 science academies from both developed and developing countries, today responded to the UN-established High Level Panel’s post-2015 agenda for global development and stressed the pivotal role of science in defining the agenda’s priorities. The world’s science academies stand ready to provide expert guidance to the panel and the international community as they further develop the agenda and take action to implement it, said IAP in a statement. In the past 20 years, academies of science worldwide have promoted and implemented scientifically sound and policy-relevant activities that contribute to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Now, through IAP, academies from all over the world have come together to review the Report of the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda and to emphasize the centrality of science in this endeavour. The statement notes IAP activities in areas such as science education, science literacy, water resources management, and population and consumption, and makes specific recommendations regarding the Goal No. 4 “Ensure healthy lives” and Goal No. 12, “Promote collaboration on access to science, technology, innovation and development data,” in the High Level Panel’s report.
In view of the special event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be hosted on September 25 by the President-Elect of the UN General Assembly, IAP Co-Chairs Professor Mohamed Hassan (Sudan) and Professor Volker ter Meulen (Germany) commented, “The network of the world’s academies of sciences stands ready to work within a global partnership to provide science-based and independent advice toward assessing the achievements of the MDGs and defining the post-2015 development agenda. IAP can provide an innovative look at these processes, being free from political biases and able to draw upon the best science from all disciplines relevant to poverty eradication and sustainable development.”