Iraqis set up science academy

Iraqi scientists have taken a first step towards restoring a programme of research in the war-ravaged country.

Iraqi scientists want to revive research in the country

A two-day meeting of Iraqis has established a new scientific academy to attract talent back to the country as it builds back its infrastructure.

The 12 founder members of the academy met at the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science, in London, due to the security situation in Iraq.

The meeting was organised by Dr Hussain Al-Shahristani, an Iraqi chemical engineer and visiting lecturer at the University of Surrey, who escaped Iraq in 1991.

"The Iraqi Academy of Science will be an autonomous, self-governing organisation of distinguished scientists dedicated to employing their talents for the advancement of science in Iraq," said Dr Al-Shahristani.

"Iraqi scientific research needs a reorientation from the kindergarten up to the highest university," said Ghazi Derwish, a retired professor of chemistry who worked at the University of Baghdad until 1992.

Election plans

The meeting adopted a charter, and elected a standing committee to hold a meeting of the academy's council in Baghdad in 2004.

The charter states: "The academy is envisioned to be the leading scientific organisation in Iraq promoting pure and applied science for the service of the people and the country, and reviving Iraqi talents for the good of humanity."

The charter and by-laws will be endorsed at the first general assembly in Iraq next year, which will also prepare for the election of the administrative Board.

The headquarters of the academy will be located in Baghdad.

The Iraqi academy has the backing of the Royal Society, the US National Academy of Sciences and the French Academie des Sciences, but currently has no private sector investment.

On the subject of funding, Dr Al-Shahristani said one of the main objectives of the academy would be to "draw attention to the depletion of research [in Iraq] and attract support from outside to revive and reconstruct [Iraqi science]".

He added that it would also plan how to secure funds inside Iraq.

Coming home

Questions were also raised during the London meeting over the future of Iraqi scientists involved in weapons programmes under Saddam Hussein.

Under Saddam Hussein's regime, all scientific research had been directed into military programme.

Dr Al-Shahristani said many, like him, had defected from the country, but others who remained there had been forced to work on weapons projects against their wishes.

But he stressed that the academy would be "extremely reluctant" to invite anyone to join the academy who had been involved in chemical or biological weapons programmes under the old regime.

One of the key objectives of the academy is to encourage Iraqi scientists working abroad to return to the country temporarily, if not permanently, to help reconstruct scientific research.

There are estimated to be thousands of Iraqi-born researchers currently working abroad.

Dr Al-Shahristani added that boosting research in engineering would be a key focus for the academy, in order to reconstruct the country's shattered infrastructure.

Medicine would be another priority. It has been claimed that cancer rates have soared amongst the Iraqi population since 1991. Possible reasons range from the effects of war to chemical agents used by Saddam Hussein's regime.

Welcoming the announcement, Lord May of Oxford, the president of the UK's Royal Society said: "I congratulate the founding members for the progress they have made during their meeting at the Royal Society.

"They have taken the first sure steps to creating a body that will be welcomed into the worldwide family of national academies of science."