New Generation of Scientists Encouraged to Help Developing Countries

Young scientists are often sheltered in advanced research institutes and are increasingly isolated from people from poorer nations who could benefit from their work. The three-week “Rice: Research to Production” course, held last month at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, will encourage some of the world’s best and brightest young scientists to consider careers helping developing nations. During the course, participants learned first the rudiments of rice cultivation. Then, they were shown the latest in rice research, and given hands-on experience in such areas as rice breeding and fertilizer management.

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States, the United Kingdom’s Gatsby Foundation, and IRRI, the new course attracted 26 participants from 12 nations, with half coming from the U.S. and European Union and half coming from rice-growing countries in Asia and Africa. The new program also seeks to reverse the one-way traffic of recent decades that saw thousands of young scientists from the developing world studying and taking jobs in the developed world.

IRRI has already confirmed plans to run the same course next year. Read the press release at http://www.irri.org/media/press/press.asp?id=154.