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Tengku Sharizad Tengku Dahlan holds a Bachelor of Science (Microbiology) from the Flinders University of South Australia. She started her career at the Universiti Pertanian Malaysia Press before joining the New Straits Times Press (M) Sdn. Bhd. She joined the Academy of Sciences Malaysia as a Science Officer in 1996 where she managed its various projects, programmes and activities. She headed the Academy's Advice to Government Unit from 1999-2009. She was also involved in international research and development collaboration initiatives such as with the Royal Society Exchange Forum; Korea Science and Engineering Foundation Exchange Programme; Materials World Network - National Science Foundation (USA) and the Brain Gain Malaysia Programme - one of the Academy's major programmes under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

Her involvement in the Malaysia'a National Initiative since 2006 has seen her seconded to the National Nanotechnology Directorate, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation as the Head of the Corporate and Strategic Division in 2011. Her main tasks include policy and planning; international relations and overseeing the implementation and management of the NanoMalaysia Programme which includes nanotechnology research and development; establishment of NanoMalaysia Center and commercialization of nanotechnology products.

The ICSU international programme on Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) is inviting international organizations, institutions and academies with experience in disaster risk reduction, members of scientific community, IRDR sponsors and partners to nominate candidates for the IRDR Scientific Committee.

The IRDR Programme is governed by a 15-Member Scientific Committee (SC). The SC is comprised of disaster risk reduction experts from around the world. Members are chosen on the basis of their scientific specialty as well as to ensure geographical and demographic balance, and represents a broad spectrum of disciplines in the natural, social and engineering sciences.

Based on the current committee IRDR have identified the following areas of need:

• Social scientists, seismologist, volcanologist, meteorologist, disaster risk managers
• Representatives from Latin America, Africa, Middle East/Arab States
• Female candidates are encouraged

Responsibilities of IRDR SC Members:

• To define, develop and prioritize plans of IRDR
• To establish and maintain a mechanism for oversight of the Programme activities
• To publicize and promote the IRDR findings
• To assure and facilitate cooperation and integration with relevant national, regional and international programmes, organizations and institutions actively involved in disaster management
• To adopt and apply guidance for establishment of IRDR initiatives in national or regional levels, such as IRDR National Committees (IRDR NC), IRDR International Centres of Excellence (ICoE)
• To mobilize funds for the implementation of IRDR and its related activities of SC and Working Groups (WGs)

Nomination Procedure

The process will follow the following steps:

1. All nominating bodies are requested to submit a completed CV template to the IRDR International Programme Office (IPO) via yaoying.cheng@irdrinternational.org by 31 January 2012.

Exceptionally, proposals may be accepted from interested individuals who feel they have the qualities and experience to serve on IRDR SC. In this case a cover letter should be addressed to the Chair IRDR SC, Sálvano Briceño stating your vision for IRDR, your potential contribution and how your membership will impact on the goals and objectives of the Programme.

2. IRDR SC will review all materials and make a short list of potential nominees which will be submitted to the IRDR Co-Sponsors.

3. The IRDR Co-sponsors will examine the nominations and decide upon the individuals to serve on the Committee.

4. The Chair of IRDR SC will invite the successful nominees to join the Committee. The 3-year term as the new IRDR SC Member will commence from April/May of 2012

Contact

For further information contact the IRDR IPO through:

Ms.Yaoying Cheng

Science Officer
Tel: + 86 10 8217 8917 (direct)

Fax: + 86 10 8217 8913

Email: yaoying.cheng@irdrinternational.org

Web: www.irdrinternational.org

The workshop aims to:

• Present participants with the most recent scientific and applied scientific evidence and knowledge on Psychological Intervention after Disasters;
• Show the constraints and opportunities of working with particular target groups, such as children and adolescents;
• Develop relevant knowledge provision, education and training in academic programs of psychology;
• Help in developing a regional network to support continuance in scientific research and training in mental health support following disaster.

The Asia-Pacific Workshop 2012 is intended for:

• Researchers, educators, and practitioners from across the entire Asia-Pacific region, who have an academic background, primarily in psychology, and who are interested and experienced in work on disasters
• Psychologists who work with particular target groups, such as children and adolescents
• Young and early career scientists from Asian-Pacific countries

Successful applicants will receive the following support from IUPsyS:

• Accommodation: Costs will be covered and accommodation will be provided in a good quality hotel .
• Transport: Costs will be covered by the workshop (most economic available, for example, economy airfare).
• Letter of Invitation: A formal letter of invitation to participants to help raise funds and obtain visas to attend the workshop will be sent by Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Closing date for applications: 30 December 2011

Interested candidates must fill in the application form and send the completed form to IUPsyS via email: IUPsySCB@psych.ac.cn or via fax: +8610-64872070.

Following the decision of the 30th General Assembly (Rome, September 2011), ICSU invites submission of nominations for experts to serve on the Scientific Committee for the new ten-year international programme on Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment: a systems analysis approach.

The published science plan for this programme is available at Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment . The Scientific Committee will be made up of leading experts from a range of disciplines including natural, social, behavioural and health sciences, as well as in urban planning and engineering. Expertise in systems analysis and multi-factorial modelling will be advantageous and experience and willingness to work with aninterdisciplinary group will be essential. As for all ICSU committees, gender and geographic balance will also be taken into account.

The committee will meet twice a year for 2-3 days, mainly in Paris and there will be some work between meetings. Initial appointments will be for 3-years starting in mid 2012. The success of this new programme depends very much on the quality and commitment of the Scientific Committee. The final decision on the committee membership will be made by the Executive Board in April, 2012, following advice from the Committee on Scientific Planning and Review.

Please note that the deadline for nominations is 24 February 2012. For further information please contact  rohini@icsu.org

This meeting will be the last of 2011 and some Committee members will be rotating off by the end of the year. These include the current Chair of the Committee, Professor Bruce McKellar, and Professor Moosavi-Movahedi.

In conjunction with the meeting, the NRCP will organise a Webinar and scientists from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), NRCP and ICSU RCAP will be speaking on the following subjects:

The Promotion of Science and Health Education, and Public Awareness on Science Policy

The Move Towards Green Productivity in South Korea: Scientific, Technological and Economic Considerations

Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment: A Systems Approach to an Integrated Understanding.

There will also be a panel discussion and an open forum on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) proposal for the establishment of ASEAN Community 2015.

The WEBINAR will engage with participants at the Cebu meeting, and other participants from all major geographical divisions of the country viz. Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

At the meeting the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) will sign a memorandum of understanding with the National Research Council of Philippines (NRCP) to promote research collaboration between the two countries. This will include:

Research and development activities

Exchange of researchers, faculty and students

Exchange of and participation in scientific publications

Foresight activities in science and technology; and

Engagement in other activities in science and technology that are of interest to both countries.

The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) has elected Professor Bruce McKellar, the Chair of the ICSU Regional Committee for Asia and the Pacific as its President-Designate. He will be the first Australian President of this leading international physics organization.

Professor Bruce McKellar is a theoretical physicist who primarily works on elementary particle physics and has a particular interest in neutrino physics and in the violation of matter-antimatter symmetries. His curiosity has led him to work in many other fields, including nuclear physics, remote sensing of atmospheric aerosols, cosmology, and particle production by high intensity lasers.

He received his PhD from the University of Sydney in 1965, and after a period at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and on the Faculty at the University of Sydney School of Physics, became the Professorship of Theoretical Physics at Melbourne University, in 1972. He retired in 2008, and was appointed an Honorary Professorial Fellow.

His research has been recognised by the award of several medals, including the 2007 Massey Medal of the Institute of Physics (UK) and the Australian Institute of Physics, and the 2009 Flinders Medal of the Australian Academy of Science.

He served on the Board of Trustees of the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics and on the Council of the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies for many years.

He became the Chair of the International Council of Science Regional Committee for Asia and the Pacific in 2009, and will retire from that position at the end of this year.

The ICSU Committee of Freedom and Responsibility in the conduct of Science (CFRS) released and advisory note on Sharing Scientific Data, with a focus on developing countries. The note concerns the rights and responsibilities of scientists and the world scientific community with regard to sharing data and supports all endeavours and initiatives to enhance data sharing. It also aims to help scientists in developing countries contribute effectively to scientific progress and reduce global inequality and the brain drain of scientists from developing to developed countries.

For further detail, please visit CFRS Advisory Note: Sharing Scientific Data, with a Focus on Developing Countries

The purpose of The Dupont Summit is to promote dialogue about the pressing policy issues related to science, technology and the environment. The conference mirrors the interest of the Policy Studies Organization (PSO) and its partners in promoting discussion of current policy concerns.

Presented every year on the first Friday of December, the conference brings together academics, government, business and social leaders from a variety of backgrounds, for conversation about issues that include but are not limited to health, energy, national security, information and telecommunications, environment and climate change, biotechnology, genetics and stem cells, water and natural resources, science research and education, technology and innovation, space, and ethical, legal and social implications of science and technology.

PSO are looking for proposals from all views and persuasions from across the political and social spectrum, and may be in the form of panels, individual presentations, workshops, roundtables, etc. All suggestions will be welcome. The dateline for submitting proposal in on 19 November 2011. For more information, please visit PSO website, or contact Michael Horka, PSO Outreach Director, at horka@ipsonet.org or by phone at 202-483-2512 ext 160.

The 30th General Assembly of ICSU commenced in Rome, Italy on 27 September and will end on 30 September. More than 250 leading scientists from around the world are gathered for this unique event to discuss and address how science can contribute to solving some of the pressing challenges facing society today. The Assembly approved ICSU’s strategic plan covering the years 2012 – 2017. Professor Indira Nath, Chair of the ICSU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) Planning Group on Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment made a presentation of the science plan on health and wellbeing in the changing urban environment that was published by ROAP in June 2011. The Assembly endorsed plans for a new global initiative "Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment: A Systems Analysis Approach". It lays out a new conceptual framework for considering the multi-factorial nature of both the determinants and the manifestations of health and wellbeing in urban populations.

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Climate Change Centre (APCC) is seeking qualified young scientists from national meteorological and hydrological services and research institutes of developing countries for attachment as short-term visiting scientist at the APCC in Busan, South Korea. APCC will provide selected scientists with opportunities to conduct research at APCC, provide access to APCC data, equipment and support from APCC scientists and staff. More information about the programme may be obtained from the APCC announcement of the programme and those interested can fill and submit to the APCC the registration form for the programme.

In preparation for the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), the ICSU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) organised in association with UNESCO Jakarta Office a regional workshop for Asia and the Pacific. The primary aim of the workshop was to prepare agreed positions for input into the regional preparatory meetings of the UNCSD Rio+20. A copy of the report of the workshop is now available for download.

The Extreme Natural Hazards and Societal Implications (ENHANS) Project of International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) launched in 2010 is supported by several ICSU bodies including the ICSU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. It aims to (i) to improve understanding of critical phenomena associated with extreme natural events and to analyse impacts of the natural hazards on sustainable development of society; (ii) to promote studies on prediction of extreme events reducing predictive uncertainty and on natural hazards mitigation; to bring the issues into the political and economical policies; (iii) to disseminate knowledge and data on natural hazards for the advancement of research and education in general and especially in developing countries. It is funded largely by the ICSU Small Grants Programme. In conjunction with the 25th General Assembly of the IUGG in Melbourne, Australia, ENHANS held two symposia to discuss major challenges in natural hazards research, risk analysis and ways for solutions, and an open science forum to discuss how integration of knowledge may be achieved to reduce loss of lives and property arising from hazards and disasters through better policy and decision-making. For more details please read the full report of the ENHANS meeting in Melbourne.

Professor Yuan-Tseh Lee, the ICSU President-Elect, was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) for his distinguished contributions to science, in a conferment ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on 28 June 2011. Professor Lee was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1986 for his work in chemical dynamics. Lee was President of Academia Sinica and since returning to China Taiwan in 1994 had helped establish several foundations, institutes and programmes that promote higher education and scientific research.

Lee actively contributes to the development of the ASM and has shared his thoughts on science and its development in public lectures and dialogues in Malaysia since 1998. He is a member of the review panel of the ASM's Mahathir Science Award and has been on the International Advisory Council of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman since 2002.

There are just five Honorary Fellows of the ASM consisting of two former Prime Ministers of Malaysia Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, one other Nobel laureate Professor Ahmed Zeweil of the California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech), and the former Minister of Science, Technology and Environment Tan Sri Law Hieng Ding.

The main organizers of the 22nd Pacific Science Congress that was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 14 to 17 June 2011 viz. the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM), Pacific Science Association (PSA) and International Council for Science Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ICSU ROAP) have published the resolutions of the 22nd Pacific Science Congress.

The Southeast Asia Regional Committee for START (SARCS) announced its 2011 Training Workshop focused on "Urban Response to Climate Change in Asia - Understanding Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies" taking place between 10 -15 November 2011. This training workshop is organized collaboratively by IHDP-UGEC (Urbanization and Global Environmental Change, an IHDP core project) and SARCS, and will be held at National Taipei University, Taiwan.

It is open to young scholars from SARCS member countries. Scholars from other countries with relevant background and field of study are welcome to apply as well. The workshop will focus on urban responses, including mitigation and adaptation strategies to climate change in Asian cities. The goal of the workshop is to collect the studies from different countries and integrate them into synthesis or research papers in hopes of providing valuable references for drafting IPCC AR5. Workshop application is due on 29 July 2011.

For complete information on this workshop, this linkage will direct you to the event website and official workshop details.

The 22nd Pacific Science Congress (PSC-22) that was held in Kuala Lumpur from 14 to 17 June 2011, and co-organized by the ICSU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) was a resounding success. Almost 800 participants from 45 countries participated in the four-day congress. Forty-six registered conveners of symposia heard more than 250 paper presentations organized along the 8 themes of the Congress. At the closing of the Congress the Chair of the Organizing Committee Zaidee Laidin who is also the Vice President of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia the main organizer of the event, presented the resolutions of the 22nd Congress. The ICSU ROAP science plan on health and wellbeing in the changing urban environment was also launched during the symposium on health challenges of urbanization convened by Professor Anthony Capon from the Australian National University (ANU).

ICSU ROAP is pleased to announce that the ICSU ROAP Science Plan on Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment: A Systems Approach was launched by Emeritus Professor Zakri A. Hamid, Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, and member of the ICSU Executive Board, on 14 June 2011 at the 22nd Pacific Science Congress in Kuala Lumpur.

For further information, please visit the Publications page.

With an expanding global population it is increasingly becoming clear that long-term energy and food production will need to draw more on the capacity of new technologies to collect and store sunlight in the form of chemical potential. Researchers in major national projects such as the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) in the US and Solar H network in Europe are now are actively redesigning photosynthesis in ways that may achieve low cost, localised, conversion of sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into fuel for heating and cooking. Enhanced artificial photosynthesis, if applied equitably, could assist crop production on marginal lands, reduce atmospheric C02 levels, lower geopolitical and military tensions over fossil fuel, food and water scarcity and create carbon-neutral hydrogen fuel for domestic, community and industrial storage. To date, however, there has been no concerted effort to establish global collaborations, funding and governance structures for artificial photosynthesis.

This conference provides a unique forum for senior and junior researchers to discuss prospects for global collaboration in artificial photosynthesis in:

• energy capture
• energy conversion and storage
• carbon fixation and
• modified and synthetic biological processes.

It also aims to bring such researchers together for the first time with those involved in shaping the governance architecture for global artificial photosynthesis. For further information please visit the conference website.

The National Academies Press (NAP) was created by the National Academies to publish the reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council, all operating under a charter granted by the Congress of the United States. The NAP publishes more than 200 books a year on a wide range of topics in science, engineering, and health, capturing the most authoritative views on important issues in science and health policy. The institutions represented by the NAP are unique in that they attract the nation’s leading experts in every field to serve on their award-wining panels and committees. The nation turns to the work of NAP for definitive information on everything from space science to animal nutrition.

Implementing the free download option will make the results of NAP work more available to the American public and to other readers throughout the world. NAP hope that it will make a positive impact on the world by more freely sharing their knowledge.Projections based on free PDFs currently available on the NAP Website show that this change in policy will enhance the dissemination of reports from about 700,000 free PDF files downloaded per year to more than 3 million annually by 2013.

PDF files of reports that were formerly for sale on the National Academies Press (NAP) Website and PDFs associated with future reports are now available free of charge to Web visitors.