One year after Egypt’s revolution, enthusiasm and prospects for science are high — but still need translation into a fully functioning system.

It is difficult to believe, given the optimism and vitality of current debates about science in Egypt, that less than two years ago a UNESCO report described science in the Arab world as being in a “vegetative state”. [1]

This week Egypt celebrates the first anniversary of the momentous events in Tahrir Square, and elsewhere, that brought down the autocratic regime of President Hosni Mubarak. These events showed both the promises and the challenges in achieving economic prosperity and social development.

The promises lie in the fervour for democratic control that continues to sweep the country, combined with growing public enthusiasm for science. They point to a widely-held desire to modernise Egypt’s social and economic institutions in ways that directly address the needs of its people.

But turning fervour into an achievable political programme — one that ensures the achievements of last year’s revolution are permanent — remains a major challenge. This is as true for the institutional reforms needed to genuinely transform the country’s science infrastructure, as it is of the broader changes demanded of the newly-elected Egyptian Parliament.