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SciDev.Net: Egypt’s Scientists Savour Post Revolution Year

January 26, 2012 – 6:26 am | No Comment

By: Hazem Badr

Published on SciDev.Net on 18 January 2012

There has been a surge in public interest in science as the route to recovery

[CAIRO] Scientists have been reflecting on the astonishing gains that the Egyptian revolution has delivered them, as the first anniversary of Egypt’s Tahrir Square uprising approaches next week (25 January).

Over the past year, the science budget has increased by more than a third, salaries have risen and plans have been made for a science and technology city.

“Change has begun on both financial and administrative levels,” Maged El-Sherbiny, president of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (the government body responsible for funding research in Egypt), told SciDev.Net.

All the research centres affiliated to different ministries will be gathered under the Supreme Council of Research Centers, and the scientific research budget, which jumped 35 per cent in 2011−12, is likely to increase in 2012−13, said El-Sherbiny, with a government target of one per cent of gross domestic product to be spent on science.

The sharp increase in funding stems from a widespread perception that investment in science is crucial for the future of Egypt.

Ashraf Shaalan, president of the National Research Centre (NRC) ―the largest research centre in Egypt ― said that this surge of national fervour for science, as well as increased funding, had motivated Egypt’s scientists.

For example, it has sparked interest in getting research published in international journals, he said. Output rose by a quarter to about 2,000 in 2011, he claimed.

The NRC won about US$13 million from the National Science and Technology Fund in 2011 to fund 80 research projects, he said. But, despite salary rises, the centre lost 400 researchers in the brain drain last year, especially to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

The private sector has not fared so well post-revolution. The Nile University, the first private non-profit research university in Egypt, came under threat because of links to the former fallen regime. The university had moved into new accommodation just before the revolution and was then told by the new government to move out because they were on government land.

“Such stumbles are expected after revolutions,” said Tarek Khalil, president of the Nile University.

Read the full story »

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