WAYS 1^st General Conference
Marrakech, Morocco
11-13 December, 2004

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After the successful debut of the UNESCO-affiliated World Academy of Young Scientists (WAYS) at the World Science Forum Budapest - 2003, the organization held its 1st General Conference 11 to 13 December 2004 in Marrakech, Morocco. The event was organized - under the high patronage of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco - by the World Academy of Young Scientists (WAYS) and UNESCO, in collaboration with ISESCO, the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, Executive Training and Scientific Research, Morocco.

WAYS, the permanent global network of young researchers, aims at empowering young excelling scientists both in the North and the South. Presently the organization has about one thousand individual members, originating from nearly one hundred countries of five continents and representing all disciplines. WAYS also benefits from the support of outstanding senior scientists, including 8 Nobel laureates: Leon Lederman, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Wolfgang Ketterle, Sir Harry Kroto, Anthony J. Leggett, John F. Nash, George Olah and Kurt Wüthrich.

The 1st WAYS General Conference was attended by more than 120 talented and motivated young scientists from all over the world, representing about 70 countries and national/international organizations, and by leading scientists, policy makers, and representatives of major international institutions and non-governmental organizations. The event provided excellent opportunity to discuss major S&T issues, in particular the situation and role of young researchers with regard to the profound changes in the scientific environment, and to open new perspectives for worldwide co-operation with the help of the globally represented future generation of scientists.

The major achievement of the conference is the adoption of the WAYS Constitution, which reflects the unifying common goals of the next generation of scientists and policy-makers. The participating young scientists elected an international board representing both developed and developing countries and having a French president (Gaell Mainguy, Ph.D.). The formation of regional units and scientific departments was also declared, providing a structure through which WAYS membership and activities can be extended.

At the meeting, the representatives of UNESCO, ICSU, TWAS, the InterAcademy Panel (IAP), the Network of Youth Excellence (NYEX) and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS) expressed their interest in collaborating with WAYS. The Secretariat continues to operate in Budapest with the support of the Hungarian Government. The international board and the Steering Committee will meet in 2005 at the World Science Forum and evaluate the advances that were planned out at the conference in Marrakech. For further interested young researchers, a call for papers was announced by the WSF Organizing Committee and one of the sponsors.

Contacts:

WORLD ACADEMY OF YOUNG SCIENTISTS

Marta Maczel & Maria Harsanyi
H-1111 Budapest, Kende u. 13-17. Hungary
Mailing address: H-1461 Budapest, PO. Box 372. Hungary
Tel./fax: +36-1-279-6119
E-mail: ways@sztaki.hu
http://www.waysnet.org

UNESCO NATURAL SCIENCES SECTOR

Diana Malpede
1 rue Miollis, 75732 Paris Cedex 15, France
Tel.: + 33 1 45 68 41 49, Fax: + 33 1 45 68 58 27
E-mail: d.malpede@unesco.org
http://www.unesco.org

COMMISSION NATIONALE MAROCAINE
POUR L’EDUCATION, LA CULTURE ET LES SCIENCES

Naima Tabet
3bis, rue Innanouen, Agdal, Rabat, Morocco
Tel./fax: + 212 37 68 24 81
E-mail: tabetnaima@enssup.gov.ma