APS March Meeting 2011
Volume 56, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 21–25, 2011;
Dallas, Texas
Abstract: X8.00001 : Migration of scientists and the International Centre for Theoretical Physics -- a Personal and Professional Perspective
2:30 PM–3:06 PM
Preview Abstract
Author:
Scientists migrate for a variety of reasons: political problems
with their governments, lack of professional opportunities in
their countries, the lure of better lives, financial security for
them and their families, better education for their off-springs,
and so forth. Migration usually occurs from poor and oppressed
countries--the two categories are not one and the same--to the
rich and the open. It has created, over time, a dilemma for the
poor countries: in the midst of all their other problems, how to
justify spending on higher education and research when that
investment often results in the most enterprising of its citizens
to leave their countries behind? (When migration has reversed
direction occasionally, it is because of certain necessities of
the scientists to be back in their countries or for opportunities
that some individuals see for wielding greater scientific power.)
The ideal of keeping the best scientists in their own countries,
still ensuring that they remain scientifically productive and
inspiring to the youth, is what provided the motivation for the
creation of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in
Trieste, Italy, where I served as Director for some seven years.
In this talk, I will present the story behind the formation of
the Centre in 1964, explain its rationale, and analyze its
evolution over time to accommodate the changing scene in world; I
will discuss how some things have remained the same even as more
of them have changed over time. Finally, I will remark on the
broad needs of developing countries even though such needs are
often very specific to a country.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2011.MAR.X8.1