The World Academy of Sciences

History

TWAS was founded in 1983 under the leadership of the Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam of Pakistan by a group of distinguished scientists who were determined to do something about the dismal state of scientific research in developing countries.

• Although developing countries account for 80% of the world's population, only 28% of the world's scientists hail from these countries. This fact reflects the lack of innovative potential necessary to solve real-life problems affecting poor nations.
• A chronic lack of funds for research often forces scientists in developing countries into intellectual isolation, jeopardizing their careers, their institutions and, ultimately, their nations.
• Scientists in developing countries tend to be poorly paid and gain little respect for their work because the role that scientific research can play in development efforts is underestimated. This in turn leads to brain drain in favour of the North that further impoverishes the South.
• Research institutions and universities in the South are under-funded, forcing scientists to work in difficult conditions and often with outdated equipment.

The founding members of TWAS therefore decided to set up an organization that would help to:

1. Recognize, support and promote excellence in scientific research in the South;
2. Provide promising scientists in the South with research facilities necessary for the advancement of their work;
3. Facilitate contacts between individual scientists and institutions in the South;
4. Encourage South–North cooperation between individuals and centres of scholarship;
5. Promote scientific research on major developing countries problems.

Since its inception, TWAS's operational expenses have largely been covered by generous contributions of the Italian government; since 1991 UNESCO has been responsible for the administration of TWAS finance and staff on the basis of an agreement signed by the director general of UNESCO and the president of TWAS.

It was named "Third World Academy of Sciences" until 2004 and "TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world" before September 2012,{{cite web | access-date = 8 March 2013 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130313205557/http://www.scidev.net/en/science-and-innovation-policy/south-south-cooperation/news/twas-changes-name-but-not-its-mission.html | archive-date = 13 March 2013 when it was renamed to is current name, "The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries".{{cite web | access-date = 20 November 2017 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180208021802/https://twas.org/twas-voice-science-south | archive-date = 8 February 2018

Founding fellows

The founding fellows of 1983 include{{cite web | access-date = 3 June 2016 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160601074113/http://twas.org/twass-42-founding-members | archive-date = 1 June 2016

• Hua Luogeng (1910–1985), China
• Nil Ratan Dhar (1892–1987), India
• Luis F. Leloir (1906–1987), Argentina
• Benjamin Peary Pal (1906–1989), India
• Ignacio Bernal (1910–1992), Mexico
• Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff (1912–1994), Colombia
• Emilio Rosenblueth (1926–1994), Mexico
• Salimuzzaman Siddiqui (1897–1994), Pakistan
• Abdus Salam (1926–1996), Pakistan
• Carlos Chagas Filho (1910–2000), Brazil
• Johanna Döbereiner (1924–2000), Brazil
• Gopalasamudram Narayana Ramachandran (1922–2001), India
• Thomas Risley Odhiambo (1931–2003), Kenya
• Marcel Roche (1920–2003), Venezuela
• Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar (1930–2004), India
• Thomas Adeoye Lambo (1923–2004), Nigeria
• Autar Singh Paintal (1925–2004), India
• Hélio Gelli Pereira (1918–1994), Brazil, United Kingdom
• Khem Singh Gill (1930–2019), India
• Ricardo Bressani Castignoli (1926–2015), Guatemala
• Daniel Adzei Bekoe (1928–2020), Ghana
• Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga (1907-2001), Madagascar
• Félix Malu wa Kalenga (1936-2011), Democratic Republic of Congo
• Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1909-1995), India, USA
• C.R. Rao (1920-2023), India, USA
• Shiing-Shen Chern (1911-2004), China, USA
• C.N.R. Rao (b.1934), India
• Sir Michael Atiyah (1929-2019), United Kingdom, Lebanon
• Baruj Benacerraf (1920-2011), Venezuela, USA
• Humberto Fernández-Morán (1924-1999), Venezuela, Sweden
• Ali Javan (1926-2016), Iran, USA
• Har Gobind Khorana (1922-2011), India, USA
• M. G. K. Menon (1928-2016), India
• Ricardo Miledi (1927-2017), Mexico
• César Milstein (1927-2004), Argentina, United Kingdom
• M.S. Swaminathan (1925-2023), India
• Yang Chen-Ning (1922–2025), China, USA
• Crodowaldo Pavan (1919-2009), Brazil
• Tsung-Dao Lee (1926–2024), China, USA
• Devendra Lal (1929-2012), India, USA
• Muhammad Akhtar (b. 1933), Pakistan, United Kingdom
• Samuel C.C. Ting (b. 1936), China, USA
• Héctor Croxatto (1908-2010), Chile

TWAS Prize

The TWAS Prize is an annual award instituted in 1985 by TWAS to recognize excellence in scientific research in the global South.{{Cite web | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151107220704/http://twas.org/recipients-twas-awards-and-prizes | archive-date = 7 November 2015 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170615002106/https://twas.org/opportunities/prizes-and-awards | archive-date = 15 June 2017 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171109023408/https://twas.org/opportunity/twas-prizes | archive-date = 9 November 2017 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170101002448/http://www.owsdsa.org.za/index.php/news/94-twas-2016-prizes | archive-date = 1 January 2017

References