The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) today announced the launch of a new Online Directory of Fellows and Young Affiliates, for the first time offering a public view of scientific strength and accomplishments of its global community.

The TWAS Online Directory provides profiles of some 1,200 elected lifetime Fellows and nearly 100 Young Affiliates, early-career scientists who are given five-year terms in the Academy because of their exceptional scientific promise.

"We are very pleased that this new digital publication will show the remarkable contributions that our Fellows and Young Affiliates are making to the advancement of science in the developing world," said TWAS Executive Director Romain Murenzi. "Not only will this be a useful tool for our Academy, but we believe it will be useful also for research centres, policymakers, journalists and others who are interested in the wealth of scientific expertise available in the developing world."

Visit the TWAS Online Directory to see the strength of the Academy's global scientific networks.

The Online Directory is a replacement for the TWAS Yearbook, a roster of TWAS Fellows that was published annually beginning in 1986. But that document was largely available only to TWAS members and staff, and the conventional book format required significant annual investments for printing and mailing, with inherent environmental costs. And it did not include TWAS Young Affiliates, a status established in 2007.

During months of research and planning, directed by the TWAS Public Information Office, the Academy considered what elements of the traditional Yearbook it wanted to keep. TWAS consulted with the UK-based Royal Society, the world's oldest independent scientific academy, which has developed its own online directory in recent years. For innovative design work, TWAS turned to Interfase srl of Trieste, Italy, which built the academy's website and other digital publications.

The result: The TWAS Online Directory is a smart, highly interactive digital publication that is both informative and engaging. Among the key features:

·      A contemporary, engaging design;

·      Continually updated information about the Academy and its members; 

·      Fully searchable by members' countries, year of election, field of research and other parameters;

·      Infographics to provide a compelling picture of TWAS network and reach;

·      A focus on how members' work supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals; and

·      Low-cost, environmentally sustainable publication.

Development of the TWAS Online Directory was supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS).

+++++

About TWAS

The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries – TWAS – supports sustainable prosperity through research, education, policy and diplomacy. TWAS was founded in 1983 by a distinguished group of scientists from the developing world, under the leadership of Abdus Salam, the Pakistani physicist and Nobel Prize winner. Today, TWAS has more than 1,200 elected Fellows from nearly 100 countries; 14 of them are Nobel laureates. The Academy is based in Trieste, Italy, on the campus of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). Through more than three decades, its mission has focused on supporting and promoting excellence in scientific research in the developing world and applying scientific and engineering research to address global challenges. TWAS receives core funding from the government of Italy and essential programmatic funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). It is a programme unit of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).