The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) brought together 10 pairs of scientists and policymakers from 10 countries, including Bolivia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, in Trieste, Italy, for the 12th AAAS-TWAS Course on Science Diplomacy. The course deepens relationships between science and diplomacy to enable evidence-based solutions for addressing complex challenges such as climate change, food security, and biodiversity loss.
"Science diplomacy is not a mere concept: it is a strategic instrument for peace, prosperity, and sustainable development," said Minister Giuseppe Pastorelli, deputy director general for the promotion of Italy at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
"In Italy, we see science as an enabler of humankind's progress and cross-border dialogue. To this end, we host and financially support organizations such as TWAS and IAP, which work for the benefit of the global South with the aim of building capacity and developing the skills necessary to improve the living conditions of local communities," said Pastorelli.
This year, participants will delve into topics of interest across countries, including science diplomacy in the current geopolitical landscape, mechanisms to influence decision makers, the role of scientists toward achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and international efforts to build large-scale projects.
The course, launched in 2014 with key funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Golden Family Foundation, involves participant pairs from the same country. This year, the course also received financial support from the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD). Each pair consists of an early-career scientist whose research and public engagement have implications for international policymaking, and a policymaker in a science-relevant role such as a government official, diplomat, or representative from a research-funding institution.
“Today, science, technology, and innovation are our hope for achieving sustainable prosperity that leaves no one behind. This is about science that unites nations and benefits everyone, everywhere,” said Quarraisha Abdool Karim, president of TWAS.
For over a decade, the AAAS-TWAS Science Diplomacy Course has prepared 388 alumni that are now influencing policy and spreading knowledge about the fast-growing science diplomacy field throughout the developing world.
“With the ever-evolving geopolitical landscape, science diplomacy is a critical tool used by governments to achieve their objectives. This course is one of many ways of building productive working relationships, which are essential to ensure familiarity and mutual trust before the next crisis strikes,” said Sudip Parikh, CEO of AAAS and executive publisher of the Science family of journals.
Among the in-person speakers of this year’s course:
- H.E. Paula Alves de Souza, Brazil’s Ambassador to UNESCO in Paris;
- María Estelí Jarquín, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology;
- Poppy Joyce, Royal Society of London;
- Eudy Mabuza, South Africa’s Mission to the European Union; and
- Anna Pirani, Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change, Venice.
Participant list of the 12th AAAS-TWAS Course on Science Diplomacy:
- Natalia Montellano Duran, Director of Biotechnology, OWSD Bolivia National Chapter Chair, Universidad Catolica Boliviana and Mayra Ingrid Zalles Trigo, National Representative-Member of the National Parliament, Bolivia;
- Clecio Roque De Bom, Technology Researcher, Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, and Ernesto Batista Mane Junior, First Secretary, Brazilian Ministry of External Relations, Brazil;
- Berjauline Camille Mba Maadjhou, Senior Lecturer of Public Health and Public Health Nutrition, University of Yaounde I, and Linda Augustine Julia Esso Endalle Lovet, Director of the Fight Against Disease, Epidemics and Pandemics, Ministry of Public Health, Cameroon;
- Lobna Ahmed Said Osman, Associate Professor and Director of Microelectronics System Design, Nile University, and Amr Mostafa Mohamed Mostafa Radwan, Head of Research and Innovation Department, Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt;
- Faith Jebiwot Kandie, Lecturer, Moi University, School of Sciences and Aerospace Studies, and Edith Anne Kubochi Alusa, Director, EED Advisory Ltd, Kenya;
- Marieanne Christie Leong, Chief Climate Scientist, Qloudio Sdn Bhd and Visiting Research Fellow, Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, and Fairuz Suzana Binti Mohd Chachuli, Director, Planning and International Relations Division, Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Malaysia;
- Sulochana Manandhar, Laboratory supervisor, Molecular microbiologist, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit-Nepal, and Madan Kumar Upadhyaya, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal;
- Ovie Augustine Edegbene, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Climate Change and Health Unit, Institute of Global Health and Health Security, Federal University of Health Sciences, and Gift Ochonogor Omovoh, Chief Scientific Officer, Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigeria;
- Denise Margaret Matias, Professor in Ecosystem-based Transformation Management in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development and Marry Luck Hicarte, Minister and Consul, Embassy of the Philippines in Germany, Germany and The Philippines;
- Mututantrige Nimshi Loran Fernando, Head of the Department of Chemistry, CINEC Campus, and Seyed Shahmy SeyedIsmail Imam, Senior Scientist, National Science and Technology Commission, Sri Lanka.
Note for editors
Journalists are invited to attend the course on Tuesday 22 July from 9:00 a.m. to 12:20 a.m. The full programme of the workshop is available at this link.
Press contacts
Giovanni Ortolani, TWAS Public Information Officer - office: +39 040 2240-324, email: gortolani@twas.org
Valeria Sabate, senior media and public affairs manager, email: vsabate@aaas.org. Valeria is available from 8 :30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.
Images
Photos of the previous edition of the AAAS-TWAS Course on Science Diplomacy are available at the following link.
What is science diplomacy?
In 2010, AAAS and the Royal Society of London outlined a science diplomacy framework that drove an international conversation on the nexus between science and diplomacy. Since then, the world has become more divided and complex, and as the need for effective science diplomacy has grown. To ensure the framework remains applicable to the current context, AAAS and Royal Society released an updated science diplomacy framework in February 2025 that shifts from a theoretical to a practical perspective one and focuses on the ways science impacts diplomacy and vice versa. It states that science diplomacy is a tool to advance diplomatic objectives, which may be perceived as positive or negative. It also recognizes that there is a broader landscape of players in science diplomacy, including supranational companies and ‘tech titans’ practicing their own forms of statecraft.
About TWAS
For over 40 years, The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) has been a leading force in developing crucial scientific capability in the global South. A global science academy founded in 1983 in Trieste, Italy, TWAS supports sustainable prosperity through research, education, policy, and diplomacy. With its partners, TWAS has graduated over 1,230 PhDs and awarded more than 2,300 postdoctoral fellowships to developing world scientists. The Academy also bestowed over 1,200 prizes, awarded over 2,800 research grants, trained over 750 individuals in science diplomacy, and supported over 1,400 exchange visits.
About AAAS
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is one of the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science, as well as Science Translational Medicine; Science Signaling; a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances; Science Immunology; and Science Robotics. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes more than 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. The nonprofit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more. For additional information about AAAS, visit www.aaas.org.
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TWAS and AAAS acknowledge the contribution of the following reviewers who evaluated the applications of the participants:
Marianela Soledad Rodriguez, National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) and the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) and Malén Vazquez, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Worship, Argentina; Agustina Salvati, National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and Maria Nevia Vera, National University of the Center of the Province of Buenos Aires (UNICEN), Argentina; Noor Shaila Sarmin, Gazipur Agricultural University, Bangladesh; Andrei De Abreu Sodre' Polejack, National Institute for Ocean Research (INPO), Brazil; Linda Dyorisse Nyamen, University of Yaoundé I and Peter T. Ndifon, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon; Linda Ramona Lara Jacobo, San Diego State University, United States of America; Teshome Tolcha Dadi, Kotebe University of Education and Lijalem Ayele Regassa, Oromia Science and Technology Authority, Ethiopia; Erle Rikmann, Tallinn University, Estonia; Bernadette Dzifa Agbefu, International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Lydia Otoo Amponsah, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana; María Eugenia, Cabrera Catalán, IFIM, Escuela de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala and Victoria Lorena Moraga Conde, University of Costa Rica and the Ministry of Education, Guatemala; Nidhi Singh, Parul University, India; Mamta Bhardwaj, Neuron - Centre of Entrepreneurship (CoE), Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) under MeitY, Government of India; Deepika Srivastava, Ministry of Finance and Kamna Tiwary, Amity University Patna, India; Chenielle Monique Delahaye-Mckenzie, Ministry Of Science, Energy And Technology and Marvadeen Alvarine Singh-Wilmot, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica; Becky Nancy Achieng’ Aloo, University of Eldoret, Kenya; Andriamanarivosoa Rija, Razafintsalama, University of Toamasina and Ioclin Dahy, University of Toamasina, Madagascar; Siti Hawa Binti Ngalim, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia; Andrè Xuereb, Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Malta; Bhamini Kamudu Applasawmy, Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre, Mauritius; Fiodor Braniste, Academy of Sciences of Moldova and Technical University of Moldova, and Elena Culighin, Moldova State University, Moldova; Alsácia Atanásio Nhacumbe, National Centre for Biotechnology and Biosciences (CNBB), Ministry of Education and Culture ( MEC), Mozambique; Supriya Sharma, Tribhuvan University, and Shreedhar Aryal, Tokha Chandeshwori Hospital, Ministry of Health, Bagmati Province, Government of Nepal; Samuel Ayobami Fasogbon and Onyekachukwu Felicia Ijeoma Okeke, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Universidad du Valencia, Spain; Oluwatosin Olushola Leshi, University of Kentucky, United States of America and Omoluwabi Grace Mogekwu, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Nigeria; Habib Ullah Jan, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Ali Talha Khalil, Lady Reading Hospital Medical Teaching Institution, Pakistan; Marta Nešković, Post-doctoral Fellow at CAS IHNS (Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute for the History of National Sciences) and Institute for Political Studies, Serbia, and Milica Todorić, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia; Liyanage Mahesha Nilupulie Sigera Nadugala, National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka and Kaveesha Jayani Wijesinghe, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka; Pendo Nandiga Bigambo, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Sasitorn Srisawadi, National Metal and Materials Technology Center (MTEC), Thailand; Godwin Anywar, Makerere University, Uganda; Igor Lyman, Berdyansk State Pedagogical University and Yevheniia Polishchuk, Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman, Ukraine; Sinikiwe Dube, Women's University in Africa, Zimbabwe.