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Statement by National Academy of Sciences President Bruce Alberts,
National Academy of Engineering President Wm. A. Wulf, and
Institute of Medicine Foreign Secretary David Challoner
on a Meeting with Scientific Leaders in Iran

September 29, 2000




This month the leadership of the U.S. National Academies is pleased to have met in Tehran with the leadership of the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Medical Sciences of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Our aim was to continue discussions that began with their leaders' visit to Washington in September 1999 about collaborations on issues of common interest. The U.S. academies leadership also visited six universities and other research facilities in Tehran and Isfahan, and held discussions with several different groups. Among the productive outcomes of the discussions between the U.S. and Iranian academies is the decision to convene up to six joint workshops during the next two years, focusing on the situations in the U.S. and Iran. Although specific workshop topics will be mutually determined at a later date, possible areas that were discussed include:

-- protection of ecology and resources of the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf;

-- lifelong education in science and engineering, including teacher training, K-12 education, university education, continuing education, and distance education;

-- epidemiology of smoking and drug addiction and their consequences;

-- measurement and control of air, water, and soil pollution in megacities, with a focus on Tehran;

-- science and ethics, specifically ethics in the use of scientific knowledge, and science and ethics in democratic societies;

-- conservation of resources and manpower, including relevant attitudes, policies, and technological opportunities;

-- conservation and recycling of water and methods for enhancing water supplies;

-- future energy supply and demand options in Iran and their associated environmental and health impacts, including special consideration of solar and other renewable resources;

-- lessons learned from recent earthquakes and advances in earthquake engineering applicable to existing and new buildings in Iran;

-- developing the base for scientific and technological advancement in Iran, with special attention to alleviating the negative consequences of "brain drain";

-- steps to help ensure an adequate food supply in Iran;

-- transportation policy, with emphasis on accident treatment and reduction; and

-- capabilities of developing countries to utilize available information technologies and know-how.

We expect that up to three workshops will be held in Iran and three in the United States, and that each workshop will consist of approximately 15 invited participants in addition to observers.

The U.S. National Academies also have offered to invite a young Iranian scientist to participate in our summer science policy intern program next year, and for another to participate the following year. Opportunities for young U.S. scientists and engineers to participate in science policy activities in Iran also will be explored.

In summary, we were impressed by the quality, competence, and good will of the scientists, engineers, medical professionals, and university students that we met in Iran. The academies of both nations have agreed to work to overcome obstacles so as to enhance opportunities for the productive exchange of scientists, scholars, and students between the United States and Iran.




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