Tunis, November
16, 2005. The north African capital is a little busier than usual, and
no wonder. In addition to its more than 700,000 inhabitants, some
19,000 travelers are pouring into the city, looking for something other
than the countless palaces, mosques, and fountains the UNESCO World
Heritage site has to offer. They are not tourists, but heads of state,
Vice Presidents, Ministers, and Deputy Ministers from 174 countries, as
well as high-level representatives from international organizations,
the private sector, and civil society - delegates and observers making
a pilgrimage to the second phase of the UN's World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS).
Rendering possible the impossible
Given
the state of negotiations at the end of the suspended Preparatory
Committee meetings (PrepComs) at the first phase of the December 2003
Summit in Geneva [for more details on the first phase of WSIS see
article in bridges vol. 6: "Internet Governance - Squaring the Circle "]
a revolutionary outcome regarding the question of Internet governance
seemed rather unlikely when the delegations arrived in Tunis. However,
during the resumed PrepCom-3 meetings, Mr. Nitin Desai, special WSIS
advisor to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, came up with a first draft. It was based on a
ten-point list of commonalities of the delegations' propositions,
itemized by the special working group under the oversight of the
Canadian delegation that Desai had entrusted with this task.
International education as a business
International education is a growth industry. According to a recent OECD report, 2.7 million students were enrolled in higher education outside their home countries in 2004 and a figure of 8 million has been projected for 2025. These numbers do not include students in their own countries who attend satellite campuses and programs established by foreign institutions (American, Australian, and British, primarily). Numerical growth is linked to another phenomenon, somewhat awkwardly referred to as the "commodification" of higher education. International students themselves have become a commodity - sought after by institutions to offset shortfalls in public funding and/or tuition revenue and to sustain graduate programs in the hard sciences - while the marketing of study abroad programs focuses on benefits to the students' future careers.
An Interview with Hubert Christian Ehalt: Science Policy Report of the City of Vienna
bridges vol. 11, September 2006 / Feature Articles
by Christian Hederer
With a current yearly investment volume of about €150 million, the City of Vienna is a major player in Austrian science policies. Its activities cover an extensive range, including the support of established research institutions such as the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Ludwig Boltzmann Society, development funding in the high technology sector, as well as assistance to a variety of projects in the social sciences and humanities.
A good indicator of the growing importance of science-related matters for the administration of Vienna is the fact that the scope of reporting on scientific activities has expanded in recent years: while science coverage was integrated with cultural activities until 2003, the 2005 report, explicitly intended to serve as a "science business card" for Vienna, fills an impressive 274 pages. The report was presented to the public in July 2006. At first glance, by its very size and comprehensiveness, the report can appear slightly intimidating to the outside reader, who is confronted with an almost infinite array of projects and activities. bridges asked Dr. Hubert Christian Ehalt, the coordinator of the report and chief administrator for science policies of the city of Vienna, about the main strategic orientation of science policies in Vienna.
An Interview with Georg Winckler: EU–Charter & Code of Conduct - European Researchers enter Center Stage
bridges vol. 11, September 2006 / Feature Articles
by Bettina Neunteufl
Wilhelm von Humboldt once recommended that research should be done in "isolation and freedom" and that the nowadays oft-cited ivory tower would be the most proper environment for achieving qualified knowledge. It is understood that Humboldt never meant for scientists to be locked up in their labs with no social contacts. "Isolation" is rather meant as striving for truth in oneself, and "freedom" should be seen as intellectual independence.
Researchers may come from various backgrounds, with diverse interests and a broad spectrum of hopes and dreams. But one thing they all have in common is curiosity and a passion for research. Although the researchers have left their ivory towers, and the links between science and society are more and more evident, the actual work of scientists is sometimes still shrouded in mystery and many talented young people in the European Union may view science as a difficult and poorly paid career-choice.
Being at the interface between research and higher education, doctoral programs play a key role in the elaboration of a knowledge society in Austria. Awareness of and attention towards them are currently increasing. Also, and importantly, young researchers follow current developments in research policy that are crucial to doctoral candidates and seek to play an active part in the debate.
Giving a voice to doctoral candidates in Austria is the mission of the initiative "doktorat.at - ÖH Doktorat". Despite being researchers as well, Austrian doctoral candidates are registered as students during their doctoral training. Thus, by this legal definition, around 16,000 doctoral candidates are represented by the Austrian National Students' Union (Österreichische HochschülerInnenschaft, ÖH) which responded to this mandate in 2004 by establishing doktorat.at - ÖH Doktorat as a platform by doctoral candidates for doctoral candidates, but also for young researchers in general, including post-docs.
Kaleidoscope is the European research network for technology-enhanced
learning. It integrates the leading research teams in the field, who
work collaboratively across educational, computer, and social sciences
to transform the quality and reach of the learning experience. These
multinational and interdisciplinary teams address the varied issues
relating to learning within a wide range of educational settings. They
develop new technologies, methodologies, and concepts, and integrate
different research approaches, all of which shape the scientific
evolution of the field. At the heart of the network's scientific vision
is the establishment of an integrated and sustainable scientific
framework for research. The article examines the Kaleidoscope Network
and highlights several of its current research projects.
A hostile desert environment and blistering heat. No idea what to expect outside the habitat, an eight-meter diameter, two-deck cylindrical structure mounted on landing struts. That's exactly the situation the flight crew of "AustroMars" had to face in April this year when arriving at MARS . . . but no, we're not talking (yet) about the first human landing on the Red Planet itself but about the first "landing" of an all-Austrian crew on the so-called "Mars Analog Research Station" (MARS) in the desert of Utah in the United States (which, by the way, also explains the "blistering heat." On real Mars, the temperature would be a little chillier, with an average of 218 K or -55°C).
Tunis, November
16, 2005. The north African capital is a little busier than usual, and
no wonder. In addition to its more than 700,000 inhabitants, some
19,000 travelers are pouring into the city, looking for something other
than the countless palaces, mosques, and fountains the UNESCO World
Heritage site has to offer. They are not tourists, but heads of state,
Vice Presidents, Ministers, and Deputy Ministers from 174 countries, as
well as high-level representatives from international organizations,
the private sector, and civil society - delegates and observers making
a pilgrimage to the second phase of the UN's World Summit on the
Information Society (
A good indicator of the growing importance of science-related matters for the administration of Vienna is the fact that the scope of reporting on scientific activities has expanded in recent years: while science coverage was integrated with cultural activities until 2003, the 2005 report, explicitly intended to serve as a "science business card" for Vienna, fills an impressive 274 pages. The report was presented to the public in July 2006. At first glance, by its very size and comprehensiveness, the report can appear slightly intimidating to the outside reader, who is confronted with an almost infinite array of projects and activities. bridges asked 
Wilhelm von Humboldt once recommended that research should be done in "isolation and freedom" and that the nowadays oft-cited ivory tower would be the most proper environment for achieving qualified knowledge. It is understood that Humboldt never meant for scientists to be locked up in their labs with no social contacts. "Isolation" is rather meant as striving for truth in oneself, and "freedom" should be seen as intellectual independence.
