Proud of their star-studded past in science, the nations of Central Asia hope to emerge from their present difficulties with strong scientific communities. The ICTP Office of External Activities plans to lend a helping hand in these efforts.

Science in Central Asia

Laced by the 'silk road,' the world's pre-eminent trade route at the beginning of this millennium, Central Asia was both an international crossroads and global intellectual centre.

This region-now home to the nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan-boasts some of the great names of Islamic science and culture: Al-Khwarazmi (780-850), whose book on mathematics gave birth to the name algebra and whose name is commemorated in the mathematical notion of algorithm; El-Farabi (878-950), the philosopher second only to Aristotle in the Islamic world; Ibn-Sina (980-1037), the renowned medical doctor and researcher who is known in the West as Avicenna; and Omar Khayyam (1048-1122), the mathematician and poet.

One thousand years later and 10 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the region faces enormous challenges. Although the scientific community has been rocked by what has taken place over the past decade, it still remains a vital enterprise drawing strength from its glorious tradition and the investments in basic science made by the Soviet Union during its rule.

As head of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Office of External Activities, I recently visited Uzbekistan to learn about the state of science within the region and to discuss how the Centre could work more closely with the physics and mathematics communities there.

During the second week in August, I attended the International Symposium on Experimental Gravitation in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, jointly organised by the Samarkand State University and the Uzbek Academy of Sciences' Institute of Nuclear Physics. This symposium, which received a grant from the ICTP Office of External Activities, was attended by some 40 scientists, including many of the world's leading experts. The field, which seeks to test Einstein's theory of gravitation and detect gravitational waves, remains on the cutting edge of explorations into the fundamental properties of matter.

In the 10th century, before its destruction by Chengiz Khan, Samarkand was one the world's leading centres of science. During the 15th century, it re-emerged as a pre-eminent science centre under the guidance of the great astronomer king Ulughbek, who built a state-of-the-art observatory that lead to the discovery of some 200 unknown stars. In Samarkand, I met with the physics and mathematics faculty from Samarkand University to learn more about their past and, even more importantly, about their hopes for the future.

During the last week in August, I attended in Bokhara the Third International Conference on Modern Problems of Nuclear Physics, co-sponsored by the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Bokhara University, which drew more than 200 participants. Here I had extensive talks with the director of the institute, university authorities and a large number of physicists from Uzbekistan and the region.

The Institute of Nuclear Physics in Tashkent, created by the Soviet Union as its premiere nuclear physics institute in Central Asia, remains a place dedicated to high standards. Foreign physicists-for example, from Germany, Italy and the United States-attending the meeting had collaborated with scientists from the institute for many years. Yet, the hard times faced by the institute's scientists are reflected in their declining numbers-from a peak of 2000 during Soviet times to 800 today. Those who remain continue to do first-class research. In fact, some of the radioisotopes produced there are marketed in the West by a German-American company, which partly sponsored the event.

Central Asia boasts the scientific talent, will and enthusiasm to succeed. But its scientists face daunting problems. Since the economic collapse of the late 1980s, governments have drastically cut spending on education and scientific research. Laboratory equipment is ageing, money for books and journals is scarce, and investments in computer facilities and the internet are woefully inadequate. University salaries average US$20 a month.

Science, in short, has lost its appeal. As a result, fewer students are pursuing careers in the basic sciences, opting instead for careers in business and computer science. Despite the obstacles, Central Asian scientists continue to do good work. And in the face of enormous political and economic difficulties, scientific ties among the former Soviet republics, including Russia, remain strong.

That's where the ICTP Office of External Activities believes it can make a difference: by providing assistance to encourage local collaborations and networks that could prove instrumental in the future well-being of the scientific enterprise throughout the region.

Faheem Hussain
Head of the ICTP Office of External Activities

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