With the Académie des Sciences in 2013-2014

With the Académie des Sciences in

2013 - 2014

In the Middle East

A French-Israeli-Palestinian colloquium

The first

Sciences, Network, Consciousness

colloquium was held in 2012 under

the auspices of UNESCO, with the objective to further rapprochement between the

populations of the Middle-East through scientific cooperation.

On 4 April 2013, the

Sciences, Network, Consciousness

#2 emphasised the theme

of cooperation in the field of water in the Eastern Mediterranean: the achieved

and future projects have been presented by their leaders, Israeli or Palestinian

researchers, along with several

international initiatives

(the Ob-

servatory for the Development of

the Mediterranean,

and

the Medi-

terranean Summer School,

presented by Édouard Brézin, the former President

of the Académie des Sciences

)

. Catherine Bréchignac, the Secrétaire perpétuel

of the Académie des Sciences and French delegate ambassador for science,

technology and innovation, took this opportunity to look back into two major goals

of science diplomacy: fostering the conservation of scientific links between the

countries, even if a situation of conflict should occur, and using such bi- or multi-

lateral relationships to build a network of strategic influence in support of science.

Franco-Israeli Colloquia

In 2011, the Académie des Sciences and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities have decided to strengthen scientific

cooperation between their two countries. Such collaboration is made manifest by the organization of joint annual colloquia.

On 22 and 23 May 2013, a colloquium on mathematics was held at the Institut de France in Paris. On 19 and 20 March 2014, it

was Jerusalem that hosted a colloquium in physics, focused on the interactions between light and matter. Several members of the

Académie gave lectures there, including the two Nobel Prizes in physics Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and Serge Haroche.

Supporting the young Academy of Lebanon

The foundation of the Lebanese Academy of Sciences (Académie des sciences du Liban, ASL) has been widely supported by the

Académie, 4 members of which are also members of ASL. Bilateral meetings are held on a regular basis to further the development of

this young academy. In April 2014, the Académie greeted ASL to a joint reflection, 5 years after its creation, on the initiatives it might

implement to better catch the attention of the public authorities of Lebanon. The discussion especially focused on the current drafting

of a report on research in Lebanon, which would be in perfect line with the advisory mission any academy should be able to carry out

for the government of its country. Other actions, developed by the Académie des Sciences, might also inspire ASL, as parliamentary

twinning operations or ASL’s participation to the

International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies

. Whether

a Franco-Lebanese Prize should be created is also a matter of discussion.