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U.S. Nobel Chemist Holds Workshop for Middle East Students

More workshops for science students will be held in Egypt, Iraq

With funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Nobel laureate and chemist Roald Hoffmann held a weeklong workshop about chemical bonds in Jordan for 13 participants from throughout the Middle East.

Inspired by earlier conferences in Malta that brought together chemists from the region to make personal connections and overcome political boundaries, Hoffman invited students from Iran, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority, Syria and Jordan to meet in Petra, Jordan. January 12-19.

Hoffmann's effort is part of the NSF Discovery Corps - a pilot program that explores innovative ways for scientists to combine their research expertise with service to society. He plans two more workshops, according to an April 6 NSF press release.

A professor at Cornell University in New York, Hoffmann won a Nobel Prize in 1981 (with Kenichi Fukui of Japan) for advances in explaining the course of chemical reactions.

Now, he says, "I wanted to get younger people involved. I had a dream of getting future leaders in chemistry together. And my second idea was, let's push things and move into the region, so as to get people used to working within the Middle East."

The first workshop, in Petra, Jordan, was co-taught by University of Barcelona chemist Pere Alemany.

For security reasons, the Petra workshop was given low publicity. Everyone was aware of ongoing violence in the region, and one Turkish student bowed out the day before the workshop, citing personal safety concerns. But the rest took the risks in stride.

"There was an extraordinary amount of talk about politics and religion," Hoffmann recalls. There was also music and the kind of friendship-building that happens after grueling days of shared work. Hoffmann and Alemany taught for nine hours each day.

Back at Cornell, Hoffmann read the participants' anonymous evaluations.

"We could not have asked for more, and we are forever grateful," wrote one student. "I do sincerely hope that our paths will cross again soon."

"I think that special and strong friendships were made in the workshop," wrote another. "I felt that people really connected with each other, and it was interesting and beautiful to see."

A second meeting focusing on nanochemistry - chemistry at the level of individual atoms and molecules - is slated to be held in Egypt later in 2006, and a third on bioinorganic chemistry will be held in Qatar, Iraq, in 2007.

Source: U.S. Department of State