Science in the Islamic World: A New Renaissance?

• 6.45pm – 7.45pm on 24 November 2010
• Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 7LP

Across the Islamic world, there are signs of renewed ambition and investment in education, science and innovation.

In Saudi Arabia, built upon a US$20 billion endowment, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) aims to rival the California Institute of Technology for prestige within just two decades. Malaysia has undergone the most far reaching higher education reforms in its history – one outcome of which has been a dramatic increase in the number of science and technology researchers in the workforce. And Turkey has quietly but vastly increased its R&D spending – with a fivefold increase in a decade.

Might such eye-catching developments signal the start of a new ‘renaissance’ for science across the Islamic world?

Join Sir John Boyd, Chairman of Asia House, and our panel for a discussion of how capabilities and capacities for science are changing in the Islamic world and what further barriers there are to progress. The panel includes:

Natalie Day, Senior Policy Adviser at the Royal Society;

Ehsan Masood, journalist and author;

Ziauddin Sardar, Cultural Commentator and Professor of Postcolonial Studies at City University, London;

Dr Rim Turkmani, Astrophysicist and Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow at Imperial College, London.

This event will take place at Asia House and has been organised as part of Capital Science and the Royal Society's 350th anniversary celebrations.

Tickets £10/£6 (concessions)

Please book your ticket through Asia House either online or by calling 020 7307 5454.  Alternatively, please email enquiries@asiahouse.org.uk.

For details on special rates for teachers and sixthformers, please email: Mia.Gulati@asiahouse.co.uk