"We seek to contribute to complete the training process of young researchers from and in our region who will be responsible in the future for generating critical looks about the development of science and technology in our countries" (Profesor Hebe Vessuri)

Sponsored by the Spanish Cooperation Agency, AECID, CYTED, the thematic network on the use of science for social cohesion (UCICOS), and by ESOCITE (the Latin American Society of Social Studies of Science and Technology), doctoral students and those who have recently received their doctoral degrees will discuss research, research design, and methodologies, as well as progress made in their doctoral projects during the IV M eeting of Young Researchers in Social and Political Sciences on Science and Technology. The event will be held in Caracas, Venezuela from April 21-24, 2009 at the headquarters of the IDEA Convention Centre in Sartenejas as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the creation of IVIC.

The science committee is composed of Dr. Antonio Arellano (UAEM-Mexico), Dr. Rosalba Casas (UNAM-Mexico), Dr. Renato Dagnino (UNICAMP-Brazil), Dr. Pablo Kreimer (UNQ-Argentina), Dr. Luis Sanz Menéndez (CSIC-Spain), and Dr. Hebe Vessuri (IVIC-Venezuela). The committee selected 31 works of the 52 submitted. Among the participants are individuals from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela. Besides those directly participating in the workshop (those who have recently received doctorates or are doctoral candidates) a number of participants are expected as auditors (doctoral and masters students) who will be invited to present posters with their research projects, which will be displayed and discussed together in a special session organized for this purpose.

The organizer of the event, Dr. Hebe Vessuri, told IESALC that “with an initiative such as this, which has already proven to be very useful on three previous occasions, coordinators of research projects and of graduate programs in social and political studies of science and technology in the Ibero-American region seek to contribute to complete the training process of young researchers from and in our region who will be responsible in the future for generating critical looks about the development of science and technology in our countries and to collaborate toward a better formulation of public policies in this field; one that is crucial for development. During the event, they will not only have the opportunity to discuss among their peers work directly related to their doctoral research; they will also participate in an exercise of collective critical assessment with a view toward the publication of their work and the creation of a network that will help to integrate them into the analytic perspectives common in the region.”

Entities financing the workshop are: the CYTED Program (UCICOS Network), the Spanish International Cooperation Agency (AECI), the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (IVIC), and FONACIT-Ministry of Science and Technology of Venezuela. The workshop has the support of UNESCO-IESALC.

For more information, contact Dr. Hebe Vessuri, Head of the Department of Science Studies, IVIC. e-mail: hvessuri@ivic.ve, hvessuri@gmail.com , mhernand@ivic.ve or telephone (58) 212-504-1270. Fax: (58) 212-504-1092. ".

Link of interest: http://www.ivic.ve

Carolina Romero
UNESCO-IESALC

www.iesalc.unesco.org.ve