Headline News

OWSDW Calls on Strengthening Women’s Role

The Fourth General Assembly of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSDW) (formerly Third World Organization for Women in Science (TWOWS)) held in Beijing, China, 27-30 June 2010. The conference was co-hosted by CAS, TWOWS and the Academy of Sciences in the Developing World (TWAS). Xi Jinping, Vice President of China, was present at the opening ceremony and addressed the meeting. Other speakers present at the opening ceremony included Jamil, President of TWOWS, Ruth, President of the Elsevier Foundation, Brito, representative of UNESCO, Alper, Co-chair of the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues (IAP), Hassan, Executive Director of TWAS, Lu Yongxiang, President of CAS, Wan Gang, Minister of Science and Technology and Song Xiuyan, First Secretary of the Secretariat of the All-China Women’s Federation. Chen Zhili, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and President of the All-China Women’s Federation, Bai Chunli, Executive Vice President of CAS, Wei Yu, President of the China Association of Women Scientists and Technologists and Pandor, Minister of Science and Technology of South Africa were also present at the opening ceremony. Fang Xin, Member of the CAS Presidium, chaired the opening ceremony.

The theme of this conference is Women Scientists in a Changing World. There were over 700 women scientists from more than 50 countries and regions attended the conference. At the close, the participants present issued the following statement on behalf of the organization's more than 3,000 women members and women scientists everywhere. In brief, it stated “As we close the 4th General Assembly and International Conference of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSDW), gathered here at the Beijing International Conference Centre, China, we hereby affirm that it is strategically important for all countries to promote the participation of women in national scientific, engineering, technological and innovation systems. Only with the full participation of women will we be able to create more integrated, sustainable, economically advanced and equitable societies.”

Lu Yongxiang Meets Mlynek

Lu Yongxiang, President of CAS, met with Mlynek, President of Helmholtz Association, and his entourage on June 16. Lu briefed the German guests that the Chinese Government has approved CAS to further implement the Knowledge Innovation Program in order to enhance the overall innovation capability of China. As major national research institutions of the two countries, CAS and the Helmholtz Association should establish strategic partner relation and work in joint efforts to support relevant scientists to carry out interdisciplinary research. Focused on research in energy, environment and climate change, key technologies, healthcare and other fields by the Helmholtz Association, Mlynek expressed that the two parties have the potential to develop strategic cooperation in future projects. Lu said that CAS would continue to support relevant research institutes to actively participate in cooperation on the Large Science Facilities Program and CAS welcomes German scientists to participate in the development and subsequent collaborative research and utilization of the Large Science Facilities Program of CAS.

Milestone for Industrialization of Methanol to Olefins

With an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons of olefins, the first commercial methanol to low-carbon olefins unit in the world successfully completed its first commissioning on August 8, which is a significant milestone in the production of olefins from coal in China. This unit adopts the proprietary DMTO (DICP Methanol to Olefins) technology developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), CAS. With the efforts of several generations of scientists in more than 20 years, the industrialization of DMTO technology, a new process for production of chemical products via a non-petrochemical route, has been significantly accelerated in the past few years. The first 10,000 ton-scale production test with DMTO technology was completed in 2006 with the collaboration between DICP and relevant enterprises. The technology license contract for industrialization of the DMTO technology was signed between DICP and the Shenhua Group in September 2007. The construction work of the plant took about one and a half years and completed in May 2010.