Diplomacy occurs at many levels. Today President Obama is in Egypt on a major diplomatic trip to the Middle East for meetings with the King of Saudi Arabia and to make a major policy speech at Cairo University to assure Arabs that there is no contradiction between American values and the Islamic world. Also this week, the Fulbright Academy initiated a FAST science diplomacy initiative in Egypt to give the Egyptian scientific and research sector enhanced access to international and US scientific information. (details below).

Today's Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology bulletin also provides information about (1) the FAST Fifth Annual Conference (March 2010 in San Francisco), (2) possible future collaborations with the museum and library community, and (3) current partnerships.

Many of our international partners were in Southern California last week, at the NAFSA: Association for International Educators Conference, such as Singapore Management University and James Cook University (Australia). Many individual Fulbrighters were there as well, including Nobel winner/ Fulbright scholar Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank, who was the keynote speaker at the opening.  The European Association for International Education has their conference in Madrid in September, and 8,000 people are expected at the the May 2010  NAFSA conference in Kansas City. We look forward to seeing you.

For US researchers:  The government stimulus package includes $400 million in funding for US academic institutions through the National Science Foundation. This recognizes that short-term and long-term investments in fundamental science and engineering research and education are important for stimulating the American economy and ensuring that the United States continues its leadership in innovation. NSF funding solicitations are intended to strengthen the nation’s academic research capabilities to develop or acquire research instrumentation (MRI-R2), and to renovate research facilities (ARI-R2). For the Academic Research Infrastructure solicitation, the deadline for letters of intent, mandatory for those institutions wishing to submit full proposals, is July 1, 2009. The deadline for full proposals is August 24, 2009. For the Major Research Instrumentation solicitation, the deadline for full proposals is August 10, 2009. (No letter of intent is required for MRI-R2.) Visit the NSF Office of Integrative Activities for details.

Fifth Annual Conference - March 11-13, 2010

San Francisco, California will be the location for the 5th Annual FAST Conference. This will be the first FAST conference on the US-West Coast and our second one on the Pacific Rim. Prior conferences and international workshops were held in Germany, Macedonia, Morocco, Panama, Qatar, Singapore and Boston, Massachusetts.

Sustainability-Shaping Tomorrow's Future Today" will feature presentations, discussions and working sessions with some 250 Fulbright scholars and scientists worldwide. We will be based at a major hotel, but like our other conferences, the program will include seminars, workshops and tours at major research facilities in the area. So please reserve March 11-13 (Thursday-Saturday), with Sunday as a travel day or reserved for special programs.

"Sustainability" covers many topics. The conference committee is suggesting programs on energy, shelter & urban development, agriculture, information technology, public health and human security.  Implications of sustainability to law and to education will also be explored.  Dozens of Fulbrighters from around the world have volunteered to further refine the  program and the outcomes. Subsidiary meetings at other locations around the world are also being planned. Please reply to this email to express your interest to attend or get involved as a volunteer, presenter or sponsor, or click here for an on-line form.

A gala opening night and special activities will recognize five years of FAST collaborations with other institutions - government agencies in several countries, foundations,  dozens of NGOs, universities and corporations. If you or your institution would like to develop a stronger level of involvement with FAST this conference and the FAST network, please call FAST at 207-799-3098. Click here for a PDF version of our 2008 Annual Report.

Registration for the conference will be $450, with discounts of up to 66% for certain communities of alumni. Interested exhibitors and sponsors should contact FAST as soon as possible. An information pack is available on the FAST website: www.FulbrightAcademy.org.

FAST & Science Diplomacy - Egypt
National Fulbright Alumni Groups play key roles in building ties among all Fulbrighters at the local level. In contrast, FAST works with the 50% of Fulbrighters in science & technology fields - to support their individual work, their institutional goals, and the advancement of knowledge in their respective disciplines on an international scale.

Since 2006, FAST programs have helped build ties between scientists of different nations through conferences, workshops and special projects. At our Third Annual Conference (2008), the Science & Technology Advisor to the US Secretary of State presented a certificate of appreciation to FAST, recognizing our work in with the Muslim world through science diplomacy.

In 2009, FAST and its partners will work Egyptian institutions to will improve the visibility of locally-produced research information through an enhanced digital library of Egyptian research, so that scientists in other parts of the world can use and build upon their work. The $60,000 project also includes negotiating discounted access for the Egyptian reseach community to journals produced by leading US scientific societies and international publishing houses, following the model of the Iraq Digital Science Library.

A third part of the Egypt project is training for librarians, researchers and information professionals. The entire project builds on FAST's digital library work that began in 2007 with a FAST-NSF-UNESCO-Moroccan government funded workshop for North Africa and held in Rabat. Egypt has the second-largest Fulbright program in Africa and the Near East, with over 1,600 alumni (only South Africa is larger, with about 1,900 alumni).  Indivdiual alumni and institutions on both sides of the US-Egypt exchange program will be involved in the project. 

FAST & Science Museums / Libraries
Museums and Libraries have an exceptional capacity to inspire learning, promote dialogue and strenghten global awareness. The US Institute for Museum & Library Services (IMLS) is drafting a policy brief on how museums and libraries can become ever more powerful partners in linking the global community. 

FAST was asked to provide input to the process.  In May, FAST participated in a one-day "Advancing Global Understanding Meeting" in Washington with leading experts from around the country, such as the senior staff from National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, the Detroit Zoo, the National Children's Museum and the American Association of Museums.  Of the 40+ participants, six were alumni of the Fulbright program and two were former Peace Corps Volunteers - a clear demonstration that alumni of these programs become leaders in global affairs.

FAST anticipates seeking funding and partners for museum and library projects after the IMLS policy breif is published this fall. IMLS is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. It's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.

Institutional Members and Partners
The global recession has not flowed the steady stream of national and international instutions that come to FAST for assistance and services.

Recent Institutional Members

**Barbados Community College ** Booz Allen Hamilton ** Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools ** Council on Undergraduate Research, USA ** Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu ** Ferris State University ** FON University, Macedonia ** James Cook University, Australia ** Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador ** Saints Cyril & Methodius University, Macedonoia ** Seavus Group ** Singapore Management University ** South Eastern European University, Macedonia ** Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán ** University of Denver ** University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, School of Nursing  ** University of Nebraska--Lincoln ** University of Pittsburgh ** US Civilian Research & Development Foundation

Selected Institutional Partners:

Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California **Google Grants ** Hunton & Williams ** Maine Medical Center ** Microsoft ** The Monsanto Fund

Institutional members and partners play an important role in guiding the organization – helping determine the topics and the locations for conferences, meetings and Fulbright forums. Institutional membership in the Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology is $500.

We would like you and your institution to be involved too, so please put the Fulbright Academy into your budget for your ‘09-10 fiscal year - or use some of the remaining funds from this year’s budget - as a way to promote your institution’s global affiliations and international activities.

Your membership can give you new links to other research institutions, to Fulbright scholars and to leaders in natural and social sciences, medicine, engineering, economics, business, government and academia. The FAST mission is to create valuable linkages within the worldwide network of Fulbright friends and alumni, focusing on those in science and technology fields. Most FAST activities are initiated by members who want to promote their own work while also tapping into the knowledge-base within the Fulbright alumni community.

FAST is an independent organization, not funded by the Fulbright program, and that is why FAST needs your $60 individual or a $500 institutional membership to support our programs. Click here for the membership form.

If you have questions about institutional membership, please call FAST at 207-799-3098 or respond to this email.

Sincerely,

Eric Howard
Executive Director

The Fulbright Academy was established by alumni of the Fulbright Exchange Program and others interested in science and technology innovation. FAST is an independent, non-partisan organization and is not affiliated with the Fulbright program, national alumni groups, or the agencies and commissions involved in administering Fulbright exchanges.