Iraqi Scientists Work on Grant Proposals at

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 003971

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NP/PTR - Vazquez, Jarvis
STATE ALSO FOR NP/ECC - Groen, Van Son, Gabryszewski
STATE PASS USAID
STATE PASS National Science Foundation
ENERGY FOR NNSA/Fitzgerald and for Perry
INTERIOR FOR USGS/International
COMMERCE FOR NIST
COMMERCE ALSO FOR D. Creed
COGUARD FOR USCG Activities/MIO Europe M. BEE
US CUSTOMS FOR P. Walker, W. Lawrence
BAGHDAD FOR Smallwood

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID SENV TSPL TBIO EAGR XF JO
SUBJECT: Iraqi Scientists Work on Grant Proposals at
DOE/ASTF Workshop


1. (SBU) Summary: Over thirty Iraqi scientists worked with
international collaborators on developing scientific and
business-related grant proposals during a May 16-18 proposal-
writing workshop in Amman. The workshop was sponsored by
the Department of Energy (DOE) in cooperation with the UAE-
based NGO the Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF),
and drew on the resources of DOE's Sandia National
Laboratory. Incorporating Iraq's Weapons of Mass
Destruction (WMD) community into this project was discussed
on the margins. End summary.

DOE and Sandia Lab Work with Regional NGO and UNESCO
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2. (U) The Department of Energy's delegation to the Amman
workshop was led by Monte Mallin, Director of the Office of
Global Security Engagement and Cooperation in DOE's National
Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA). The genesis of the
program started with DOE's Cooperative Monitoring Center
operated by Sandia National Laboratory and funded by NNSA.
Sandia works with the Sharjah, United Arab Emirates-based
NGO the Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF) as a
regional partner. UNESCO collaborates as well with DOE and
ASTF in organizing this engagement program for Iraqi
scientists.

Focus on Health, Environment, Ag, Water, Materials
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3. (U) The purpose of the workshop was three-fold: 1) join
Iraqi scientists with international collaborators to develop
joint research proposals, 2) train trainers who will travel
in Iraq to educate the academic and research communities on
how to write grant proposals, and 3) assist Iraqi scientists
who have a business-related idea to develop a business plan
and find potential investors. Proposals focus on five
areas: health, environment, water, agriculture and advanced
materials. For further information, please refer to ASTF's
website at
http://www.astf.net/site/zone/zone.asp?ogzid= 10000.

State's Virtual Science Library Makes Journals Available
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4. (U) Dr. Alex Dehgan from NEA's Regional Affairs Office
spoke to the participants about State's Iraqi Virtual
Science Library, a project to make scientific journals
available on-line to Iraqi scientists. The Virtual Science
Library will become available soon, said Dehgan. This
announcement was received warmly by the Iraqi participants.
For them, these journals represent welcome and otherwise
difficult-to-obtain sources of information on current
science and research.

Excellent Iraqi, Jordanian and International Participation
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5. (U) ASTF's Baghdad office played a key role in
successfully publicizing this workshop to the Iraqi S&T
community. ASTF attracted participants from the University
of Baghdad, Al-Nahrain University, the University of Mosul,
Basrah University, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry
of Agriculture, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the
Ministry of Science and Technology.


6. (U) Jordan's Higher Council for Science and Technology,
which combines functions of the U.S. National Science
Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST),co-sponsored the workshop. They "took
out their checkbook," according to one DOE organizer, to pay
for local expenses, and they arranged for Princess Summaya,
a member of the royal family, to speak at the opening
session. These were significant commitments since,
according to DOE participants, this is the first time that
an Arab government has directly and publicly supported S&T
engagement activities with Iraq.


7. (U) Both Sandia and ASTF did outreach to find
international collaborators who could work with the Iraqi
participants to develop specific research proposals. DOE
was very pleased with the high quality of the international
participants, mostly academics and researchers, who came
from Jordan, Egypt, UK, Kuwait, Sweden, the USA, Lebanon,
Australia, Ireland, Germany and Sudan.

A Few Bumps in the Road from Iraq, Literally
--------------

8. (U) The workshop successfully created international
partnerships that will bring Iraqi scientists back into the
international community and help to rebuild Iraqi's
scientific infrastructure. There were a few minor problems:
long car rides from Iraq, problems at the border with
Jordan, and an understandably slow start as participants
took time to get to know each other and to focus on specific
research topics. ASTF agreed with the USG assessment that
these serve as valuable "lessons learned," particularly as
planning gets underway for a follow-on conference in
September, tentatively scheduled to be held in the UAE.

Next Steps: Review Proposals, Funding in September in UAE
-------------- --------------

9. (U) Next steps are for the collaborative teams to
further refine their proposals and begin to seek out sources
of funding so that scientists can start working immediately
on projects found to be scientifically viable and which
contribute to Iraqi scientific reconstruction. A potential
problem is that many international grant cycles are a year
or longer, creating a short-term funding gap. The follow-up
conference in September will seek to identify sources of
funding. Final versions of the proposals started these last
few days in Amman will also be presented at this conference.

Generation Gap in Scientists Will Take Decade to Fill
-------------- --------------

10. (U) There is another structural issue in the Iraqi
science community that will take years to address: the
generation gap. The dark years under Saddam deprived a
generation of Iraqis of international S&T experience. As a
result, there is an older generation of well-trained Iraqi
scientists, but a significant gap behind them. It will take
a decade or more to fill that gap, since young scientists
need that long to get the necessary training and experience
to engage with the colleagues around the world. It is clear
that the Iraqi scientists wish to reestablish their contact
with the international scientific community after years of
isolation under Saddam. This thought was expressed
repeatedly by a large number of Iraqi participants.

Discussions on WMD Scientists
--------------

11. (SBU) Informal, positive discussions were held on the
margins between DOE delegation head Mallin and ASTF
leadership about incorporating Iraq's former WMD scientific
community into existing and future project proposals. These
discussions identified possible options, consistent with
State/DOE discussions prior to the conference. Mallin will
bring these ideas back to Washington and will meet with
DOE's NA-24 leadership and DOS/NP/PTR to debrief. (Note:
Three scientists associated with Iraq's WMD program are
already involved in the ASTF project, with opportunities to
expand such participation. End note.)


12. (U) Comment: This is a practical, results-oriented
project with modest funding that will work to get the Iraqi
science community back on its feet and focused on
sustainable funding. It will make a contribution to the
rebuilding of Iraqi's scientific infrastructure and will
provide a valuable means to promote international
transparency and cooperation with Iraq's scientific cadre.


13. (U) This cable was cleared by Mr. Mallin.

HALE