Hany al-Nazer, head of the National Research Centre (NRC), was last month named scientist of the year by the union of American and Canadian scientists.
Dr Nazer said that his huge efforts on the NRC project “The Road to Nobel” were major among the reasons which qualified him for the prize. The project was born out of the need to avert the brain drain of Egyptian scientists who work for Masters or doctoral degrees abroad and, tempted by the superior research climate and facilities available there, do not return to Egypt. The idea of the project is based upon providing Egyptian scientists with means for research through affiliating with international research centres, to reach the level of ‘Nobel’ prize winners.
So far the project has focused on 200 NRC researchers who returned from abroad. “We were able to provide them with some 32 up to date laboratories to pursue research work in Egypt,” Dr Nazer said.
This project is self-funding. The NRC markets and sells the research of Egyptian scientists; the researcher is given half the sum and the other half goes towards equipping and maintaining the laboratories. The name of the project, “The road to Nobel” was borrowed from the title of the book written by Nobel Prize winner Ahmed Zuwiel.
Today the NRC is inaugurating the first femto second laser unit in Egypt—the second in the world. The Egyptian-born American scientist Mustafa al-Sayed, who was recently honoured by President George W. Bush for finding a cure for cancer, is taking part in the inauguration.
Dr Nazer said that, in his opinion, the vital components for success are, in order of importance: good management, appropriate funding, strong human resources and innovative marketing.