The World Association of Young Scientists (WAYS) is planning to launch a Latin American network in April 2014 , it was revealed at the World Science Forum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 27 November. WAYS is a collaborative community launched by UNESCO (the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 2004, to be a support network for young scientists worldwide. The organization helps junior scientists promote their work, share information and look for job opportunities.
Several issues were identified in Latin America, said Marga Gual, cell biologist and coordinator of the project. One of them is the lack of communication between young scientists, who sometimes dont know that others exist, or dont know that some of what they are doing is being done by someone else, according to Gual.
The World Association of Young Scientists (WAYS) is planning to launch a Latin American network in April 2014 , it was revealed at the World Science Forum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 27 November. WAYS is a collaborative community launched by UNESCO (the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 2004, to be a support network for young scientists worldwide. The organization helps junior scientists promote their work, share information and look for job opportunities.
Several issues were identified in Latin America, said Marga Gual, cell biologist and coordinator of the project. One of them is the lack of communication between young scientists, who sometimes dont know that others exist, or dont know that some of what they are doing is being done by someone else, according to Gual.
One of the new networks ideas will be to offer training to young scientists, for instance in policymaking.
Gual said that she learned from her own experience that it is not easy to find resources for scientists in policy work. After completing her PhD, she completed an internship at the UN. I spent a lot of time researching what ideas I could bring, and how I could market myself to look interesting to [the UN officials], she said.
The intention is to create a database, or a training initiative, to help scientists identify what they can bring to international organisations, or to the UN, or to the sustainable development agenda, said Gual.