Evaluating the First Year of the eSDDC Young Scientists Forum (YSF)
Experience: Challenges and Opportunities
By: Raed M. Sharif
Chair, the eSDDC Young Scientists Forum (YSF), and
Ph.D. Candidate in Information Science and Technology, Syracuse University, USA.
Young scientists continue to be missing in the science and technology discussions and policy-making processes, not only in the developing world but also in the North.
This unfortunate absence is not due to the lack of interest or attention from scientific organizations to this strategic resource to the future of science and societies’ development. In fact, the number of activities designed to involve young scientists in these processes has been noticeably increasing in the past decade or so, and the number of scientific organizations that promote and support this goal is even higher. So why, despite this increasing interest and attention from scientific organizations, young scientists are still not actively involved in these processes? What is required to recruit and, more importantly, retain young scientists in these activities? Finally, what is the potential role of scientific organizations, funding agencies, and senior scientists in these processes?
This presentation provides some answers to these questions based on the experience of the one-year old eSDDC Young Scientists Forum (YSF) as well as on observations from the work of the World Association of Young Scientists (WAYS) and other young scientists- related activities. The presentation concludes with some recommendations to the eSDDC YSF to overcome some of the current challenges and to capitalize on the existing opportunities.