The
idea of the Asian Science Camp was co-proposed in September 2005 after the 55th
Annual meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students in Lindau, Germany, by Professor
Yuan –Tseh Lee (1986 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry) from Chinese Taipei, and Professor Masatoshi Koshiba (2002 Nobel
Laureate in Physics) from Japan. The proposal expressed the aim to enlighten
science talented youths through discussions and dialogues with top scholars in
the world, and promoting international friendship and cooperation among best
young students of the next generation in Asia. The Lindau Meetings will serve
as a model. The Asian Science Camp would
invite a dozen Nobel Laureates or world-distinguished scientists as speakers
and devise an interesting program to attract all the participants, including
plenary sessions, round table discussions, student master dialogues, a creative
poster competition, social events and excursion. The working language would be
English. This proposal was soon discussed in a board meeting of the Wu
Chien-Shiung Education Foundation and was approved unanimously by the board.
The
governing body of the Asian Science Camp is the International Board of Asian
Science Camp (IBASC). IBASC is a not- for- profit organization, consisting of
non-governmental educational institutions. The 2007 Asian Science Camp was
organized by the Wu Chien-Shiung Education Foundation with the assistance of Academia
Sinica in Taiwan. This non-government Foundation was established in 1995 to
commemorate the monumental contributions of Madame Dr. Wu Chien-Shiung to
physics and her lifelong love for science education. Since its inauguration in
Taiwan in August 2007, the Asian Science Camp has become an International
annual event in Asia.
Surya
Institute, established in 2006 by Prof. Yohanes Surya Ph.D. is a non-profit Indonesian
institution, with a mission to promote Science advancement through innovative
science learning, campaign and research. Prof. Yohanes Surya Ph.D. began to train the
Indonesian Physics Olympiad Team (TOFI) in 1993 and since then, every year
Indonesian team achieved incredible results in both Asian Physics Olympiad and
International Physics Olympiad. With the
teaching and training methods he has developed, Prof. Surya has successfully
trained students from small/remote areas in Indonesia and from simple
backgrounds to excel and win prestigious International Science Competitions. Surya Institute had been appointed by the
International Board of Asian Science Camp (IBASC) to host / organize the 2008
Asian Science Camp, to be held on August 3rd – 9th in Bali. It will be a 6–days inspiring /life
changing moment for around 500 Asian students, who will learn from Nobel
Laureates and other world class scientists in the fields of Physics, Chemistry,
Biology and Medicine.
Considering
that Asia’s current education systems, compared with those in the West,
traditionally lack flexibility in developing students’ individuality,
creativity and originality, particularly with respect to science, reshaping of
education in Asian region is a very urgent task. A realistic first step is to
provide those very bright students an opportunity to satisfy their desire for
learning and inspire them to pursue excellence in science research. These
talented students would then become assets not only to their own countries, but
to all human kind. It is our dream that students participating in Asian Science
Camp event will one day contribute to shape a better future for Asian Countries
through their creative inventions.