Third ASIAHORCs Meeting Held

On 20-23 October, the third meeting of the Asian Heads of Research Councils (ASIAHORCs) was held in Seoul, Korea. It was hosted by the National Research Foundation of Korea.

ASIAHORCs was established in 2007 for the purpose of building a stronger network among leading science-promotion organizations that shoulder the advancement of science and technology within the Asian region. Its establishment was proposed by JSPS, which hosted the first two ASIAHORCs meetings. This was the first time for another member of the group to organize and hold the meeting. The meeting was attended by the representatives of science-promotion organizations in eight Asian countries, including JSPS president Prof. Motoyuki Ono. They each gave presentations and exchanged views on the theme “Human Resource Development,” including such issues as “brain drain and circulation.” Prof. Ono also gave a report on the successful holding of the July joint symposium, ASIAHORCs first collaborative project.

Deliberation was also given to an ASIAHORCs “vision,” to be shared by the member organizations, and an ASIAHORCs logo.

It was agreed that the next ASIAHORCs meeting and joint symposium will be hosted by the Vice-Chancellors’ Council of National Universities in Malaysia (VCC) and held in Kuala Lumpur in the fall of 2010.

- Asian Program Division