Programme / Emerging Scholars: Establishing the Cycle of Innovation

The ability to perform science and innovation is distributed unequally; only scientists from few countries have the means to address problems affecting the world. This is often perpetuated by the absence of strong scientific leadership and sustainable mentoring traditions, lack of an idea generation system, or underdeveloped institutional foundations. To the best scientists in the world, the highest calling is to elevate the minds of the most promising emerging scholars, equipping them with the mental tools to pursue a career of discovery. Thus, the ability to provide global mentorship provides hope for the future of science. Scholars involved on either end of this relationship will be able to share and foster core values such as respect for the value of knowledge and acceptance of working with different cultures. On a practical level, the ability to extend mentoring relationships to a global stage may counteract problems like human capital flight – sometimes referred to as “brain drain”. The shift in viewpoint from a local community of researchers to a global one will infuse all areas of science with new ideas and skillsets, increase learning opportunities for scientists at large, and tackle informational and technological challenges that are associated with local problems before they become global. The vision of a global science network fueled by mentoring is ambitious, but is proving achievable.

The session will highlight global science activities, introduce research and scientific outreach programs, present capacity building case studies, and detail accomplishments achieved by emerging scholars who have plugged into a quickly developing global science network of researchers. The context will then be set to demonstrate how providing global mentorship leads to opportunities in scientific research, which benefits emerging scholars, countries, and even regions as a whole.