José Manuel Silva Rodríguez wins Argentinean science prize 'Luis Federico Leloir' on intl cooperation in science, technology and innovation
The former Research Director-General of the European Commission, José Manuel Silva Rodríguez, has been honoured with the 'Luis Federico Leloir' science prize, named after the 1970 Nobel laureate in Chemistry. The important Argentine prize is a testament to Leloir's contribution to international cooperation in science, technology and innovation. International cooperation plays a crucial role in fostering science, technology and innovation The Latin American and Caribbean contribution to global knowledge production has almost tripled in the last 20 years, as measured by publications in top international journals. Roughly 20% of these publications are the result of international collaborations. In the Southern Cone and the Caribbean, most of these international co-authorships are with EU scientists. By fuelling and sharing knowledge on both sides of the Atlantic, we effectively move towards more robust solutions to the major societal challenges and open up new growth and job opportunities. The fruitful exchanges with Latin American and Caribbean countries have excellent potential to grow further on the back of strengthened scientific, technological and innovation cooperation. On-going dialogues between Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean are fostering stronger societies via knowledge sharing. The EU-LAC's Summit motto was 'Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development and Social Inclusion'. Forging more partnerships between the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean, based on mutual interest and benefit, will contribute to the generation of creativity, sustainable development and concrete research and innovation solutions to global challenges. The EU-LAC Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation endorsed by the Summit aims at creating a shared Knowledge Area. This means in practical terms that stronger ties between the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean are being fuelled thanks to the development of a more regular dialogue. This dialogue is underpinned by agreements targeting robust and sustainable science, technology and education, as well as technical and economic cooperation and trade and scientific cooperation. Latin American and Caribbean ministries in charge of science and technology and their funding agencies have nominated contacts of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) to offer support to their research teams and their international partners to build cooperation and exposure on the international stage. International cooperation projects under FP7 target bi-regional and bilateral cooperation, as well as strong coordination initiatives of the EU Member States. Various activities contribute effectively to the strengthening of the international dimension of the European Research Area (ERA). Relevant FP7 themes for such cooperation projects include the environment, climate change, health, food, agriculture and biotechnology and information and communication technologies. The EU support stands at around EUR 470 million. Under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), 500 Latin American and 15 Caribbean teams participated in 226 projects, which had received more than EUR 470 million in co-funding. The President of the Republic of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, will hand over the prize to Mr Silva Rodríguez on 18 November 2010 in an official ceremony in the country's capital Buenos Aires. The Luis Federico Leloir Prize is given to individuals in recognition of their important and fruitful efforts to promote international scientific cooperation with Argentina. The prize is named after the esteemed Argentine doctor and biochemist Luis Federico Leloir (1906-1987) who received the 1970 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The awards ceremony will be held in the framework of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the independence of Argentina, so as to underline the importance of science, technology and innovation for Argentina.