"It has indeed been a honour to have served as president of TWAS over the past six years," Rao told the participants. "TWAS is a special organization and my association with the Academy, I can say with all honesty, has been among the most rewarding experiences of my career. TWAS is unlike any other scientific organization and its uniqueness will undoubtedly serve it well in the years ahead."

Mohamed Hassan, TWAS's executive director, was one of several participants to praise Rao for the enormous contributions that he made to the Academy. Two areas of noteworthy accomplishment during Rao's tenure were TWAS's increasing emphasis on scientific excellence, as reflected in the quality of the scientists who have been elected to TWAS over the past six years, and the Academy's renewed dedication to honouring and assisting scientists from the world's poorest countries. "Rao," Hassan observed, "has helped to strengthen TWAS's two primary goals: excellence and inclusiveness."

Hassan also cited some of the major accomplishments of the 10th General Meeting, including:

• The election of a new TWAS president and TWAS Council. Brazilian-born Jacob Palis, an internationally renowned mathematician and recent recipient of the Trieste Science Prize, will assume the Academy's presidency in January 2006.
• The election of 44 new Academy members, 20 percent of whom are women. That brings the total membership of TWAS to 850 scientists. The Academy's membership represents 90 countries – 73 countries from the developing world and 17 from the developed world.
• The announcement that the government of India will contribute US$500,000 to the TWAS endowment fund and that the government of Brazil will contribute US$600,000 to be given over the next three years. This means that the Academy's endowment fund will soon exceed US$10 million.
• A decision by members of the Third World Network of Scientific Organization's (TWNSO) 9th General Assembly, which took place in conjunction with the TWAS 10th Meeting, to transform TWNSO into the Consortium on Science, Technology for the South (COSTIS) under the auspices of the Group of 77, the UN's largest network of member states dedicated to developing world issues. COSTIS will enable TWNSO to interact more directly and effectively with political leaders and decision makers.
• A comparable decision by the G77 ministers of science and technology, who also met in Brazil during the TWAS 10th General Conference, to endorse the creation of COSTIS. The G77's foreign ministers are expected to approve the creation of COSTIS at their annual meeting scheduled to take place at UN headquarters in New York City later this month.
• The establishment of a TWAS affiliate membership category for young scientists. Each year, TWAS regional offices will select up to five scientists under the age of 40 as TWAS affiliate members (subject to approval by the TWAS Council). Each affiliate member will be appointed for five years during which time they will be invited to participate in TWAS general meetings and conferences.
• The creation of three new prizes – each carrying a US$3000 cash award – in the broadly defined areas of institution building, science education and public understanding of science. The prizes, designed to recognize the achievements of those who assist the scientific community achieve its goals but who are not researchers, will be funded by TWAS and awarded by the TWAS regional offices.

"The conference's superb scientific sessions," notes Hassan, "featured a lecture by Nobel Prize winner David Gross (Physics 2004) on string theory and presentations by the winners of the Trieste Science Prize and TWAS medal and prize lectures. In addition, there were symposia focusing on advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology, global change and developing countries, and life sciences in Africa."

TWNSO also held a forum on Financing Science, Technology and Innovation that was attended by more than 20 ministers of science and technology from the developing world and the Brazilian participants, led by the Brazilian minister of science and technology, Sergio Rezende, organized a half-day session on advances in science and technology in Brazil.

"With all of the activities taking place, it is difficult to signal out one event above all others," says Hassan. "But I think it's fair to say that the successful organization of the first-ever TWAS Regional Conference of Young Scientists, with presentations from some 30 young scientists from Latin America and the Caribbean, was one of the highlights of the four-day event. Not only was it exciting to hear about the excellent work being done by our youthful colleagues, but it also clearly reflected the Academy's commitment to the future. The high quality of the work presented and discussed at the conference – and especially the high quality of the work of young researchers – bodes well for the future of science in the developing world."