Reactions

Letters to the editor

Science is international

Science bridging international borders is a hugely important topic, since chemistry, as the central science, is by its very nature an international activity. As chemists and American Chemical Society members, we welcomed the article on the topic in your Sept. 30 issue (page 30). However, we were surprised to see that agencies that specifically fund science across international borders were not mentioned. Please allow us to mention two of the many agencies that do this.

The Fulbright US Student Program sends about 800 students per year overseas, and many of these students are in the sciences. The Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program provides grants to more than 800 foreign scholars from over 100 countries to conduct postdoctoral research at US institutions for periods ranging from an academic semester to a full academic year. A similar number of US scholars go overseas through the Fulbright US Scholar Program.

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) annually funds over 100,000 people from all regions of the world in international study and scholarship. The DAAD’s Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE) program provides international awards to about 300 students per year.

Efforts to support the funding of these programs require international publicity. As an example of our efforts to support the Fulbright program, a German scientist who has published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society and other chemical journals (that is, Chancellor Angela Merkel) was recently awarded the prestigious Fulbright Prize for International Understanding, an award first given to Nelson Mandela.

We encourage C&EN to support and report on such activities.

Manfred Philipp (Scarsdale, New York)
and Philip E. Rakita (Philadelphia)

Editor’s note: Manfred Philipp was the 2018 president of the Fulbright Association and is a 2019–20 DAAD research ambassador. Philip E. Rakita was the 2018 treasurer of the Fulbright Association and the 2012–13 president of the Fulbright Academy.