UNESCO and ET Cube hold first Pacific bootcamp on entrepreneurship for young scientists

In parallel to the bootcamp, UNESCO supported a two-day summit run by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) on 18 and 19 November at the same venue. Its aim was to empower physics in the Pacific by listening the needs and expectations of Pacific physicists and using this information as a springboard to nurture scientific collaboration in physics to nurture the region's sustainable development in areas such as renewable energy, climate monitoring, medical equipment, freshwater and waste management and ecological industrial products.

Both the Hon. Permanent Secretary and the Minister of Education, Mr Aseri Radrodro, who had graced the networking dinner on 18 November with his presence, praised IUPAP and UNESCO for bringing together more than 40 young and senior physicists from Pacific Island nations and beyond to strengthen their scientific ties.

'I myself am a physics graduate', explained Mr Raj in his remarks on 21 November. 'In my day, I was one of between 100 and 120 physics graduates from the University of the South Pacific (USP). I have just come from a meeting of the USP Council, where I learned that just five physicists graduated from the university this year. As for the cohort of physicists from my graduation, most have since left the country', he observed.

The Permanent Secretary stressed the need to strengthen physics teaching in Fiji to overcome the current disaffection for the discipline and expressed the desire to collaborate with UNESCO and IUPAP to make this happen.

After all, recalled the Hon. Minister of Education, Mr Aseri Radrodro, p hysics 'shapes the technologies we depend on daily, from telecommunications, computing and medical imaging to renewable energy, transportation and aerospace. For the Pacific, physics is not abstract. It is deeply practical. He concluded that 'when the Pacific invests in physics, we invest in resilience, sustainability, productivity and the future of our children'.