9424373 Lewis This award will support the participation of ten American and fifteen foreign scientists and engineers at a symposium on the involvement of women and young scientists and engineers to be held in Beijing, China in June 1995 in conjunction with the XVIII Pacific Science Congress, which is held every four years. Dr. Nancy Davis Lewis, the Associate Dean of the College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawaii, is the American co-organizer. The Co-Convener is Dong Guilan, Director for Science and Technology Policy at the National Research Center for Sciences and Technology Development in Beijing. The Secretary General for the XVIII Pacific Science Congress is Congbin Fu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The organizers are also working in cooperation with Wu Ganmei, Secretary General of the China Women's Association for Science and Technology. The Pacific Science Congress will have as its theme "Population, Resources and Environment: Prospects and Initiatives". This symposium will focus on establishing a dialogue and initiating programs that encourage the participation of women and young investigators in science in Asia and the Pacific. Sessions to be held during the meeting will be devoted to taking stock on available human resources, science and the role of culture, and women and the nature of the scientific enterprise. Shorter discussion periods will be devoted to initiatives that are showing a positive influence on encouraging scientific careers, the role of national and international organizations, and regional cooperation. Funds from this grant also will be used to support participants from the southeast Asian region with particular attention to the participation of individuals from the Pacific Islands who are often overlooked in regional activities. Dr. Lewis has extensive contacts in the region and its educational and scientific organizations and is well placed to assure Pacific Island participation. This is particularl y timely because the next Inter-Congress meeting of the Pacific Science Association, "The Islands in the Pacific Century", will be held in Suva, Fiji in mid-1997. The discussions on women and young people in Asia and Pacific Science initiated at the Beijing meeting can continue, with even wider Pacific Island participation, in Suva in 1997.
