ACADEMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS

Mexican Academy of Sciences

Arturo Menchaca

IANAS Conference and General AssemblyOttawa, Canada

26-28 August, 2010

Women 492, 23%

Men 1664, 77%

•AMC has 2,156 members.

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS Membership

Medicine 213, 10%

Biology 364, 17%

Agrosciences 119, 6% Geosciences

112, 5%

Chemistry 169, 8%

Social sciences and humanities

415, 19%

Astronomy 50, 2%

Physics 397, 18%

Engineering 207, 10%

Mathematics 110, 5%

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS The site

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS The Counsil

Science Education Programs

• Computation for Children

• A Summer in Research

•Science on Sundays

•Science Olympiads

•Math Competitions for students under 15

•Science at your School

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS Computation for children

Initiated: 1984

Goal: Teach the use of computers, through workshops.

Target: primary and junior high school children.

Where: public libraries in a number of Mexican cities

Numbers in 2009: 128 workshops with 47,325 students.

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS Summers in Research

Initiated: 1990Goal: spend a Summer working under the supervision of a prestigious scientist. Target: undergraduate students.Where: Universities and/or research laboratories throughout Mexico.Numbers in 2010: 2,266 applicants, 1,194 grants awarded

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS Science on Sundays

Initiated: 1982

Goal: popular science talks by distinguished scientists, generally delivered on week-ends.

Target: General public.

Where: Main populations centers in Mexico.

Numbers: A total of 6,940 talks, 359 of them in 2009.

Initiated: Biology & Chemistry: 1991; Geography:2003; Mexican History: 2007

Goal: Motivate students towards scientific subjects.

Target: High School students.

Where: Nationwide. Winners later represent Mexico in International Olympiads.

Numbers in 2010: more than 220,000 participants

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS Science Olympiads

Biology (since 1999): 1 gold, 6 silver, 25 bronze

Chemistry (since 1992): 11 gold, 32 silver, 45 bronze

Geography (since 2006): 2 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze;Absolute Winner in the 2007 World Geo. Championship.

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS International Olympic Medals

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS Math Competitions

Initiated: 1996

Goal: Motivate students towards Math.

Target: under 15.

Where: Nationwide and Latin America

Numbers in 2010: more than 440,000 participants

Latin American medals: 23 gold, 60 silver, 152 bronze

•Initiated: 1992

•Methodology: 1 year, 32 weekly (3-hour) lessons. Include Math, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, Computation, Science History & Seminars

•Goals: •increase level of science education•improve attitude toward science & math

•Target: Public school teachers

•Numbers: total of 5,327 participants.

www.lacienciaentuescuela.amc.edu.mx

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS Science at your School

International presence

In 2007, AMC & Mexican Ministry of Education signed an MoU with Science Academies of:

•Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Peru and Dominican Republic

to extend the program.

Science at your School

Other initiatives:

•2009 Latin American Science Summer Camp in Tlaxcala

Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.

•Science at your School on line:

http://a-distancia.lacienciaentuescuela.edu.mx

Science at your School

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS Women for Science

In 2009 IANAS, AMC, CONACYT, and RELAC-ICSU organized the Symposium

“Women for Science”, in Mexico City

With representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, United States and Venezuela + Caribbean Scientific Union, Latin American Academy of Sciences, Caribbean Academy of Sciences (Jamaica), the Third World Organization for Women in Science (TWOWS), the UN Gender Advisory Board (GAB) and IAC

Result: IANAS established the WfS Working Group.

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS Water Programme

Brazilian and Mexican Academies lead the IANAS Water Programme. Co-chairs are Prof. José Galizia Tundisi and Dr. Blanca Jiménez.

The IV IANAS Water Programme National Focal Points Meeting, held in Nicaragua (May 2009), agreed to produce a document about water resources status in the Americas. The purpose: to propose strategies on water management in the region.

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EMIA MEXICANA DE CIENCIAS Thank you!