by Chen Zhanjie

TRIESTE, Italy, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Scientists from developing and developed countries met here on Tuesday to kick off the 28th general meeting of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) aiming to support sustainable prosperity through research, education, policy and diplomacy.

addressing the opening ceremony, TWAS President Bai Chunli stressed the importance of partnerships to the future success of the global science academy founded in 1983 with Trieste, Italy as its base.

Bai said since he took the TWAS presidency in 2013, the Academy has extended its membership to eight new countries, increasing its members to 104 countries and territories; it has established a number of new prizes and has over 1,000 young scientists studying for their PhDs at TWAS partner institutions in the developing world.

"The unique virtue of TWAS is that it gathers thousands of elite researchers into one community. Our Fellows and Young Affiliates, our PhD fellows and research grant awardees -- they are in their labs or in the field every day ...they are central to the success of our Academy," Bai, also president of Chinese Academy of Science, told the conference.

Bai thanked more than 70 partner organizations which have contributed to the success of TWAS. "Whatever we have achieved in our history, and whatever we will achieve in the future -- it is the result of cooperation, working together with many partners toward a shared vision of scientific excellence in the developing world."

Bai said a new generation of researchers is needed to address the challenges and to help the developing countries to realise their potential.

"It is important that we advance science. But we must always remember that when we work together, with creativity and commitment, we can feed people, and bring them light, and cure diseases. As scientists working together, we can help to provide a life of dignity for all people, everywhere," he said.

Bai announced that Mohamed H.A. Hassan from Sudan has been elected as the new president of TWAS, assuming TWAS presidency in January 2019.

More than 300 scientists and officials from about 60 countries and territories attended the meeting. Also present were Minister Fabrizio Nicoletti, representing the Italian government, and Flavia Schlegel, assistant director-general for natural sciences at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

TWAS was founded by a distinguished group of scientists from the developing world, under the leadership of Abdus Salam, the Pakistani physicist and Nobel laureate. They shared a belief that developing nations, by building strength in science and engineering, could build the knowledge and skill to address such challenges as hunger, disease and poverty.

Initially, TWAS had 42 elected fellows -- nine of them Nobel laureates. Today, TWAS has 1,222 elected Fellows in more than 90 countries and territories, 14 of them are Nobel laureates. About 85 percent come from developing nations, and the rest are scientists and engineers from the developed world whose work has had a significant impact in the South.

The 28th general meeting of TWAS will close on Nov. 29.