International Committee Report for the Year Ending June 30, 2009
Appendix 2

MINUTES OF CONFERENCE CALL HELD WITH DR. KAREN OATES (Now at NSF)
February 20, 2009

Dr. Oates started the conversation by mentioning that the background material that she supplied (see the Appendix that is included in this document), describes a large project in which she was involved that was funded by the Office of International Science and Technology. While working with this project she went to countries that were emerging democracies in order to help set up teaching and learning centers in universities and get scientists to get to know each other. However, the grant for the project has ended and although they applied for a subsequent grant from NSF, it was not funded.

Last year Dr. Oates joined NSF and went to Moldova to attend a meeting in Higher Education and also visited the Republic of Georgia under the "NSF" hat. She mentioned that the US State Department has been very interested in getting something going in the field of Science and Education in these two countries.

During her trip, Dr. Oates noticed that in these two countries they could really use some help in understanding Science Ethics. They are now handling government research grants with a pier review process but they are struggling with it, because basically there is a lack of understanding of the Scientific Code of doing Business. Dr. Oates will go this June to Georgia and she could talk about the pier review process, but she mentioned that she could not do the Ethics part with case studies and scenarios as a good professional scientist in the filed could handle. Thus, there is a need and desire on the Georgian part to conduct a special 2 day workshop on the Ethics of Handling Science projects, but they also lack the proper funds for inviting scientists from outside to help in this endeavor. Dr. Oates believes that the Georgian Science Foundation could provide about $ 6,000.00 USD and pay the 50 people that they could get a per diem rate of $ 25.00 USD/person, but there is still need for some additional support for bringing in scientists from abroad for doing this.

Dr. Oates mentioned that the International Division of NSF can grant about $ 25,000.00 USD as the usual support that they handle for this type of activities, but that she can't directly make the application mainly because of the conflict of interest that this would imply. Thus, as a Sigma Xi member she contacted Headquarters and the Chair of the International Committee to let us know about this project. She also mentioned that since Sigma Xi is an American Institution, she would like to know if the Society would handle the project and apply for the $ 25,000.00 grant to NSF. Dr. Oates is well aware that Sigma XI has an International Partner in the Republic of Georgia (that was mentioned to her during her past trips) and that Ethics in Science is one of the major programs of the Society.

If Sigma Xi would take on this project and apply for the NSF funds to conduct the workshop, she is well aware that these funds could not be used to pay for the travel of foreign scientists to the USA, but on the other hand, the funds can be used to send 2 or 3 expert scientists to work and meet with Georgian scientists and set the 2 day workshop on Science Ethics. In this way, the Georgian scientists would get what they need and the American scientists would: 1) learn how to balance the past practices handled in a totalitarian regime with a pier review system and see how these ideas are processed, 2) possibly create learning materials on how to work with culturally diverse groups on Ethics. For Dr. Oates, it is important for Westerners to learn from these experiences what these new democracies are doing and going through. She considers that we are at a particular moment in history were we have struggling democracies that will probably remain as democracies and that we can learn a lot from the experience of helping them solve their basic issues in Science.

Finally Dr. Oates mentioned that if Sigma Xi decides to undertake this project she would send links to previous works that have been carried out, as well as links to scientists in Georgia and Armenia. She also commented that there has been an effort to try to develop a Sigma Xi International Partnership at the State University of Armenia through professor Ishcon, a mathematician at the university.

In closing I told Dr. Oates that I would bring her petition to the International Committee Conference call meeting that we will have on March 11 and that I would get back to her with a proper response.

Antonio Pita
Chair, International Committee
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society