News Highlights
Author:
Lina Jbara,
Office of Communications,
laj03@aub.edu.lb
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Jabbur awarded Excellence in Science Award 2009
[L-R] Tohme, Beirut Arab University President Amr El-Adawi, Rahhal, Mneimneh, Jurjus and Jabbur |
AUB's Dr. Suhayl Jabbur of the Faculty of Medicine's Department of Physiology received the Excellence in Science Award 2009 from the Lebanese Association for the Advancement of Science (LAAS) on November 13. The gold medal was presented by Abdo Jurjus, president of the LAAS and professor of human morphology at AUB; Minister of Education and Higher Education Hussein Mneimneh representing President Michel Sleiman; and, representing the Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Minister of Environment Mohammed Rahhal. MP Bahia el Hariri was also present.
The selection committee, formed of deans of several university faculties, the LAAS, and the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research (LNCSR), met twice-first to shortlist three of the nine nominees from Lebanon and elsewhere, and then again to choose the final winner. According to Abdo Jurjus, "All candidates were very deserving, and so, hopefully, next year we will expand the award to include several nominees, such as young researchers and women in science." |
 | Jabbur speaking and Jurjus on his left
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Jabbur accepted the award at the Opening Ceremony of the 16th International Science Meeting held at the Beirut Arab University in Abed El Nassar Hall.
In his acceptance speech, he spoke of two main faults in the culture of this part of the world which limit fast progress in scientific research. The first, he explained, is "the lack of a proper 'team approach' [in] the solution of any question." Praising cooperative efforts of specialists, Jabbur cited the field of neuroscience as one which developed through the merging of several subfields in brain research.
The second flaw, he said, is more serious: the lack of strong government commitment to science and scientists. "We don't seem to have learned," he said, from states of Asia such as "Malaysia, Burma, South Korea, and others," that the findings of science can be effectively applied to overall development. |
Finally, Jabbur advised the students in the audience, if ever faced with the decision of working in "a pure research institute or within a university setting, to opt for the university," because "working with students is perhaps the best antidote against aging." His closing remark was met with a thunder of laughter and applause from the crowd.
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