PDF (35 K). In English. - Ad Astra

Ad Astra 1 (1) 2002
www.ad-astra.ro
“Ecole Normale Supérieure” in Romania?
A dialogue with Andrei Moroianu (project manager)
Ad Astra
Young Romanian Scientists’ Journal
Liviu Giosan: Andrei, SNS is a major initiative for science education in Romania. As far as I know, only
New Europe College founded by Andrei Plesu that covers Humanities, has adopted as generous goals as
SNS for the young generation of Romanian intellectuals. It must have been a lot of work to develop a new
institution!
Could you tell me in short the story of how SNS came to be first imagined, and then to exist? Who were
your main colleagues in this enterprise?
Andrei Moroianu: The idea of creating an educational framework to support young Romanian students
and intellectuals based on the ENS model has been first put forward by Adrian Papahagi in 1996. In spite
of the moral support that this project gathered from the Romanian diaspora, it never materialized, probably
because nobody was ready then to dedicate enough time and resources to such an enterprise.
Later on, by the end of 1999, I had a discussion with Nicusor Dan in Paris, on the migration of young
Romanian students during their first college years to western universities, never to return. We decided to
tackle this situation, and this is how the SNS project was born. Joined by Sergiu Moroianu some weeks
later, we wrote down the details of the project that we subsequently posted on a dedicated web page
(http://snsb.online.fr). Then, we asked distinguished Romanian scientists as well as some foreign
personalities to establish a Scientific Council for SNS. With only one exception, all of them accepted.
The results of the fund-raising campaign we run afterwards could have been a lot better, if not for an
omnipotent bureaucracy that we faced in Romania. People and institutions abroad naturally have less
interest in supporting such projects. Nevertheless, this year we started the activity of one department of the
SNS, thanks to some private donations and a generous support of the Theta Foundation, and we will do our
best to raise more funds for opening new departments in 2002.
Let me point out that Nicusor Dan and Sergiu Moroianu, who are my main partners in this project, received
their PhD abroad (at the ENS and MIT respectively) and came back to Romania after graduation,
convinced that there is still some hope to re-establish our old scientific traditions.
L.G.: It has been the sheer determination of a small group of people that pushed the SNS project forward.
How did you manage to dedicate time to this and do research or study in the same time?
How should the Romanian Education Ministry for example have helped when presented with such an
initiative? In a country with serious problems in research and education such as Romania, one would
expect that the authorities would have better received your enthusiasm and expertise.

2 Ad Astra
For anybody to follow in your footsteps in trying to set up a project in Romania, do you have any advice to
give?
A.M.: You have touched a sensitive point here! The truth is that we spent much more time with this
project than originally planed and - here I have to speak for myself - my research slowed down during this
period. Nevertheless, I consider that all of us have a duty toward the country where we are born in and
where we received our education. In this context, I especially feel responsible for the fate of the emerging
generation of Romanian intellectuals.
Now let me tell you about our relationship with the Government: Mr. Andrei Marga, former Minister of
Education, showed himself enthusiastic about the project and promised to finance a big part of it. Some
days later, though, he called us and said that it is much more difficult than he imagined to finance such a
project because it does not fit in any existing framework of the Ministry. You could say, of course, that he
should have created a commission to work on this, but the elections approached, and he probably knew that
his days in that Ministry were counted...
We were disappointed by the lack of interest of the Government in our project, but we do not blame it.
This practically meant that we had to find other solutions. This is actually the advice that I give to anybody
trying to develop projects in Romania: try to be constructive and avoid by all means criticizing. If you do
not adopt this kind of attitude your chances of success are very small in a country plagued by so many
dysfunctions.
L.G.: And, I should add, ask for help immediately after general elections .
Andrei, what can you tell us about the first admission examination at SNS, about the exam itself, about
those who applied, and about the young mathematicians that were in the end admitted? I am looking more
for a personal perspective on these matters rather than an official one (I urge the reader to check the SNS
web page at http://snsb.online.fr where there is a wealth of information about SNS).
A.M.: Due to financial uncertainties, the decision to organize an admission competition in 2001 was taken
very late - in July - when college students were already away for the summer. As a consequence, we had
only a small number of applications, but the positive point was that all candidates were well prepared.
The exam consisted in a written part followed by an oral exam in front of the admission committee
(President: Gheorghe Nenciu, senior researcher, IMAR; Members: Vasile Brinzanescu, Mihnea Coltoiu,
Sergiu Moroianu, senior researchers, IMAR, and Henri Moscovici, Professor, Ohio State University.). In
spite of the fact that we did not organize a full examination - see the web page for the admission procedure
next year - the topics covered a large spectrum and allowed for a good assessment of the candidates’
potential.
I do not know personally the awardees but I am fully convinced that, because they passed this tough exam,
the Mathematics department of SNS has started on the right track. A sine qua non condition for the success
of our initiative is a massive student enrollment in the yearly SNS competitions. I would like to take this
opportunity to strongly encourage all interested students to apply for admission next year.
L.G.: Romanian institutions are not particularly known for their transparency. In research, they fear open
competition and therefore remain parochial. This is well illustrated by the insignificance of Romanian
contributions in the mainstream scientific literature. Some say that this state of facts is due to the lack of
credentials of those who do science and educate. It may be unfair to say this about Mathematics, which
remains the standard-bearer for Romanian science. But SNS plans to extend its activity to other areas.
For example in order to prevent inbreeding, do you plan to include Romanian exiles and/or foreign
personalities in the admission committees next year? Are the foreign members of the Council fully involved
in setting SNS’s policies? How do you plan to integrate the Romanian scientific exile in the education
process at SNS, and is there any practical way that this could be achieved?

“Ecole Normale Supérieure” in Romania? 3
A.M.: I must stress that your analysis does not apply to Mathematics, where Romania holds one of the top
positions on the international scene. But you are certainly right that other scientific fields, which are more
or less dependent on expensive equipment and materials, are under-represented. This is actually one of our
goals: to help provide a favorable environment for raising the level in other scientific areas. I believe that
Romania has the human potential for doing this.
Answering the second part of your question, I have to point out that more than half of the scientific
committee at SNS consists of foreign scientific personalities and Romanians from the diaspora. They are
fully involved in all decisions taken by the committee, through a system of electronic communication and
vote. It is in our plans to periodically organize meetings of the scientific committee in Romania, but we do
not have the financial possibilities yet.
As far as the admission process is concerned, we already included one member of the Romanian exile in
the committee this year, and we intend to strengthen this involvement of the diaspora in the future. We
would like to address our sincere thanks to Professor Moscovici – as well as to all other members of the
admission committee - who accepted to perform this activity without any financial compensation.
L.G.: Do you find that an electronic journal, such as Ad Astra, that addresses concerns of the Romanian
scientific community, with a particular emphasis on its younger segment, is needed? And finally, do you
believe that Ad Astra could help SNS?
A.M.: More and more Romanians emigrated in the last decade, most of them young intellectuals. Whereas
this phenomenon certainly has a negative impact in Romania, this could be offset if the émigrés will
continue to keep active professional contacts in their home country. To this end, I consider that your
journal satisfies a natural need for efficient communication within the young Romanian diaspora as well as
between the diaspora and the home country.
In any case, I am sure that Ad Astra can help with the SNS project, especially by providing additional
publicity to the project. I hope that we will bolster our cooperation in the future.
Congratulations for your initiative and I wish you success!