Environment and Sustainable Development - United Nations ...

specializations in geothermal utilization, environmental
studies, chemistry of thermal fluids, geological
exploration, borehole geology and geophysical exploration.
Eighteen of the 19 participants (from China, Costa Rica, El
Salvador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Kenya, Lithuania, Poland,
Russia and Turkey) who joined the UNU/GTP in April
received fellowship support from UNU Centre.
Food Science and Technology
With funding from Kirin Brewery Company (Japan)
(renewed in 2002 for an additional five years), UNU
organizes an annual year-long training programme on food
science and technology at the National Food Research
Institute in Tsukuba, Japan. The programme targets
scientists at universities or research institutes from
developing countries, with a particular emphasis on the
Asia-Pacific region. In 2002, five UNU-Kirin Fellows
(four of them women) from China, India, Mongolia and
Thailand joined the programme; five others completed
their training in Japan and received grants to return to their
home countries for follow-up research projects.
UNU also revived its cooperation in 2002 with the
Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) in
Mysore, India, which has been a partner of the UNU in
capacity development activities for more than twenty
years. Four scientists from Nigeria, Sudan and Thailand
started their UNU-supported training at CFTRI this year.
Remote Sensing Technology
UNU Centre supports an annual eight-month course at the
Institute Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciales (INPE) in Brazil
for postgraduate professionals working in the field of
remote sensing technology. The course familiarizes
participants with the physical principles of remote sensing,
spectral behaviour of natural targets, sensor systems and
satellites, radar, visual analysis of remote sensing data,
digital image processing, scientific research methodology
and the ERS-1 programme. In 2002, UNU awarded
fellowships to six Latin American participants in this
programme.
Software Technology
UNU/IIST provides young software engineers from
developing countries with advanced training for up to one
year in software research and development, curriculum
development for postgraduate and postdoctoral courses in
formal software development, and the development of
computer science curricula. In 2002, 20 fellows from 10
developing countries were trained at UNU/IIST premises
in Macau, and UNU/IIST sent 13 fellows from six
developing countries to study at its six partner universities
in developed countries.
In March, UNU/IIST signed an agreement with the
Mathematics and Computer Science Department of
Eindhoven University of Technology to establish a joint
Ph.D. programme. The Institute is also initiating a joint
Ph.D. programme with the Department of Computer
Science, Queen Mary and Westfield College of London
University.
Akino Memorial Donation Programmes
With a portion of a donation from the Government of
Japan in memory of Dr. Yutaka Akino, who was killed in
1998 while on mission for the UN in Tajikistan, the UNU
Centre funds:
• annual research fellowships to support several Japanese
Ph.D. candidates and postdoctoral fellows for field
research activities within the general theme of “Peace and
Environment in Central Asia”; four young Japanese
scholars took up their field studies in Central Asia in
2002.
• internship support for young Japanese nationals who are
undertaking internships at United Nations institutions
outside of Japan; in 2002, 10 Japanese postgraduate
students were awarded grants to undertake internships at
UN institutions in Austria, Kenya, Switzerland,
Tajikistan and the USA.
Degree-oriented Programmes
UNU helps young researchers, particularly those from
developing countries, to upgrade their academic
qualifications of through Master’s and Ph.D. programmes
and postdoctoral fellowships.
Ph.D. Internships
The UNU provides candidates who have been accepted in
Ph.D. programmes, particularly at universities in
developing countries, with the opportunity to conduct part
of the research for their dissertation at one of UNU’s
research and training centres. Interns gain access to the
latest scientific information, receive expert advice from the
academic staff of the institute and can link up with the
wider academic community at the location of the institute.
In 2002, three Ph.D. interns joined the academic
community at UNU/INTECH for a three-month period
(April–June), four Ph.D. fellows were invited to work at
35