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• Σχόλιο του χρήστη 'Masataka Kawai' | 4 Οκτωβρίου 2012, 23:39

  Μόνιμος Σύνδεσμος

  Dear Sirs/Madams, I have heard you are planning to close the Centre for Research and Technology Thessaly (CERETETH) located in Thessaly, Greece. This is an extremely bad idea even in the middle of this economic crisis. This institution performs many functions, above all it raises future scientists and engineers, and supports technology transfer, the very elements Greece needs for growth and competitiveness in coming years. Unless you continue with CERETETH and similar isntitutions and raise a well educated and talented young generation, Greece will not have a future in the global economy. My wife and I visited Greece for the first time in early September, and were impressed with its rich history and culture dating back 3500 years. We found that the Theatre at Epidaurus was most sophisticated, and we wondered how engineers 2500 years ago could design such a theatre with perfect acoustics. We agreed that Greece has had a rich civilization, which has been inherited for thousands of years. We do not agree with the idea of terminating the continuation of such civilization and the skills developed. You terminating CERETETH is equivalent of terminating this long inherited culture and technology. This should be avoided at all expenses. Please consider the following facts. (i) CERETETH has been evaluated by external reviewers recently, and was determined to be an excellent research center. (ii) CERETETH costs very little to the government, because most of CERETETH’s budget comes from competitive funding from outside of Greece. 70- 80% of its staffs’ salary is paid from such funds. Thus, CERETETH does not contribute to the overgrowth of the public secotr. CERETETH actually generates 3.5 euros for every euro it receives from the government. (iii) CERETETH is one of the few research institutes not based in Athens or Thessaloniki, and it adds to the local economy, halting the brain-drain of Greek researchers. If you close CERETETH, many young and talented researchers will immigrate to other European countries where science and technology are well funded. If you lose these researchers, Greece will not have a future. (iv) Scientist and engineers of CERETETH collaborate with people in University of Thessaly (UTh), and terminating CERETETH will damage the livelihood of UTh seriously. Because of these considerations, I sincerely urge you to keep CERETETH open and maintain it, so that a long inherited culture and civilization continues to the next generations for thousands of more years. You have an excellent tradition. It is not the time to terminate this tradition. Sincerely yours, Masataka Kawai, Ph.D. Professor Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology College of Medicine The University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 52245, USA