Ryoji Noyori
President, RIKEN; professor, Nagoya University, Japan
Research Interest
Asymmetric catalysis, green chemistry and organic synthesis
Profile
Ryoji Noyori was educated at Kyoto University and became an instructor at the same university in 1963. He taught at Nagoya University as associate professor (1968–72) and professor (1972–2003), and spent a brief period doing postdoctoral work at Harvard University (1969–70). In 2003, he was appointed president of RIKEN and university professor at Nagoya University. Noyori is now chairing the Abe Cabinet’s Education Rebuilding Council. He is a member of the Japan Academy and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a foreign member of the Royal Society of the UK and the national academies of sciences of the USA, Russia, Poland, and Korea. He is founding chairman of the editorial board of Chemistry – an Asian Journal. Noyori shared the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with W. S. Knowles and K. B. Sharpless.
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2001/noyori-autobio.html
Speech Abstract
In the past, science and technology were led by Europe, America and Japan. But now other Asian countries are growing in importance. I will discuss the launch of Chemistry — an Asian journal, intended to be the first world-class Asian chemistry journal, and RIKEN’s collaborations with Asian countries as we strive for a global presence.
Scientists must work together globally, to bring us from an era of competition to one of cooperation and to avoid the dangers that threaten the future of humankind. Asian countries must set new courses in accordance with their distinctive values. The meeting of different cultures will increase the potential of young scientists and improve the development of the global scientific community.

Ian Foster
Director, the Computation Institute, Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago, United States
Research Interest
Distributed computing, computational science and eScience
Profile
Ian Foster received his BSc at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and his PhD at Imperial College, London, both in Computer Science. He is now director of the Computation Institute at Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago, where he is also the Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Service Professor of Computer Science. He has crossed the Pacific on a sailboat once and on airplanes too many times to count.
http://ianfoster.typepad.com
Speech Abstract
Rapid advances in both science and information technology are driving the emergence of 'eScience'. Grid technologies play a crucial role in eScience by enabling resource and service federation across organizational boundaries, supporting on-demand access to computing resources and allowing the formation and operation of distributed, multi-organizational collaborations. eScience and Grid technologies also require new tools, infrastructure and policies. I will discuss opportunities, achievements and challenges in these related areas.