Buenos Aires, April 30, 2004

Dear Academy Members:

In compliance with the provisions of Article 27 of the Academy's Statute, it is my duty to submit for your consideration the Annual Report, Balance Sheet, Expenditures and Resources Account, and Inventory for the Financial Year ended December 31, 2003. This is the second term in office of the Executive Committee, which I have the honor to preside.

Deceased and New Members

During 2003 we regretted the demise of Regular Member and former President of the Academy Dr. Andrés O. M. Stoppani (March 18), Honorary Member Dr. Ilya Prigogine (Brussels, Belgium; May 28), and Emeritus Member Dr. Juan H. Hunziker (March 17).

In the course of the year Dr. Roberto P. J. Perazzo, Dr. Armando J. Parodi, and Dr. Osvaldo E. Sala were elected Regular Members, and Dr. Rubén D. Piacentini (Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina), Dr. José Luis Torrea Hernández (Madrid, Spain), Dr. Eugenia Kalnay (College Park, Maryland, United States of America), Dr. Eng. Juan Carlos Santamarina (Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America), Dr. Ricardo N. Farias (San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina), Dr. Roberto J. Fernández Prini (Buenos Aires City, Argentina), Dr. Walter E. Triaca (La Plata, Argentina), and Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Bathe (Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America) were elected Corresponding Members.

Sessions

From April to December, a total of nine plenary ordinary sessions were convened, and an extraordinary session was held in March.

Three public sessions were also held as a tribute to Regular Member Eng. Hilario Fernández Long, on the six-month anniversary of his death, organized together with the National Academy of Education; to Regular Member and former President of this Academy Dr. Andrés O. M. Stoppani, co-organized with the National Academies of Medicine and Sciences of Buenos Aires; and to Regular Member Dr. Eduardo Braun Menéndez to mark the centennial of his birth.

Furthermore, public sessions were held to incorporate the following members: Dr. Alberto Sirlin (New York, United States of America), Dr. Francisco de la Cruz (San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina), Dr. José Luis Torrea Hernández (Madrid, Spain), Dr. José Bernabéu Alberola (Burjassot, Valencia, Spain), and Dr. Eugenia Kalnay (College Park, Maryland, United States of America).

Mention should also be made of the awarding of a gold medal to Eng. Roque Scarfiello in celebration of his silver jubilee as Regular Member, and a private meeting where the Corresponding Member Dr. Walter E. Triaca talked about "Hydrogen Economy".

Scientific Journalism, Water, Hydrogen and the Economy

The most highly attended meeting (about 500 people) ever organized by the Academy, the First Symposium on Science, Technology and the Media "In Search of a Common Language," was held at the Lecture Hall of the National Academy of Medicine on August 21 and 22. It was co-organized with The Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net) and the Argentine's Association of Press Communicators (Club 21). This major event was sponsored by numerous and important companies and institutions, and coordinated by Regular Member Dr. Jorge V. Crisci, to whom I am deeply indebted for his valuable collaboration. It is worth pointing out that when Dr. Crisci represented this Academy at the General Assembly of IAP (InterAcademy Panel), held in Mexico City in December, representatives from IAP, the TWAS (Third Word Academy of Sciences), the US National Academy of Sciences, and the Mexican Academy of Sciences said that their institutions would like to participate in a second round of this symposium if it was organized again.

Moreover, the workshop on water, "A Scientific-Technological View on the Disasters Caused by Floods", was held at our headquarters on September 29 and 30. This meeting, which was attended by special invitation by about 40 specialists, was held under the auspices of the National Water Institute, and was very well coordinated by Regular Member Dr. Eng. Raúl A. Lopardo, to whom I am greatly indebted for his collaboration. The results from this workshop were included in a technical document, which was translated into English and presented at the TWAS and TWNSO (Third World Network of Scientific Organizations) meetings held in October in Beijing, China. Both the Spanish and the English version are on the Academy's web site.

The meeting "Hydrogen and Energy in the Future" is being organized in collaboration with the National Academy of Engineering. This event will take place at the headquarters of the Argentine Center of Engineers on March 23-24, 2004, and will be attended by important Argentine specialists. Afterward, a statewide document including all the papers submitted will be issued.

The "Meeting between Economy and Natural Sciences" is being organized in collaboration with the National Academy of Economic Sciences, and it is expected to be held at the beginning of 2004.

Awards

The "National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences" and "Ernesto E. Galloni" awards ceremony was held at the National Academy of Medicine on November 21. As regards the latter award, I wish to point out that it was instituted in 1994 by Eng. Ernesto E. Galloni's wife, Mrs. Nélida Pedretti, who died in 1999, and her children. They donated US$ 10,000 aimed to reward young researchers-up to 35 years of age-in the areas proposed in rotation by the three Academy Sections. On this occasion, the last one since it was instituted, the amount granted was US$ 600, the remainder of the capital amount plus the corresponding accrued interests. The 2003 award was granted to Dr. Diego F. Grosz in Physics. As for the "National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences" awards, they were granted to the following specialists in the stated areas: Dr. Isabel G. Dotti ("Miguel Herrera" award in Mathematics); Dr. Manuel Tovar ("Ricardo P. Platzeck" award in Experimental Physics); Dr. Juan José Clariá Olmedo ("Benjamín A. Gould" award in Astronomy); Eng. Haroldo J. Hopwood ("Ferruccio A. Soldano" award in River Engineering); Eng. Teresa E. Pérez ("Jorge Sabato" award in Metallurgical Engineering); Dr. Sebastián A. Guarrera ("Joaquín Frenguelli" award in Phycology); Dr. Jorge E. Marcovecchio ("Horacio Damianovich" award in Environmental Chemistry); and to Dr. José A. Salfity ("Guillermo Bodenbender" award in Regional Geology of the Argentine Northwest).

Institutional Relations

Conferences, seminars, meetings, and national and international symposia were held under the auspices of the Academy, and Academy Members and other Argentine scientists and technologists were proposed as candidates and judges for various prizes.

On August 8 Lic. Torcuato Di Tella, Culture Secretary, and Jorge Carman, Press Chief of the Secretariat for Culture, visited the Academy. They had lunch at our headquarters with Academy Members Carlos Segovia Fernández, Jorge Crisci and the undersigned, as well as with the other members of the organizing committee of the First Symposium on Science, Technology and the Media, Valeria Román, Raúl Carman, Carlos Albano, and Roberto Bruno. The meeting was very pleasant and different subjects were discussed.

On August 13, Academy Members Carlos Segovia Fernández (vice president acting as president), Mario Mariscotti and Pedro Stipanicic, and Honorary Member Daniel Bes met with the president of the CNEA (National Atomic Energy Commission), Dr. José Abriata. The meeting took place in a congenial atmosphere and the president was told about the Academy's concern over the restructuring of the CNEA as well as the nuclear wastes issue.

In response to the invitation received by the Academy, Academy Members Eduardo Charreau, Eduardo Dvorkin, Armando Parodi, Mariana Weissmann, and Víctor Yohai were proposed to act a jury members and collaborate with the regulation of the "L'Oréal Argentina-Unesco 2004-2005" fellowship. This fellowship carries a reward of US$ 10,000 that will be awarded by the company L'Oréal Argentina to an ongoing research project, directed by a woman, in the area of Life or Material Sciences.

The proposal presented by Academy Members Osvaldo Sala and Jorge Crisci to set up the Diversitas National Committee was accepted. This is a program from ICSU (International Council for Science) that seeks to promote biodiversity. It has been proposed that Argentina establish a local committee; the Academy would join it together with CONICET (National Research Council). The National Committee should be made up of experts in different fields (scientists, decision makers, and those responsible for managing natural resources) and coordinated by a Regular Member.

Moreover, the undersigned, as president of the Academy, was invited to join the Honorary Commission of the Golem Project, together with Dr. Helena Illnerova, president of the Academy of Sciences of the Check Republic, and Academy Member Eduardo Charreau, president of the CONICET. It is worth noting that that Academy has a role similar to that of the CONICET in our country.

Furthermore, it was decided to launch the Series of Conferences to Disseminate Scientific Knowledge. These conferences will be delivered by Regular Members at institutions in the interior of the country and in Buenos Aires Capital City, thus resuming an activity developed by the Academy some decades ago.

The Academy was represented in different events by Academy Members Alejandro Arvia (Meeting of Basic Chemistry Professors), Pedro Aymonino (9th General Conference and 20th Anniversary of the TWAS, and General Assembly of the TWNSO), Jorge Crisci (General Assembly of the IAP), and the undersigned (400th Anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences).

The importance of the relationship with IAP should undoubtedly be highlighted. This institution assembles the most important science academies in the world (one per country) and it is an honor for our Academy to be a member of that body.

In June the Academy received an invitation from IAP to subscribe the document "Human cloning," which is included in this Annual Report. Before making a decision, two renowned Argentine specialists in this field -Dr. José Lino Barañao and Dr. Juan Carlos Calvo- were asked to express their opinion. After a fruitful discussion with them, the Academy decided to support such statement. We later knew that 60 Academies of Sciences, including ours, had subscribed this document.

Afterward, in response to an invitation from IAP the Academy decided to support five IAP statements under consideration. These statements are "Health of Mother and Child in Developing Countries", "Scientific Capacity Building", "Science Education of Children", "Science and the Media", and "Access to Scientific Information". The statements are also included in this Annual Report.

The IAP held its General Assembly in Mexico City from December 1 to 5, which was attended by Academy Member Jorge Crisci in representation of our Academy. The main subject of the meeting was "Science for Society". Some of the activities developed on this occasion included a proposal to hold a meeting on Education and another one on Water; an excellent lecture delivered by our Honorary Member Dr. Leon Lederman; the presentation of a summary of the book the InterAcademy Council (IAP's executive body) is writing (called "Inventing a better future"); a poster of the activities of our Academy was displayed; and the authorities to make up IAP's Executive Committee (2004-2006) were elected. Also, as stated above, our First Symposium on Science, Technology and the Media "In Search of a Common Language" made a great impact, and many institutions showed interest in joining the Academy in a second round of this symposium.

Fellowships and Scholarships

This Academy continued its fellowship programs. Regarding the "National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences" fellowships for doctoral theses, each consisting of $ 700 monthly, Carolina Torres ("Lorenzo R. Parodi" fellowship for Botany) and María Leticia Rubio Puzzo ("Juan José Giambiagi" fellowship for Physics) ended their three-year fellowship on February 28, and thanked the Academy for the significant support provided. They both submitted excellent reports. Miss Torres finished and passed her thesis "Reproductive Ecology of Asteraceaes from Córdoba (Central Argentina)," and was awarded a Doctor's degree in Biological Sciences by the National University of Córdoba; Miss. Rubio Puzzo still had to complete graduate courses required by the School of Exact Sciences of the National University of La Plata.

At mid-year it was decided to establish a new fellowship, called "Jorge O. Cosentino," for a doctoral thesis in Chemical Engineering, which will become effective from March 1, 2004. A fellowship competition was held and the beneficiary is Sergio D. Keegan, chemical engineer, School of Engineering of the National University of La Plata. He will write his thesis on "Simulation of Multiphase Reactors," under the direction of Dr. Guillermo Barreto.

The "In libris carpe rosam" scholarships are intended for students of the University of Buenos Aires -under 22 years of age at the time of starting- in the areas of Mathematics ("Marcelo G. Barroso Mastronardi" scholarship) and Biological Sciences ("Paulo D. Barroso Mastronardi" scholarship). Each scholarship consists of $ 600 monthly, derived from funds (bonds) donated by Marcelo G. and Paulo D. Barroso Mastronardi. A new deed of gift was signed on May 15 to incorporate the new clauses approved at a plenary session (December 13, 2002).

It is public knowledge that the interests receivable on bonds cannot be collected. As this is the case of the bonds that support these scholarships, Eng. Inés A. Mastronardi, on behalf of Marcelo G. and Paulo D. Barroso Mastronardi, financed them for many months, and was reimbursed for that money by an agreement signed on August 13. On this occasion it was also agreed to establish a "Paulo D. Barroso Mastronardi" scholarship for Biological Sciences from March 1, 2004.

At the beginning of the year Jonathan A. Barmak and Matías L. del Hoyo ("Marcelo G. Barroso Mastronardi" scholarship for Mathematics), and Juan I. Fuxman Bass and Maximina H. Yun ("Paulo D. Barroso Mastronardi" scholarship for Biological Sciences) submitted the second report for the year 2002. Such reports were accompanied by a brief essay -as requested by Article 5 of the Statute- and the favorable opinion of their supervisors, Academy Members Angel Larotonda and Jorge Crisci, respectively. The four students had an excellent performance; the first two will continue to receive their scholarships, whereas Fuxman Bass and Yun finished theirs on February 28, when they turned 22 years of age. In the middle of 2003, Del Hoyo and Barmak submitted their first reports of the year, which were accompanied by the favorable opinion of their supervisors. It should be noted that Barmak will finish his scholarship for Mathematics on February 28, 2004 when he turns 22 years of age.

The "Paulo D. Barroso Mastronardi" scholarship for Biological Sciences competition was held in October, and the scholarship will be effective from March 1, 2004. When the deadline for applications was over, María Belén Almejún was selected to receive the scholarship and her supervisor will be Academy Member Armando Parodi.

Publications and Web Site

In 2003 volume 54 of "Anales" (Annals) (2002) was published. The Academy's web site (www.ancefn.org.ar) is updated periodically and it has also been almost completely redesigned, adapting it to the new available technologies in order to provide easier and faster access to its contents.

The Darwinion Botanical Institute

The IBODA (Darwinion Botanical Institute), under the guidance of Dr. Fernando O. Zuloaga, continued carrying out excellent research and diffusion, as can be seen in detail in the relevant section of this Annual Report.

It is worth noting that the National Parks Administration honored IBODA with the award "Preserving the Future-Year 2002", in recognition of its work Catalog of Vascular Plants in Argentina.

Our Headquarters

The building "House of the National Academies" was managed by our Academy for some months; the collaboration of Academy Member Jorge Crisci in this respect is gratefully acknowledged. The Presidents of the National Academies in the building have now decided to assign this task to a company that has great experience in the area. The regulations of the organization of bailees are being drafted and they will surely be finished by the beginning of 2004.

Congratulations and Acknowledgements

By means of this presentation, I offer my warmest congratulations to the Academy Members who received a large number of important awards, distinctions, and tributes throughout 2003.

In this brief yearly synopsis, I also take pleasure in expressing my personal gratitude to the Academy Members who shared the Executive Committee and whose contributions of ideas, collaboration and attendance were given with the widest scope and drive. Likewise, I convey my deepest gratitude to the presidents of Sections, Commissions, Special Commissions, and to our colleagues as a whole for collaborating in the Academy's own tasks.

At year end, the members of the Academy's staff were Mrs. Diana L. Pallini, Miss Patricia N. López, Mrs. Gabriela Galante, Mr. Ramón Berón, and Mr. Adrián Ramos.

Each one of them, under the direction of administrative secretary Mr. Mariano Fernández Alt, have endeavored to perform their tasks effectively.

Special mention should also be made of the work done by Mr. Fernández Alt who, in collaboration with the freelance accountant Adrián A. Griggio, with good sense and balance managed to put the Academy in good working administrative order.

The arduous task undertaken by Mr. Fernández Alt with great energy, ability, intelligence and willingness is gratefully acknowledged by the Executive Committee and the Academy members. As for myself, I want to praise Mr. Fernández Alt for his work.

Miss Beatriz L. Manso, who assisted in secretarial work, resigned in March 2003 to dedicate even more time to do unpaid voluntary work of a high social and spiritual value. We wish her success for everybody's benefit.

Eng. Arturo J. Bignoli
President