SciDev.Net

More funding and freedoms are needed if the Arab world is to reach its goal of becoming a knowledge-based society, a report finds.

Iranian professors around the world are petitioning colleagues in Iran to attack plagiarism after alleged instances in academic journals.

Patent applications can be filed and processed in Arabic for the first time, thanks to the newly enhanced status of Egypt's patent office.

An awards ceremony recognising Arab women scientists has enabled many to meet face-to-face for the first time.

Leaders of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, which opened this week, have stated their global aims.

A Pakistani development plan has criticised the country's mass PhD production, and says that the system needs rethinking.

The United Arab Emirates is soon to send its first earth-observation satellite into space, and hopes the venture will boost its development.

Despite a difficult financial climate in Pakistan, the government has increased funding for science by a quarter.

Morocco is investing more in science with plans to make universities financially independent and upgrade the scientific infrastructure.

Barack Obama has outlined a commitment to improving science and technology relations with Muslim communities around the world.

A state-of-the-art research facility in Saudi Arabia aims to stem the region's brain drain and promote nanotechnology research in the Arab world.

Bahrain is investing in large-scale science and technology projects in an effort to become an innovation hotspot.

A new forum for technology transfer will aid the sharing of homegrown technologies across the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

With the official opening of its US$800 million science park in its capital, Doha, Qatar is pursuing its ambitions for a high-tech future.

After a  year standing empty, the post of science minister in Pakistan has been filled.

A new network aims to serve scientific research communities by enabling the Middle East to link directly with European research networks.

The Middle East's first synchrotron, which opened last month, still has to find US$19 million for its planned 2.5 GeV machine.

The Arab world has launched its first science news website, with the aim of communicating researchers' work to the public.

Morocco is investing US$3.2 billion in clean energy development, including a renewable energy 'knowledge campus' in Oujda.

Science and technology will play an important role in Kuwait's 2009–2014 development plan, with a government policy to transform the sector.