ESOF 2010 and European science's search for identity

Turin. Within the EU's plan to standardize and, in a sense, bring under control many subjects in its scope, scientific activities hold a special place. Although a European science is spoken of in a general sense, it must be thought that this science is not sufficiently coordinated within itself and in keeping with the spirit of "union." At least, the idea of gathering the science produced in different countries or in countless universities and research institutes into a pool in such a way as to bear a European identity, and of course to reach a certain productivity, has occupied the minds of Europeans for quite some time.

For this purpose, in 1997, with the participation of the Union's member countries, the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) was founded to provide an open forum for science and technology debates and research policies, to strengthen the link between science and society, to contribute to creating an integrated area for science and technology in Europe, and to influence science and technology policies. The Forum, which held its first edition in Stockholm in 2004 and convenes every two years in a European city as a large chain of events, brings together scientists of all ages and levels, providing an environment in which they can share their accumulated knowledge.

Within the ESOF Scientific Program convened in Turin this year, nearly a thousand presentations are being made in about 200 sessions with the participation of scientists recognized as having brought innovation to their fields, including 7 Nobel laureates.

One of the important goals in the formation of ESOF is to close the gap between society and science, thus making science the property of society, and somehow including society in scientific activities. Perhaps the criticisms of Paul Feyerabend, the founder of the famous anti-science anarchist epistemology, who described science as detached from life yet the holder of a gloomy hegemony over life, have been decisive in such pursuits. Through the "Science in the City" program included in the Forum's activities, scientific experiments, games and sessions organized on various streets of the city, an effort is made to ensure public participation and to popularize science. How much this secures public participation is of course debatable. Because what ultimately happens is not that the public adds something to the scientific community, but that more effective ways are found for science to spread its own truths to the public.

Another declared goal of the initiative is to ensure the production of a science bearing a European Identity. The admission, in a sense, that science has such an identity may lead to a kind of awareness of the invalidity of science's claim to universality, which counts as an important stage. If not science itself, one should not expect that scientific circles can easily give up the claim to universality of these activities, which very much bear a local identity. Because what operates at this level is no longer the requirements or measure of reason but the strata's own interests and reflexes.

The first ESOF was held in Stockholm, the second in Munich in 2006, the third in Barcelona in 2008, and this year the fourth is being held in Turin. The next Forum will be held in Dublin in 2010. The city for 2014 has not yet been determined, but Turkey is a candidate, with TÜBİTAK encouraging the relevant circles to participate. National and international initiatives for this have been officially launched by TÜBİTAK President Prof. Nükhet Yetiş.

Meanwhile we learn that TÜBİTAK achieved one of the highest participation levels among all countries in this year's ESOF events. President Prof. Nükhet Yetiş is on the program committee of ESOF 2010. She is also on the organizing committee of the next forum to be held in Dublin. Compared with other countries, it has warmed far more to the goal of making the contributions of young scientists effective in the world of science, which is one of the most important goals of ESOF, through activities conducted for years within TÜBİTAK.

ESOF is an important platform on which scientific accumulation at the European level is displayed. It seems no longer possible, from this hour on, for industrialists and universities in particular, who are in some way searching for technology, to avoid taking an interest in this forum. However, what was striking in participation from Turkey outside TÜBİTAK was that, in contrast to the participation shown by Anatolian chambers of industry, none of the large industrialists were present. The participation of representatives from both the chambers of industry and the universities of Adana, Kahramanmaraş and Eskişehir, headed by the Konya Chamber of Industry, shows that Anatolian capital is now more interested in scientific and technological developments in the world.

ESFO is in search of a European science; if this pulls it toward more modest limits in the name of science, all the better. In any case, one feature of this forum is that it includes the social sciences as well as new branches of science that may develop. This will nourish the philosophical ground that scientific activities need, which brings with it seeing and criticizing itself, and therefore making this modesty "sustainable." In a world where searches for identity immediately turn into an exclusionary immoderation, I hope I am not too optimistic.