Like the broader population in Egypt, scientists there are brimming with optimism following the popular uprising that resulted in the February toppling of Hosni Mubarak's decades-long stranglehold. "We were all part of the protests," says Yasser Kadah, a professor of biomedical engineering at Cairo University. "There is a general sense of relief. We feel that in the times to come things will be much better." Maged Al-Sherbiny, vice minister of science and technology since 2007, is especially pleased about the relative peacefulness of the revolution in his country. "In Libya they are killing demonstrators by air fighters. That is totally crazy," he says. "Egypt is going to be a very good model for the region of how things can change."

Farouk El-Baz, an Egyptian American geologist who is director of Boston University's Center for Remote Sensing, went to Egypt to "congratulate these kids who made the revolution." The people, he says, "don't really know about science, but they want science and technology institutions to have the respect and the funds they deserve."

People can talk freely now, says Kadah. "Basically, the focus at the universities was to maintain security and stability. We had leaders who did not care about the quality of education. They were making sure no one demonstrated or talked about things that were not good for the regime." Previously, he says, the feeling was that knowing the right people, not making an effort, is what would get you a job. "Now students feel they have opportunity. They don't have to know the right people. There is a sense of fairness. I think this will transform the whole country."

Kadah and others note that professors at public universities earn about $400 to $1000 a month. But at several new campuses in which the government had sometimes been playing a much stronger role, including handpicking faculty, the salaries could be higher by an order of magnitude or more. Kadah adds, "I have to support my research—I buy equipment out of my personal money. We do not have funds at the university to do that." Until now, says Hassan Talaat, a physicist at Ain Shams University in Cairo, "to make a decent income, you either go to the Gulf area or leave to work at a private university. You can barely get by with a faculty income as it is now [at Egyptian public universities]."

People have been meeting constantly both formally and informally to discuss the way forward. According to Yasser Khalil, a professor of nuclear engineering at Alexandria University and the administrative director of SESAME, the international synchrotron light source being built in Jordan, "one common theme was that we have to put stress on education. The more we spend on education, the more we gain later."

Within public universities, demands are likely to include the selection of administrators by faculty vote instead of by government appointment, higher salaries, and a new policy for running the education system. Another question, says Talaat, will be how to finance research. "These will be the four items of major concern to universities."

Al-Sherbiny, who in addition to his ministerial post is an immunology researcher, a member of the SESAME council, and president of Egypt's Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, is optimistic that research and universities will fare well in the future. The science and technology ministry set priorities four years ago, he says. "We know what needs to be done. These plans faced funding problems but now, with science and technology becoming part of the major priorities, we can push ahead."

The national S&T plan Al-Sherbiny refers to has four thrusts, each with the potential for local impact: energy and renewable energy; water desalination; agriculture, including development of wheat, rice, and cotton crops and aquaculture; and treatment of common diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and certain cancers.

In 2007 Egypt launched a "science decade," during which it collaborates with a different country each year. "We look at strengths and identify areas of common interest for people to work together," says Al-Sherbiny. Egypt has begun sending more students to Germany, the inaugural partner. And with its 2008 partner, Japan, it founded a new joint university in Egypt. Italy and France were the partners in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The US is supposed to be this year's partner, but Al-Sherbiny says that with the political upheaval, joint activities are in limbo.

Now, with Amr Salama, an engineer, former university president, and previous science minister named interim science minister in a March cabinet reshuffle, Al-Sherbiny says the country's science and technology strategy will be updated. "We want to make the transformation with as little pain as possible, and to create the best future for our youth," he says. "It all comes to money at the end of the day. It will be very important to increase resources." In recent years, he says, Egypt has put from 0.2% to 0.4% of its gross domestic product into research. "We would hope for at least 1%."

Not surprisingly, hand in hand with optimism about the future come worries about heading down the right path. For Khalil, one worry is the possibility that the military won't keep its promise to hand back authority to civilians. Talaat notes that things have moved very swiftly, and "it would have been easier to negotiate with a weakened government than with the armed forces." For his part, Al-Sherbiny is not worried about the temporary military control of the country. "They are on our side," he says. Rather, he worries about a derailing of the new process due to war erupting somewhere in the region or to "people pointing fingers at each other instead of moving forward."

"There is still a lot of dust in the air," says Talaat. "It's like having someone who has been imprisoned for a long time, and now he is free. But he is not prepared. He cannot answer right away what he wants to do."

El-Baz says he did not see "even a hint of pessimism. My advice is, keep forging ahead, don't blink an eye. Egypt has been like a snail. If they sit on things, corruption will creep back in." He notes that when asked to be on an advisory board, his answer was "Forget it. Don't go back to the generation that made a mess. Ask us questions, but do not depend on us." In 2006 El-Baz, then 68 years old, wrote an article on the Arab world's "generation of failure." He says he is "delighted that this young generation is a different beast. If they do see roadblocks, they do not see why they can't remove them."

In solidarity with the revolution in Egypt, on 8 February professors marched to Tahrir Square. The protesters' slogan was "dignity, freedom, and social justice."

In solidarity with the revolution in Egypt, on 8 February professors marched to Tahrir Square. The protesters' slogan was "dignity, freedom, and social justice."

Close modal