Science Centers Move to China, India: Nobel Laureate 

      Science centers are unlikely to move from the States to Europe, they may move to China or India thanks to the high-dense population and avid pursuit of knowledge and science there. They will be like the States and Europe maybe within 20 or 30 years, if dilemma of earmarking funds for science is solved, says Richard Schrock, a Nobel laureate in chemistry, 2005, in an interview.

Resalah: What is your impression about Riyadh?

Schrock: I am enthusiastic for being here. Every minute I spend I gain new knowledge. It is really a difficult-to-forget experience. 

Resalah: Do you agree with Alfred G. Gilman, a Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1994, who said winning Nobel was harmful and dangerous to one’s life?

Schrock: No, it was not harmful to me. Yet, he might have been joking and might have voiced that feeling because he was hectic busy. Anyhow, one can accept whatsoever is offered to him, and so becomes busy throughout his life, and can select and leads an interesting life. 

Resalah: How do you evaluate the relationship between industrial researches and scientific researches?

Schrock: Scientific research relies basically upon industry in the States. Some scientists work for industrial companies for a limited term in return for big money. Some companies recruit them to conduct certain experiments. Therefore, problems over intellectual property emerge. But, in the European countries, the relationship is different. The relationship between academic sector and industrial center is close-knit as, for example, in Britain. Yet, a scientist cannot publish his research outcomes. 

Resalah: Multidisciplinary approach overwhelms researches based upon curiosity driving science. The latter starts to suffer financial stumbling? Any comment?

Schrock: This makes me anxious over the future of science driven by curiosity. They will have no financial support. No one can reach scientific discovery on conducting experiments on things he does not like. I am really worried. 

Resalah: Many students do not like chemistry claiming that it deals with dangerous substances; a tedious, difficult to understand course; and produces harmful effects. What are the non-pedagogical approaches that lure students to science?

Schrock: First of all, chemistry, in the past, produced some harmful effects. But, now efforts are exerted to avoid such harms. Many sciences rely on chemistry; for example, biology, medicine, and others. Secondly, in the states, programs are launched to enrich children knowledge about nature, animals, technology and innovations. 

Resalah: Do you expect to win Nobel Prize again?

Schrock: I have not planned to win the prize in the first time, and do not plan to win it again since there are many scientists deserving to win it.