Welcome
Prof. Bernard Rentier
Rector University of Liège

26th Award Ceremony-Wednesday
November 25th 2009, Academic Hall, University of Liege
Liege, Belgium

Mister President of the World Cultural Council
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

The University of Liege today has the honor of being the first university to host the prestigious World Cultural Council award ceremony for the second time. In 2004, you will recall that Professor Ralph Cicerone and Sir David Attenborough received, on these very premises, the Albert Einstein World Award of Science and the José Vansconcelos World Award of Education, respectively.

The World Cultural Council’s selection of Liege for the second time is due in part to the bonds that unite our two institutions. The late Professor Pol Swings, one of the key figures in the field of astrophysics at the University of Liege, was one of the several dozen founding members of the World Cultural Council at the beginning of the 1980’s.

The philosophy which underlayed the creation of this international organization a quarter of a century ago embodies a message as pertinent and noble today as it was then. The founding fathers-if I may take the liberty of calling them so - of the World Cultural Council stressed firmly the profound humanistic and collective nature of Science, considering it an essential element of human culture. Theirs was a noble ideal, indeed a just one, defending, as it does, the use of knowledge for the good of humanity and the promotion of fraternity, cooperation and understanding between nations on the basis of the respect of opinions, of religion, and of the human being in general.

This ideal may appear utopian, pretentious, or even a little naïve. Of course, we witness every day events which lead us to feel skeptical or discouraged. Let us not, however, overlook the strength of networks. Networks are in the air. In the context of globalization, they help rendering borders obsolete, connecting people and lending new dimensions to social action. The World Cultural Council is itself a network, an immense network made up of thousands of men and women of Science from all continents, who adhere to the same principles and pursue the same grand ideals. This human capital, composed of exceptional individuals- many are Nobel Prize winners or recipients of other prestigious international awards- is its main driving force.

I would now like to make a comparison which might strike some of you as daring. Those who know me know that I have been a passionate proponent of and significant activist for Open Access to scientific publications. The Open Access movement and the World Cultural Council share some of the same objectives. They both wish to promote the sharing of knowledge among scientists and to contribute to the worldwide- and this includes the least developed countries- access to knowledge. Open Access intends to bring together scientists from around the world, in the belief that the new knowledge they generate must circulate more freely and that it is precisely in the cross-fertilization of knowledge that new ideas finally emerge for the benefit of mankind. Open Access is not a dream. It is a reality that is taking shape and is already changing the paradigms of the dissemination of knowledge.

Let us not underestimate the power of networks, networks of researchers, the men and women of science. They represent hundreds of thousands of people worldwide and yes, if they really put their minds to it, they can alter reality. All the more so, since their training and their profession often place them on the floor of developments, even ruptures, in the social, technological, medical and economic domains. Yes, they can !

This is a considerable responsibility for the research community and for universities. It is incumbent on them not to lose sight of the importance of knowledge in social development and in foreseeing what is at stake in the future. These objectives can only be reached by sharing, cooperation, dialogue, and an outstretched hand, all the while respecting the diversity of opinions.
This brings us to the honor that will be bestowed today on Sir John Houghton, one of the pioneers within the IPCC of the awareness of climate change. His scientific contributions to atmospheric physics are exceptional, and although his beliefs on the relationship between faith and science are not universally shared in the scientific community, they seem to me an essential part of the diversity of the debate on the social responsibility of man. I am proud, Sir Houghton, to welcome you to our university.

Art and science have several values in common: intellectual curiosity, a quest for truth, and a passion for creativity. From this point of view, the career of Marcell Jankovics is an exemplary one, and I thank the World Cultural Council for allowing us to honor him today. Sir, as a craftsman of images, I hope you have enjoyed discovering our city, stomping grounds of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne- like you, honored at the Cannes Festival - and a center for leading edge companies devoted to the image. Just next week, Liege will be hosting, with the collaboration of our university, an important festival of the 3D imaging of the future.

To close this brief introduction, I would like to acknowledge the role of the World Cultural Council in highlighting, by means of the prestigious awards it bestows each year, the work of remarkable individuals, pioneers and representatives of a science or an artistic discipline. Indeed, the awards given to the late Professors Gilbert de Landsheere and Jean-Marie Ghuysen are among the highest distinctions ever obtained by representatives of the University of Liege.

Thank you.