(Communicated by the Office of the President)

President Shimon Peres on Sunday evening (26 August 2012) addressed the opening of the Asian Science Camp being held for the first time in Israel with 300 young scientists aged 17-21 from throughout Asia.

The most important science camp for youth worldwide, the Asian Science Camp is the result of the initiative of Nobel laureates from Asia who decided to create a platform to identify and promote the future generation of Asian scientists. Sponsored by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, among the participants in the camp are young scientists from China, Japan, Korea, Nepal, New Zealand, the Philippines, Georgia, Armenia, Singapore and more. The largest delegations this year are from Israel (with 35 participants), China (34), India (33), Japan (24), and Korea (20).

President Peres told the young scientists: "Your coming to Israel is a call from the future, from the new world based on science - a world that will come into being faster than anyone expects. Each of you 300 students has tremendous potential, and I welcome this important link you are making to Israel, the ultimate start-up and innovative state. The global world is built on cooperation between brilliant individuals, regardless of the nations from which they come. You have come to Israel, the right place to venture, to explore, to imagine and to realize your dreams. We are excited that you have come. Seeing you here makes me, at my advanced age, feel like a young optimist."

President Peres took advantage of the occasion to congratulate the heads of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and its students its listing this year as 53rd among the 100 most important universities in the world according to the Shanghai ranking - the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

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Asian Science Camp 2012, the sixth of the series, is being held in Israel from August 26-31, 2012. The previous camps were successfully held at Taipei (2007), Bali (2008), Japan (2009), India (2010) and Korea (2011). Asian Science Camps aim at enlightening science talented youths through discussion and dialogue with top scholars in the world, and to promote international friendship and cooperation among the best young students of the next generation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Five Nobel Laureates have confirmed their attendance at the 2012 ASC: Prof. Yuan T. Lee (chemistry), co-founder of the Asian Science Camp; Prof. Makoto. Kobayashi (physics), chair of the ASC International Advisory Committee; Prof. Roger D. Kornberg (chemistry, biology); Prof. Aaron Ceichanover (chemistry, biology) and mathematician Prof. Robert J. Aumann, both of Israel.

The camp is being funded jointly by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.