Asian Scientist

Asian Scientist

Editor	Juliana M. Chan, Ph.D. Rebecca Tan, Ph.D. Tang Yew Chung, Ph.D. Sim Shuzhen, Ph.D.
Categories	Science
Frequency	Weekly (online) and quarterly (print)
First issue	March 16, 2011
Company	Asian Scientist Publishing Pte. Ltd.
Country	Singapore
Language	English
Website	www.asianscientist.com

Asian Scientist is an English language science and technology magazine published in Singapore.

History and profile

Asian Scientist was launched as an MIT alumni start-up in March 2011 by the company, Asian Scientist Publishing Pte Ltd.^[1][2]

Based in Singapore, Asian Scientist is maintained by a team of professional science journalists, medical doctors, and scientists contributing to it.^[3]

The magazine's launch reflects the growing demographic of scientists, engineers, and doctors from Asia, and caters to this burgeoning community with news stories that are both timely and of interest to them. According to the 2010 U.S. National Science Foundation Key Science and Engineering Indicators report,^[4] one-quarter of the world’s publications are from Asia and one-third of all scientific researchers worldwide are Asian. This shifting face of science reflects the strides made by the Asia-8 and other emerging nations in recognizing research & development as a valuable industry.

According to the Science and Engineering Indicators 2012 released by the U.S. National Science Board,^[5] the largest global science and technology gains in recent years occurred in the “Asia-10″ – China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. Between 1999 and 2009, for example, the U.S. share of global R&D dropped from 38 to 31 percent, whereas Asia’s share grew from 24 to 35 percent during that period.

On April 16, 2013, Asian Scientist Publishing accepted seed funding from international science publisher, World Scientific Publishing Company, to expand operations at its Singapore headquarters.^[6]

On January 2014, it launched its flagship quarterly print magazine^[7] targeted at scientists, healthcare professionals and students. The magazine's inaugural issue focused on the biomedical sciences and was featured by media outlets in Singapore and Malaysia as Asia's first science magazine.^[8][9]

The company will start publishing books under the Asian Scientist imprint, with the first book to be launched in August 2015. It will feature 25 of Singapore's scientific pioneers, with the goal of making these scientists household names. The book was made possible by a Singapore50 Celebration Fund grant from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports to Dr. Juliana Chan and Dr. Rebecca Tan, who are both editors of the magazine.^[10]

On April 2, 2015, it launched the inaugural Asian Scientist Writing Prize,^[11] co-organized with Science Centre Singapore and with prizes sponsored by World Scientific Publishing Company. The competition is open to anyone working, studying and/or residing in Asia and invites 1,000-1,500 word non-fiction entries on science topics. The competition will close on June 30, 2015.

Content

The magazine covers science, medical and technology news updates from the Asia and Australasia regions.

The site has a keen interest in the Asian biomedical and pharmaceutical sector. It devotes categories to research and development, health, medicine, new media and education. The site has been indexed by Google News since July 22, 2011.

Notable coverage

The magazine regularly features peer-reviewed clinical and basic research in Asia, and does one-on-one interviews with notable Asian scientists. Prominent interviewees include:

• 2012 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, who candidly discussed his early career, what inspires him, and the challenges he faced leading up to the 2012 Nobel Prize.^[12]

• Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) Executive Director Dr. Wang Jun, who explained why the kung fu panda best describes the Chinese world leader in human, plant, and animal genetics research.^[13]

• MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito, who discussed his vision for the MIT Media Lab, and how he likes the word “learning” better than the word “education”.^[14]

• U.S. Presidential Citizen’s Medal winner and TIME magazine 1996 Person of the Year, Prof. David Ho, CEO of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, who discussed HIV/AIDS research in China.^[15]

• Susmita Mohanty, CEO of India’s first space start-up, Earth2Orbit, and also protégé of Arthur C Clarke. Dr. Mohanty discussed the viability of India’s commercial space sector.^[16]

• Director of the MIT Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Prof. Li-Huei Tsai, on her work-life balance, and her links to Taiwan through Academica sinica.^[17]

• World Wide Fund for Nature Freshwater Director, Dr. Li Lifeng, on global water policies and conservation of the Yangtze, Mekong and Ganges rivers.^[18]

• Dr. Sania Nishtar, founder of Pakistan NGO and think-tank, Heartfile, and also Pakistan’s first female cardiologist.^[19][20]

• 2011 Nobel Prize In Physics Winner, Dr. Brian Schmidt, on the Square Kilometre Array telescope and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope project.^[21]

Other notable interviews^[22] include those with Stockholm University Proteomics Facility Director Docent Leopold Ilag, CSIRO Climate Scientist Dr. Wenju Cai, IIT Madras Prof. Arunn Narasimhan, and Dr. Anil Kakodkar, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India.

The magazine’s May 15, 2011 Ultimate List of 15 Asian Scientists To Watch^[23] featured scientists that include Caesar Saloma, Yi So-yeon, Zia Mian, Robin Li, Siddharth Ashvin Shah, and Pranav Mistry. The list was subsequently mentioned by the University of Philippines,^[24] the MIT Media Lab,^[25] and the A*STAR Institute of Biotechnology and Nanotechnology, Singapore.^[26]

References