National Science Foundation to celebrate 50 years of service excellence
The National Science Foundation (NSF) of Sri Lanka announced plans to celebrate 50 years of service excellence on October 4, 2018, as the country’s apex body powering the promotion of science, technology and innovation for the economic and social prosperity.
The event will be held under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena. The announcement was made at a press conference graced by Science, Technology, Research, Skills Development & Vocational Training and Kandyan Heritage Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama.
“Long-established institutions such as the National Science Foundation have ensured throughout the years that Sri Lanka was steadily progressing in the right direction towards a promising future in advancing knowledge and technology,” stated Minister Sarath Amunugama. “I congratulate the National Science Foundation on this remarkable milestone and pledge the ministry’s support for their future endeavours in the country’s intellectual and technological development.”
“Our mandate for the past five decades as a pioneering national body has been the empowerment of people through knowledge and technology dissemination,” stated NSF Director General Prof. Ananda Jayawardane. “We have endorsed capacity building through the provision of grants to scientists and technologists across local universities and related educational institutes to carry out significant and transformational research studies that have resulted in highly impactful advancements across the country. Additionally, we have also supported technology development and knowledge transfer, innovation, international collaboration and awareness generation of Sri Lanka’s own capacity and genius. We are thrilled to be completing 50 years of service to our country, and promise to strengthen our commitment to serve our nation further.”
The NSF consists of six segregated divisions; the Research Division, Technology Division, the International Liaison Division, Science Popularization Division, Science and Technology Policy Research Division and the National Science Library and Resource Centre. Each division operates under a specific mandate to ensure seamless and integrated functionality across the foundation to produce unmatched knowledge across multiple science and technology streams across Sri Lanka.