Speaker: Dr. Hadi Salmasian
Ph.D.
Mathematics Department, Yale University

Local organizers : Dr. Salehi and Dr. Zanganeh

Title: What is Representation Theory of Lie Groups?
Time: Saturday, May 28, 2005
Location: Department of Mathematics, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan

Abstract : more…

Speaker: Dr. Peyman Servati
Senior Research Scientist
Ignis Innovation Inc.

Local Organizer: Dr. Babaei-zadeh

Title: Disordered Semiconductors for Mechanically Flexible Large Area Electronics
Time: Monday, May 23, 2005
Location: Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran

Abstract : more…

Mailing Lists

There are several email lists in Knowdiff.

1. bod AT knowdiff
   knowdiff board of directors: 4 members
2. officers AT knowdiff
   volunteers who help knowdiff and reside outside Iran: 16 members
3. representatives AT knowdiff
   volunteers who arrange talks in Iran : 12 members
4. announcement AT knowdiff
   all the people who have signed up for knowdiff email list : ~140 members
5. members AT physics Dot knowdiff
   announcement list for the physics people: ~ 16 members

Scientific Subgroup Directors

Knowledge Diffusion Network is going to have active scientific subdivisions. Scientific subdivisions are run by their directors. Here, we list the responsibilities of the scientific directors:

1. Updating the website: Each division has its own page. For example for Physics: http://physics.knowdiff.net. The directors try to keep these webpages uptodate by posting interesting news from the scientific community in Iran or abroad, interesting scientific news, and news or report from conferences. You have to make sure that you have your account to login through http://knowdiff.net/wordpress/wp-login.php to WordPress program which is used to update our website.
2. CC email: Please carbon copy all the email communications related to knowdiff.net to info@knowdiff.net. These emails are only read by the president of Knowdiff.net to ensure that work is in progress.
3. Mailing list: Each subdivision has two mailinglists: the first for the directors and the supporting team for that subdivision and the second is for general public. The internal one will be called dir@physics.knowdiff.net and the external one is called members@physics.knowdiff.net
   • Internal Mailing list is used for communication between directors and the supporting team in order to organize talks and seminars.
   • External Mailing list is used for sending general announcements. The best practice is to send a copy of anything that is posted to subdivisions webpage.
4. Publicity: you have to publicize knowdiff.net among your friends. You need to get more members for your public mailing lists. Your goal has to be having all Iranians of your field on that mailing list. You also need to increase the number of your supporting team. They are the ones who help once in a while for a specific talk or seminar.
5. Organizing talks: When a form by a potential speaker is filled on our website, we enter that information to the PHProjekt database and email you to follow up the case. Each of your progress has to be reported at PHProjekt. You can login to PHProjekt through http://knowdiff.net/phprojekt with the same username and password as your Wordpress login. The tasks that you have to follow for organizing a talk are as follows:

   BEFORE THE TALK

   • Email or call the speaker: get the title and abstract for their talk. Find out their schedule and availability during their trip. Get their phone number here and in Iran.
   • Email your internal mailing list: assign someone on your supporting team to organize the talk in Iran. If you don���t have enough people on your supporting team contact Yaser Kerachian immediately to get a suggestion.
   • Set the location and time: by contacting your team member in Iran and the speaker.
   • Post the talk to the Website: don���t forget to also email it to your subdivision.
   • Mark your progress in PHProjekt

   AFTER THE TALK

   • Form fill out: make sure that the person who organized the talk fills out his/her report
   • Thank Speakr: contact speaker and thank him for the talk.
   • Mark the end in PHProjekt

Iran’s long march
Nature 435, 247-248 (19 May 2005)

Scientific excellence can re-emerge in Iran, unless there is political upheaval or further sanctions.

Stories about people who prevail against the odds are always heart-warming, and the tale in this issue of Nature about a group of Iranian neuroscientists is no exception. Such successes have been rare in Iran’s recent history. Over the past few years, however, the country has been investing more public money in science, and nurturing the gradual emergence of a climate in which high-quality research can flourish.

Read the rest of the editorial here.
Also in the same issue, Iranian neuroscience: The brains trust of Tehran

Speaker: Prof. Mehran Pooladi-Darvish
Associate Professor
Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, Canada

Local Organizer: Dr. Vahid Taghikhani

Title: The Opportunities for Higher Education in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering in Canada
Time: Tuesday, May 17, 2005 at 4:00 pm
Location: Chemical Engineering Conference room, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran

Speaker: Dr. Masoud Ardakani
Post-doctoral fellow
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada

Local Organizer: Dr. Javad Omidi

Title: Performance-Complexity Tradeoffs in Low-Density Parity-Check Codes
Time: Saturday, May 7, 2005
Location: Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan

Abstract : more…