WHY ASIA?

Some of the fastest growing economies are in Asia, and some of the greatest investments in research and its infrastructure are in Asia**.

Asia is excitingly diverse, culturally rich, and contains roughly half of the world’s population. Much of Asia is on or near the Pacific Rim, as is the United States. The west coast of the United States has a sizable Asian population. While U.S. history and culture have long been Euro-centric, the reasons above point to future opportunities in Asia as our focus shifts toward this region. Students who are exposed to Asia and the Pacific Rim region sooner will also benefit sooner in professional development.

** The Shifting Landscape of Science, Caroline S. Wagner, Issues in Science and Technology, Fall 2011.

WHY INTERNATIONAL?

Science is increasingly global and being pursued in more places than ever before. It is evident that the "architecture of world science" is evolving and expanding through global (people) networks. These international groups are "motivated by the bottom-up exchange of scientific insight, knowledge and skills, and the desire by scientists to work with the best people, institutions and equipment... (and) are changing the focus of science from the national to the global level"*. The growth of these grassroots networks has been enabled, in part, by the deployment of the physical communication networks that allow individuals to share information, insights, data and resources at a distance.

Business and industry are also forced to think and act globally, to recruit the best talent, and to compete with the rest.

We believe that students need to be immersed in an international experience as early as possible, in order to be able to succeed in the global marketplace of ideas. PRIME offers such an experience.

*Knowledge, Networks and Nations: Global Scientific Collaboration in the 21st Century, Royal Society, March 2011.