Agenda

SESAME - ALLAN, JORDAN - 28 OCTOBER 2026

08:30 09:00

Registration & Welcome Coffee

09:00 09:30

Opening remarks

Speakers

Deputy Director-General for Innovation, Prosperity and International Cooperation, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission

Deputy Secretary-General, Union for the Mediterranean [video message]

Chief of Section for Basic Sciences, Engineering, Technology & Innovation, UNESCO

Ambassador of the European Union to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Director, SESAME

Minister of Education and Human Resources Development, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Moderator

IR Beamline Principal Scientist, SESAME

09:30 09:45

Opening keynote

Speaker

Deputy Director-General for Innovation, Prosperity and International Cooperation, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission

09:45 11:00

Session 1

Science diplomacy in a fragmented world

Speakers

President, International Science Council (ISC)

Secretary-General, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

Co-chair, PRIMA Foundation (Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area), former President, Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI)

Director of International Relations, Ministry of Innovation, Science & Technology, Israel [online intervention]

CERN / Yale University, EU Science Diplomacy Alliance, Working Group Leader of the COST Action “Science in Diplomacy Network (SiDnet)” and Leader of the Policy Working Group of the Marie Curie Alumni Association

Moderator

Team Leader Global Approach, Multilateral Dialogue and Science Diplomacy, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission

11:00 11:30

Coffee break

11:30 12:00

Keynotes

Moderator

Professor of Biophysics, Sabancı University, Türkiye

Keynote 1

The role of research and technology infrastructures in science diplomacy

Speaker

President, Royal Scientific Society, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Keynote 2

CERN and SESAME as lighthouses of science diplomacy

Speaker

President, SESAME Council

12:00 13:15

Session 2

Research and technology infrastructures as instruments of international cooperation and peace building

Speakers

Director, Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)

Director, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies

President, Union of Mediterranean Universities (UNIMED)

American University of Beirut, Member of Parliament, Lebanon

Mustafa Saem Al-Dahr

President, Damascus University, Syria

Moderator

Chief of Section for Basic Sciences, Engineering, Technology & Innovation, UNESCO

13:15 15:15

Lunch break & SESAME tours (in groups)

15:15 16:30

Session 3

Research and technology infrastructures as instruments of competitiveness

Speakers

Head of International Trade, Knowledge Economy and Technology, Foreign Ministry of the Sultanate of Oman

Head of International Relations and Partnerships, International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI), Slovenia

Director Bio-Safety & Bio-Security Centre, Royal Scientific Society, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Head of Science Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Malta

Programs Director, Berytech, Lebanon

Moderator

Research and Innovation Lead, Union for the Mediterranean

16:30 16:45

Reflection

The role of infrastructures in building emerging technology ecosystems: the example of quantum research

Speaker

Vice-President, Head of Technology Infrastructure, Israel Innovation Authority [online intervention]

Moderator

Head of Research and Innovation Section, Delegation of the European Union to Israel

16:45 17:30

Voices of young researchers providing examples of research at SESAME

Speakers

Technical Research Specialist, The Cyprus Institute

Research Fellow, University of Bologna, Italy

Research Fellow, SESAME

Assistant Professor, Sivas University of Science and Technology, Türkiye

TXPES Beamline Scientist, SESAME

Moderator

An-Najah National University, Palestine

17:30 17:45

Coffee Break

17:45 19:00

Session 4

Possible futures for SESAME

Speakers

Senior Science Diplomacy Advisor, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) [online intervention]

Head of Business Development, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF)

Deputy Director for Science and Technology, Iranian Light Source Facility (ILSF), Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences [online intervention]

Head of International Relations, National Research Council (CNR), Italy; Co-Chair of the UfM Working Group on Mobility of Researchers, Capacity Building and Science Diplomacy

Chair of the Executive Committee, African Light Source Foundation