POLCUCH, Ernesto Fernandez

Senior Programme Specialist, Science and Technology Policy and Capacity-Building, UNESCO Regional Office for Science in Latin America and the Caribbean, Montevideo, Uruguay

Ernesto Fernandez Polcuch is a Science Diplomat, a specialist in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, with a M.Sc. in Science, Technology and Society from the National University of Quilmes, Argentina.

He currently serves as Senior Programme Specialist, Science and Technology Policy and Capacity-Building, at the UNESCO Regional Office for Science in Latin America and the Caribbean, based in Montevideo, Uruguay. In this position he manages UNESCO´s regional activities in fields such as: Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policies,Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education, Science Communication, Gender and STEM, STI information, Promotion of Basic and Engineering Sciences, Science-Policy-Society linkages, Science Diplomacy.

He is the global coordinator of SAGA, UNESCO´s STEM and Gender Advancement programme, a member of the Steering Committee of RedPOP, the Network for Science Popularization in Latin American, and a member of the Scientific Committee for the UNESCO Science Report.

He has previously worked as Programme Specialist at the UNESCO Windhoek Office, managing UNESCO’s programmes in fields such as Science and Technology Policy, Basic Sciences and Engineering, Freshwater, Environment, and Geology, for five Southern African countries (2008-2010).

From 2002 to 2008, he lead the Science and Technology Statistics team at the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Montréal, being responsible for producing world-wide STI statistics, developing methodologies for STI data collection in developing countries, and producing various analytical reports.

Before joining UNESCO he had worked in Argentina with RICYT, the Ibero American Network on Science and Technology Indicators, setting up the S&T indicators system in Latin America. His other experience includes working as a researcher and as professor at the National University of Quilmes and other universities in Argentina and Latin America, adviser to the National Secretary for Science, Technology and Innovation in Argentina, and as a consultant to various National and International agencies, including UNESCO, the Organization of American States (OAS), the World Bank, and OECD.

He has published numerous papers related to Science, Technology and Innovation policy and statistics, and Higher Education policy, in national and international peer reviewed journals, book chapters, and research reports, including fundamental UNESCO and UN reports. He has also presented several papers at international conferences and congresses, and has conducted training and capacity-building seminars and workshops worldwide.

 

ABSTRACT

17:00-18:30 5 NOVEMBER
thematic SESSION i.C: HOW TO ENABLE SCIENCE THROUGH PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNANCE